The 1970s and 1980s saw some of the greatest music ever written, performed and recorded. Singer-songwriters, progressives, melodic rock, heavy metal, were all at their peak. Then came what has been called the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal, abbreviated to the unpronouncable acronym NWOBHM.
Initially this was an English phenomenon, but it soon spread to the far corners of the Earth. Praying Mantis was formed in 1974; Iron Maiden in 1975; Def Leppard, Samson and Saxon in 1977.
Motörhead was formed in June 1975, but frontman Lemmy had previously been with Hawkwind, and although the band was new, it was in a sense old school.
So where does Tank fit in with all this? Tank was formed in 1980 by Algy Ward who had briefly been a member of The Damned, better known as a punk band. The Damned are still around today but the longevity of many rock bands is truly phenomenal. As bass player and vocalist, Ward was the man largely responsible for Tank’s lyrical content. There is quite a lot of information about Tank in the public domain, but Cliff Evans, one of the band’s two lead guitarists, was more than happy to fill in the blanks through their management. What follows is gleaned largely from him.
There is quite a lot of information about Tank in the public domain, but Cliff Evans, one of the band’s two lead guitarists, was more than happy to fill in the blanks through their management. What follows is gleaned largely from him.
When Tank was formed, they had the same management as Motörhead, which can’t have hurt. In 1979, Motörhead released two albums, the second, Bomber, included the blistering Stone Dead Forever, and they were well on their way.
Although Cliff is more modest about the band’s achievements than their management, he says “several other bands who have gone on to achieve mega success have cited Tank as a main influence in their early days of development. Two of those bands are Metallica and also very surprisingly Nirvana.”
Ward was not a founder member of The Damned, and was only bass player from 1978–80. He founded Tank with brothers Mark and Pete Brabbs. Unfortunately, two successful albums — Filth Hounds Of Hades and Power Of The Hunter — were coupled with alcohol and drug problems, something that is hardly uncommon in these circles. The third album brought in a second guitarist, Mick Tucker. After that, the band line up kept changing, then there was a split resulting in two Tanks, again, something that is hardly unique.
Cliff Evans joined in 1984, leaving in 1989, rejoining in 1997. Ten years later, a Polish record label contacted Cliff about the possible release of a Tank box set. This turned out to be a successful project. Although Ward has continued with his Tank project, he has made it clear he has no intention of returning to performing live.
A lot more could be written about Tank, but the reader should in the first place check out the band’s official website. Now a five piece, you will have to wait until August 18 to see them. And buy a plane ticket to São Paulo!
The second thing the reader can do is check out Re-Ignition, a retrospective album available both as a digital download and a physical format CD from this link. Their latest album is the 2015 offering Valley Of Tears; last year the Algy Ward Tank released Sturmpanzer, which according to Cliff was not a success.
Returning to Re-Ignition, this contains some classic uptempo metal beginning with Walking Barefoot Over Broken Glass from the 1982 album Power Of The Hunter and ending with the epic The War Drags Ever On.
A final word from Cliff about Valley Of Tears: “Working with vocalist ZP Theart on this album really took us out of our comfort zone for a change. We went for a much bigger production on this album which worked really well for his vocal style and he put in an amazing performance. I’d say probably the best album he’s ever made but I haven’t heard the new Skid Row album yet. The album opened up a bigger market for us which was great. Many people who would not have perhaps ever listened to Tank were discovering our music for the first time which was great”.
It was also their best selling album since Honour And Blood which was released way back in 1984 and was the first album on which he played.
It “really helped to establish the Tucker/Evans version of Tank as the only one that was really still making great new music and touring”.
Who would disagree?
[The above review was first published on Medium, May 24, 2019.]
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