GLORYDAZE Music - Articles: Wireless

ARTIST: Wireless
ALBUM: No Static
LABEL: Anthem
SERIAL: ANR-1-1025
YEAR: 1980
CD REISSUE: 1994, Magada, MAGHCD-20 (2 on 1 named as 'The Anthem Years' along with 'Positively Human Relatively Sane') * 2012, Rock Candy Records (UK), CANDY137
SPONSOR: Rock Candy Records

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:

LINEUP: Mike Crawford - guitars, vocals * Steve McMurray - guitar, vocals * Alan Marshall - bass, vocals * Marty Morin - drums

TRACK LISTING: 01 Pay To Ride * 02 Timekeeper * 03 Go Naked Through The Woods * 04 One Of A Kind * 05 East Of The Sun West Of The Moon * 06 Deep Heat * 07 Warm Night With A Three Quarter * 08 Friends * 09 Journey Of A Possible Hero

Background
Here's a band who have taken on some level of cult status over the years, mainly under the guise of being a supposedly eccentric hard rock outfit with lyrics to boot. Researching the bands history I was surprised to learn their origins lay in Australia, with Marshall, McMurray and original drummer Glen Beatson moving to Canada to pursue their destiny. They picked up Canadian vocalist Michael Lalonde and guitarist Crawford to round out their original lineup for the 1976 debut, but by 1978's 'Positively Sane' album, Lalonde and Beatson were gone and the above lineup was in place. Rush's Geddy Lee produced this, their third and final album, and indeed this does have a lot of the vibe Rush were emitting themselves circa 'Moving Pictures'. Wireless were a lot more varied in their approach to songwriting, but this is - in reality, an upfront hard rock album with some impressive power that rightfully has earned this status as a collectors item.

The Songs
There's plenty of gallop and harmony to be found in the guitar tandem of Crawford and McMurray, the best of which is heard in 'Journey Of A Possible Hero', a slab of UFO inspired metal which surges nicely, short in length but with the atmosphere of an epic that Rush too would have been proud to use. There's nothing fancy about 'Deep Heat' and the near boogie riffs, but Wireless knew how to write slower ballad material, cue the effective 'East Of The Sun, West Of The Moon', another epic with standout guitar work. Also impressive is 'One Of A Kind', which is quite similar to Point Blank around 'Airplay', especially with the Southern twang in the guitar work, which shows how inventive Wireless could go from track to track. Offbeat is 'Friends', more of an AOR moment with similarities to 805, the harmonies here in the vocals lovely to hear. I like the quirky time signatures of 'Warm Night With A Three Quarter Moon', which somehow evolves into a furious fusion and prog breakdown.

In Summary
This one deserves all the plaudits it has received over its lifetime and I understand it has yet to see a proper CD release, which in this day and age is unacceptable, although I could be wrong. The band split following its release and given the relative lack of information on Wireless what became of its various members is unknown. Hard to believe even the assured help of Geddy Lee couldn't break Wireless, perhaps they were too obscure for the mainstream, which seems unlikely as this is instantly more listenable and heavy than anything I've personally heard from Rush. Most of you with an inkling for Canadian rock will probably have heard this. For those unaware, this comes highly recommended.

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