By Albert Mansour
This 1978 full length debut album by the Vancouver, British Columbia based artist known only as Thor was an original RCA vinyl release and it has never made too much impact on my heavy metal ears. I really don’t call Thor’s first album real metal, instead I’ve always considered it glam rock like the Sweet, New York Dolls and Slade. This album has been sitting in my own personal collection for over 9 years. I think I’ve spun this album ten times at most… it’s really bad! This is not a metal release like Thor’s Only The Strong. Keep The Dogs Away did get rave reviews from publications like Rolling Stone, Circus Magazine and Hit Parade Magazine when it was originally released and is considered a glam rock classic, but metal it is not. The bonus tracks that have been here are so poor quality that it sounds like something coming off an answering machine from back in the 70’s. The most positive thing about this reissue is the 16 page bio of Jon-Mikl Thor included in the booklet. If only the music was as compelling.
(Scratch Recordings)
