BLACK ROSE UK – Walk It How You Talk It [30th Anniversary Edition remastered + bonus]

Much sought after for decades, 1987’s “Walk It How You Talk It”, the second album from BLACK ROSE (UK) – one of NWOBHM’s most cherished bands – was finally reissued on occasion of its 30th Anniversary.

”Walk It How You Talk It [30th Anniversary Edition remastered]” includes as bonus tracks the entire and rare “Nightmare” EP from 1985, in a total of 13 songs specially remastered for CD.
Formed in Newcastle, England, in 1980, BLACK ROSE are righteous possessors of immemorial recordings throughout their already long career. After classics like “No Point Runnin / Sucker for Your Love” released on a 7″ in 1982, or as well as the debut album “Boys Will Be Boys” from 1984, the band took an important step in their career, recording one of the best melodic heavy metal albums from the British 80s metal scene.
By 1986 (early UK copies of “Walk It How You Talk It” actually were released at the end of that year) BLACK ROSE sound, as happened with all hard n’ heavy bands, added a lot of melody into the mix and the use of parping keyboards.
”Walk It How You Talk It” is a 50/50 mix of melodic hard rock and straight hard rock / Brit metal. So if you’re into the mid / late Eighties sound of Y&T, Heavy Pettin’, Tobruk, Le Mans, etc, you’ll love this. The addition of the 1985 EP is really welcomed.
In part due to their frustrations and legal issues due to an American band put together by Cher (yep!) with the same name halting sales of their K-tel U.S. album release (and K-tel abandoning the band and the album) BLACK ROSE split up in 1989. The band did a comeback in the 2010’s, but that’s another story.

Ironically, the band, in its origins was named ICM, and changed the name to Black Rose around 1980 and obviously, the name was taken from the classic Thin Lizzy album going by that name. By 1981 there were major changes in the band and the only players remaining from the original line up was the bass player and singer Steve Beardsley.
After a demo tape never released to the public at that point, but still got a review in the famous magazine Kerrang! This was followed by two tracks recorded for and released on the Roxxcalibur compilation album put out by Guardian Records and a 7” single, “No point running” w/ “Sucker for Your Love” gracing the B-side.

Black Rose continued to play the local circuit relentlessly and supported bands like Diamond Head, Saxon, Raven and Vardis. Another appearance followed on Neat Records compilation One Take No Dubs.
With no album deal still in sight, the band went back playing gigs and recording a second 4-track demo tape. Things were slowly starting to move forward and finally the band got a deal with Bullet Records, who released the first self-titled EP in 1983.
The EP also moved the band into a more melodic writing approach. The use of harmony vocals and catchy choruses was introduced into Black Rose music.

In 1984 the first album came out called ‘Boys Will Be Boys’ and it showed a natural progression and development of the songwriting with yet stronger songs and more memorable melodies. It is also obvious that Black Rose were honing their craft and slowly getting better at what they did. It was quite far off the raw heavy metal of the first demo and 7” single.
Finally, then the band switched to Neat Records and released another EP called ‘Nightmare’ in 1985.

After the release of ‘Nightmare’, the NWOBHM largely had played its role and was on its demise. The mid-80s signaled a different musical direction with glam rock coming back with Mötley Crue ruling the waves, Bon Jovi breaking into the scene and Ratt enjoying major commercial success.
Black Rose ditched guitarist Chris Watson, replaced him with Pat O’Neil and added a guitarist / keyboard player called Gary Todd. Steve dropped the guitar to become a frontman and lead vocalist.
They recorded the second album ”Walk It How You Talk It” released in 1987. The sound was a bit more polished and melodic which alienated some longtime fans but the band also gained new listeners with the more commercial and melodic approach.
The signature sound of the band is still very evident in this sophomore effort. This was also the first album to be issued on CD and an original copy of the CD has been fetching ridiculous prices on eBay so this reissue is far too long overdue.

What we have here is Black Rose‘s finest hour in the opinion of yours truly. While still retaining their hard rock / metal past this is where the songwriting matured to a higher level, the riffs became really memorable and the melodic side of things was unleashed.
Parallels have been drawn to bands such as Def Leppard and Heavy Pettin’ but to me, the obvious comparison should be fellow UK band Tobruk. “Shout it Out” has a catchy hook and a great riff making it an excellent opener. “E.Z.L.Y “ is a huge midtempo rocker with the introduction of keyboard licks into the mix. There is still sharpness and a heavy riff from O´Neil and Todd.

The opening of “Honestly Love You” reminds me of Bon Jovi‘s “Runaway” with a prominent keyboard melody carrying the song forward. It’s a catchy and memorable song in its own right when it kicks off. Definitely one of the highlights in the Black Rose discography.
The title track is a nice midtempo affair. “Keep the Bright Lights Burning” has a monster of a chorus that sticks in your head for a long while. We get served the U.S. flavored “California U.S.A.” as an opener that gives me feelings of early Bonfire. With “Don’t Fall in Love” we get the obligatory mid-80s heartfelt power ballad.

As a bonus, we get the ‘Nightmare’ EP which in full appears for the first time on CD. It is a great addition to the ‘Walk It How You Talk It’ album. The songs are a bit heavier. “Nightmare” is a metallic track with a cool and memorable hook and makes me think of Tokyo Blade in their early days.
“Need a Lot of Love” opens up with a riff that could have been taken from Def Leppard‘s Pyromania. The weakest hand in the deck probably being “Rock Me Hard” which is an ordinary rock song that does not stand out as much of the rest of the material.

The band got rave reviews of the album, compared to Bon Jovi and Def Leppard and was offered a US tour. That tour unfortunately collapsed and the band went into turbulent times again with only Beardsley remaining in 1989 and Black Rose called it quits – until… 2006 when they reformed.
The driving force behind the reunion was to record another album and in 2010 Cure For The Disease saw the light of day. The line up for that album was Steve Beardsley, Chris Watson with newcomer Kiko Rivers on guitar. Mal Smith played drums on the album. The band remains active to this day.

This ‘Walk It How You Talk It [30th Anniversary Edition remastered + bonus]’ comes with a thick 24-page full-color booklet. There is an extensive band biography by singer Steve Bardsley and cool photos along with the lyrics to all the songs. A big plus is also the inclusion of the original artwork to the Nightmare EP on the back of the booklet making it easy to switch cover if you’d like.
Putting this old and forgotten gem out there for new fans to discover is a great and necessary deed done by Blood & Iron / Prog AOR records. Well done!
Highly Recommended

 

01 – California USA
02 – E.Z.L.Y.
03 – Don’t Fall In Love
04 – Bright Lights Burnin’
05 – Walk It How You Talk It
06 – Honestly Love You
07 – Shout It Out
08 – Party Animal
09 – Want Your Love
BONUS TRACKS:
10 – Nightmare (Nigtmare EP 1985)
11 – Need A Lot Of Lovin’ (Nigtmare EP 1985)
12 – Rock Me Hard (Nigtmare EP 1985)
13 – Breakaway (Nigtmare EP 1985)

Lead and Backing Vocals – Steve Bardsley
Guitar, Keyboards and Backing Vocals – Gary Todd
Guitar – Pat O’Neill
Bass and Backing Vocals – Mick Thompson
Drums – Barry Youll

Drums and Backing Vocals on the album – Malla Smith
Piano, add. Keyboards – Steve Wilson

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