Customer Reviews

Offering

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Offering is the first cassette I sought to replace when CDs emerged on the market. I had "20 Years from Home" but had been devistated to find the songs I remembered and loved remixed on it.

Most people can claim a song or a band as their generation's trademark call to party; Axe's "Rock and Roll Party" and "Burn the City Down" was ours. I had 3 cassettes of Offering, one for my car, one for my boyfriend's and one for the portable player I took on my morning run. Friday nights started out with these songs blasting on the stereo.

Of course such reminisence tells little about the music. Axe supplied some pounding rock rhythms with lyrics that were identifiable and discernable, if not especially profound. They successfully built a bridge from rock to heavy metal, spanning dance/pop in a style similar to (but equal or better) that of other popular rock songs of that time period unique enough to transcend the predominating punk/pop culture, like Tonight is What it Means to be Young (off the Streets of Fire album), Dancing in the Dark (Springsteen) and On the Dark Side (Eddie and the Cruisers). Axe offered refreshment to a generation who had teethed on the likes of Led Zepplin, Rush, Yes, The Who and The Doors, but were getting cavities on the pop candy tunes of Madonna, the GoGos, Prince and Duran Duran. Axe's intrepid style earned them airplay on most radio stations and a loyal fan following. This style is showcased on Offering. I am thrilled that the music on Offering has been preserved for the evaluation and, hopefully, enjoyment of generations to come.

OFFERING is the best album that Axe ever did. Bobby Barth's lead vocals and lead guitar are white-hot, and Michael Osbourne's rhythm guitar is strong and assertive. The entire first side is terrific, and the second side is, too, until the last song or two. I own this album on cassette, and it's great that it's now been made available on CD. Unfortunately, Michael Osbourne is not around to enjoy it; he died in a car crash in 1984.

During the early 80's, as I was in High School, I was (and still am) a hard rock, heavy metal fan. I collected everything I could get my hands on. I was on a trip to get SAXON's Denim and Leather LP and it wasn't in. I started shopping around to buy something and started in the A's. I quickly ran across AXE OFFERRINGS and loved the cover. I shopped by the cover sometimes if I knew nothing of the band. When I put the LP on my turntable I didn't like it at first. I was expecting heavy guitars like SAXON or Iron Maiden. This album had a certain sofistication in it that, I, as a teenager, had to listen to a few times to grasp. Never heard a Hard Rock album with piano lead ins. After all these years, this album remains in my top 10 LP's (now CD) to play. Reminds me of so many things, and looking back, it was my first step toward expanding my horizon on what Hard Rock/Heavy Metal was/is. Axe's sound, to me, is like Bob Seger electrified!! Great job on this CD and their second one, NEMESIS. Got them both at the same time and immediately put them in my CD roullette.

No, don't shy away from the title "80's Metal" as the decade isn't completely defined by hair bands and power ballads. Axe were much too, how do you say it, plain looking to be confused with Def Leppard, Whitesnake, or even Quiet Riot (a band who they actually toured with and consistently smoked off the stage as the opener).
Axe were your typical hard rock bar band type that had just enough licks to find them tapping on the shoulders of 80's A.O.R. radio stations. In order to get there, however, they put on a lot of polish to keep the airwaves sweet, which means that "Rock And Roll Party In The Streets" could have easily used some Everclear in the punch. Axe seemed to have enough chops to translate "Offering" to the stage, but failed to accomplish what lesser bands have done: translate a sh*t hot live set down on wax. This is as close as they got and they were better than some that went farther. Recommended if you're reading this. Not so much if you've clicked onwards.

Axe came out at a time just before the recording studios turned their backs on alot of really good rock bands to put all their time and money on Hip Hop. They turned their backs on bands like AXE who could have went on to have produced many more really good CD's. Instead we get very low quality Hip Hop so called artists most who are still having a hard time with their abc's. Anyway AXE is a very good band and if your are into rock music then this is a must have CD. Offering is a CD that you won't get tired of after just a few times of listening to it. It doesn't have "shock qualities" as Rap Music. You can hear some of their sounds in some of the modern rock of today. This CD is a keeper, not one that you will get tired of for a long period of time.

Damn it took this a long time to make it onto CD. The rock radio station in the town where I grew up used to play "Rock and Roll Party In The Streets" all the time. Then, sometime around 1984 they stopped - and I never heard it again... Sometimes I see them lumped with bands like Blackfoot and Molly Hatchet - which is probably appropriate. They definitely had that southern rock thing going on, but Axe seemed like a metal band back in the day - probably because of their album art. In retrospect, their sound was based in no-nonsense hard rock. In addition to the super-cool radio song "Rock and Roll Party In The Streets", they also cover the Montrose track "I Got The Fire". There are a few notable softer cuts, but it's really all about the one song "Rock and Roll Party In The Streets". Offering is their third album, and likely their best (Nemesis is also pretty decent).

FYI - AOR stands for Album Oriented Rock, a very successful FM radio format in the late 70s and early 80s that evolved from the underground/freeform radio formats of the late 60s. ...Post disco, but pre Madonna. Quite a lot of these stations eventually morphed again into Classic Rock stations during the late 80s and early 90s. Axe is one of the many bands that had their moment in the AOR era, but have been excluded from most classic rock programming.

1982's Offering was the third album from melodic rockers Axe, and was the first album to bring the band any real recognition or radio play, thanks to the hit single "Rock n' Roll Party in the Streets".

While their album cover artwork and band name seem to suggest a heavy metal sound, Axe played keyboard-laced melodic rock. It's hard to come up with a good point of reference. They were a bit heavier than Journey and REO Speedwagon, though they were just as melodic. They weren't as hard as TKO or Legs Diamond, but there are some similarities there as well. There's a Sammy Hagar vibe as well, but that's probably just because of the cover of Montrose's "I Got the Fire". The bottom line is that Axe's sound is rocking, melodic, and radio friendly. It's obvious why "Rock n' Roll Party in the Streets" was a hit, but songs like "Holdin' On" and "Steal Another Fantasy" could just as easily have become party anthems.

Offering is just an all-around enjoyable melodic rock album, with plenty of great songs and just about zero filler. If you're an 80's rock fan, Offering is definitely an album you'll want to check out, especially now that it is officially available on CD.

NOTE: Wounded Bird reissued Offering in 2003. It's the first time the album has been officially released on CD. My understanding is that the Wounded Bird reissues have not been digitally remastered, but it sure sounds like they've done some clean up work on this album. They reissued 1983's Nemesis as well. Now if only they could get their hands on the long out of print Axe and Living on the Edge.

Perfect from start to finish, somehow this disc isn't among rock's royalty. The production is first rate for rock and roll sound. Original rock and a cover of Montrose's "I Got the Fire" that was a little slicker than the original. Barth (who vocally sounds like a young Sammy Hagar at times) and Michael Osbourne deliver a one-two punch on guitars. If you love Montrose, Aerosmith,and Blackfoot, then you will appreciate this overlooked classic.

I used to listen to this song when I was real little and loved it. I never understood why they quit playing it. I agree with others that this is the song it is all about. No one makes em like this anymore. Wish they still did.

Yes indeed we love Axe in Idaho. Straight ahead balls to the wall rock. The re-recorded best of CD's were a godsend, but many of us long time fans have been waiting for the orignal albums to come out on CD. And they finally have! Those in the know need no other coaxing, buy them now! Those who aren't familar with Axe should start with this album. It's straight up melodic hard rock that is definitely not getting played on today's corporate radio. You won't be disappointed.