Hailing from Grantham, Overdrive formed in 1977 as the New Wave of British Heavy Metal was starting to emerge. Whilst the band didn’t “make it” at the time and split around 1982 it wasn’t for lack of trying though as we know, competition was fierce back then.
I think all the band had to show for their efforts by way of released output were a couple of self-released singles on their ”Boring Grantham” records – in 1980 Grantham was named as the most boring town in Britain and can also boast (?) being the home of ex-Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. The “Iron Lady” herself. But there’ll be no politics here.
Whilst Overdrive have been active off and on since (I understand a new album is planned) what we have here for the first time is a bunch of demos from the old days and a couple of tasty live tracks. All seeing the light of day thanks to the Obscure NWOBHM Releases label in one of their limited runs of just 500 CDs (my thanks to George from the label for sending a review copy).
As one might expect, as this has been put together from four decades old tapes it is a bit rough and ready in parts but overall a fine listen demonstrating how good Overdrive were back then. It’s not outright riffola either.
Plenty of that going on for sure, though there’s a good amount of nuance to proceedings and it’s deceptively heavy with the songs being generally punchy stuff around the three to four minute mark.
All Day sets the early mark galloping along nicely with what sounds like a bit of a synth in the background. Some fine busy bass lines going on too (a nice feature of many of the songs here). Louis the 9th has a bit of a spacy/medieval tinge to it and Nightmare, whilst a chunky rocker has some spooky tinkling keys going on to add some spookiness.
On the Run is excellent too. Have a listen:
Once in a Dream has a melodic and catchy vibe going on. Overdrive another of those fine chunky rockers as is Piebald Pinto.
We even have Stonehenge well before Spinal Tap. No miniature stones and dancing dwarves here though. It’s a nicely paced song with a strong riff.
The two live cuts from 1980 (including a live version of Nightmare) showcase the band’s stage power. Tasty stuff all round.
As I type this post, the CD is still available from the label. So why not nip over there to see if you can bag one. Here’s the link: https://onreleases.bigcartel.com/
It’s excellent that Obscure NWOBHM Releases keep unearthing old lost stuff from the likes of Overdrive and others from the good old days such as Incubus, Macaxe, Sacred Alien and others.