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E – Z – O
E-Z-O may hail from Japan, but their sound is distinctly American. Unlike their Japanese counterparts Loudness who relied on Euro-style metal (intricate, melodic guitar work with clean upper register vocals), E-Z-O have more in common with the sleazy street metal coming out of L.A. in the mid 80's......dark, dirty, heavy grooves. The guitars are gritty, the bass and drums are in your face and the vocals are rough. Don't confuse rough with not being good, Masaki Yamada injects the right amount of melody and personality into the roughness to make him one of my favorite vocalists (and you don't hear a single "wock n woll"). Throw in the infectious choruses of "Flashback Heart Attack", "Here It Comes", "Destroyer", and "Big Changes" and you have a CD that still makes frequent spins in my CD player. The debut was produced by Gene Simmons while Jamie St. James (Black 'n Blue) co-wrote two songs.

That said, "E-Z-O" somewhat resembles Black 'n Blue's "Nasty Nasty" (also produced by Gene). That's two great bands that had the support of Mr. Simmons, one of the most influential and recognizable figures in the history of the biz that failed to reach the heights that they should have....it's a sad world. Both the debut and follow up "Fire Fire" are highly recommended. And their image is quite unique, something that they unfortunately dropped.

DISCOGRAPHY:
E-Z-O (1987) Geffen
FIRE FIRE (1989) Geffen
by Shane.