Shock Waves

Leather | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 9, 2010)
• Label: Leviathan Records
• ASIN: B003GDILY0
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #664,911 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Shock Waves by Leather

This product is manufactured on demand using CD-R recordable media. Amazon.com's standard return policy will apply.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great reissue of a lost metal gem, December 4, 2010

By 

Justin Gaines (Northern Virginia) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Shock Waves (Audio CD)

Leather Leone. Hers is not a name you hear very often, but for those who recall her time at the microphone for Chastain, that name immediately brings to mind one of metal's most distinctive voices. It took a lot to make a lasting impression in a band where the focus is drawn to the charismatic guitar wizard, but Leather was more than up to the task. With a vocal style inspired by Ronnie James Dio, Leather was a true metal vocalist, first and foremost. Her gender was secondary, which is not something you can say of a lot of that era's female so-called metal singers. In 1989, between Chastain albums, Leather released her debut (and sadly, only) solo album, titled Shock Waves.

Shock Waves doesn't stray too far from the basic Chastain sound. It's a hard-charging traditional heavy metal album with driving rhythms, a fair amount of shredding, and of course that signature Leather vocal performance. She could be smooth when she wanted to be, but when she's belting out metal anthems like "All Your Neon" and "Shock Waves," you can see exactly how she earned the name Leather. Former Arch Rival guitarist Michael Harris handled the axework on Shock Waves, and he did an admirable job, though his fretwork doesn't quite hold up to David Chastain's. While Chastain did not play on the album, he was on board as producer in addition to providing songwriting support, so the album definitely had similarities to Leather's work in Chastain. Future Cannibal Corpse man Pat O'Brien and Mark Shelton of Manilla Road shared songwriting duties with Chastain and Leather.

Divebomb's 2010 reissue of Shock Waves puts this album back into fans' hands after a long absence. The reissue does not include any bonus material, but the songs have all been digitally remastered and the liner notes feature an eye-opening interview with Leather. Just having the album back in print is a welcome development, but between the improved sound quality and the expanded liner notes, the reissue of Shock Waves is a must-have for Chastain/Leather fans. If you're debating whether or not to pick it up; the reissue is limited to 1000 copies, and is not available in MP3 format, so it won't be around forever.

NOTE: There are a couple of different editions of Shock Waves listed here, and they're all linked. If you get the 2010 version, you're getting the remastered reissue I just described. The earlier "reissue" is actually a CD-R, and the MP3 version is not the remastered version. Again, the 2010 version is the one to get.