ROGUE MALE - "First Visit"

Artist:  Rogue Male

Song:  Unemployment

Album:  First Visit

Year:  1985

Genre:  Metal / Punk

This record isn’t the diamond in the rough.  It’s the diamond buried 6 feet beneath the rough that’s covered by the rotting corpses of thousands of other bands that undeservedly received widespread exposure.  Rogue Male was on a huge major label, yet they were relatively ignored.  Anybody ever heard of them before?  I’m sure very few are nodding their heads.  Bands in 1985 relied on magazines, radio and MTV to gain popularity and notoriety; both of which Rogue Male had close to none.  If more of a push was given to these guys they could have had a viable career in the punk/metal/hard rock scene; or at least they could’ve been a flash-in-the-pan and made some money before vanishing.  This is another one of those bands I took a random chance on buying.  The terminator inspired artwork influenced me enough to grab this record without hearing a single note.  What a fortuitous decision I made.  Very few bands have the ability to blatantly copycat the early punk-metal hybrid created by Motorhead and sound genuine.  And we’re talking the upper echelon stuff….”Ace Of Spades,” “Iron Fist,” Killed By Death,” “Overkill,” and songs of that premium ilk.  This band did it; and did it well.  Dare I go here….Rogue Male’s debut record First Visit may be the best Motorhead record that Lemmy never penned.  This record is fast, aggressive and filthy.  The lyrics are almost silly but blend flawlessly with the music and the overall attitude they convey.  This isn’t a band you take seriously, but you rock along with while shouting juvenile anthems such as “crazy motorcycle!”, “what have I done to deserve this!”, and “rogue male we’re never gonna fail!” Unfortunately that last line was not true.  After their sophomore effort Animal Man was released, the rogue ones disbanded and quickly faded from memory.  I guess some bands get to leave a brief musical footprint and just aren’t lucky enough to last.  There was a slight rejuvenation in the Rogue Male camp within the last decade, but that fizzled out quicker than their first time around.

Listen to "Unemployment" here.