THIS WEEK I’M LISTENING TO...SQUADRON – Squadron (Golden Core)

I’ve been hoping to hear more from Squadron since they piqued my interest with their appearance on Golden Core’s ‘Sound And Action – Volume 4’ compilation last year. Playing the album blind, the first song that really stood out was ‘No Heroes’, a demo recording by the Esslingen five-piece dating back to 1984. Neudi and the lads at Golden Core have now followed this up with a full Squadron album: the story goes that the band sent a tape to Golden Core to offer a song for inclusion on the compilation and the material was so good that a deal to issue a whole album was slapped on the table. The resulting self-titled ‘Squadron’ features their nine-track 1984 demo (from which ‘No Heroes’ was taken) with a further four tracks from 1985 on the CD; the LP features the 1984 demo, but replaces the drum solo-opening weakest link ‘Nightmare No.3’ with ‘More Power’ from the 1985 tape.

‘Squadron’ is a trad metal fan’s dream. Fronted by former Tyran Pace vocalist Michael Moretto, and settling into a line-up that also featured guitarists Peter Thalheimer and Alexander Christ, bassist Goran Martinov (to whose memory the album is respectfully dedicated) and drummer Klaus Sperling, Squadron sound unashamedly NWOBHM and certainly capture the essence of the time. Citing Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Ozzy, Dio and Warrior amongst their influences the band are Eighties to the core (no pun intended). And as both demos were recorded live in the studio the band’s individual talents, collective approach to songwriting and precise execution are evident for all to hear. There’s so much going on here that pulling out individual highlights is not an easy task, but ‘Child Of The Universe’, ‘Why D’ You Try’ and the aforementioned ‘No Heroes’ are all great songs in their own right. And so what if the mid-section of ’67 Camaro’ is undeniably influenced by a few plays of Priest’s ‘Rapid Fire’? A great song is a great song...

Unfortunately, despite the five-piece’s undisputable talent, the majors sniffed around a little but never bit and the band hit the buffers in 1987. A shame, as Squadron can easily be added to the list of bands who should have / would have / could have, if only they’d had the breaks.