The Sound Of Thunder Coffret

Description

The world of hard rock and heavy metal attracts many larger-than-life characters, and few are larger than life than John McCoy. Although he has had a long and varied career, from Atomic Rooster to Zzebra, through Samson and Mammoth, among others, McCoy is probably best known for playing bass with Gillan, the band he formed with Ian Gillan of Deep Purple. For a few too brief years, you could count on John McCoy to entertain millions while holding down the bottom end with Gillan on Top Of The Pops, touring the world to sold-out crowds or breaking bass guitars in half on Saturday morning children's TV shows like Tiswas.
When Gillan met a brutal and premature end in 1982 after a packed show at Wembley Arena, John McCoy formed the eponymous McCoy with an impressive lineup including former Gillan colleague Colin Towns on keyboards, Paul Samson from Samson on lead guitar, original Iron Maiden drummer Ron Rebel Matthews, and singer Tony T-Bone Rees.
This set kicks off with the eponymous EP "McCoy" (CD1), which starts with an upbeat cover of "Oh Well" by Fleetwood Mac. The EP ends with "Because You Lied," a sadly intended song for the singer of his former band. Released in 1985, "Think Hard" (CD1) was McCoy's first full set, including "Hell to Play," "Heads Will Roll," and "Ride The Night."
"Brainstorm" (CD 2) was recorded at Studio 43 in New York. McCoy was joined by former Belladonna guitarist/singer Al Romano and drummer Mike Sciotto (From The Fire); Rainbow and Black Sabbath drummer Bobby Rondinelli is a guest on two tracks.
The band Samson had a major influence on the new wave of British heavy metal in the late 1970s, and John McCoy was an important figure in the band, playing bass, producing, and co-writing their first album from 1979. Before that, the McCoy band, with Paul Samson and drummer Roger Hunt, was a regular on the London and South-East concert circuit. Captured at the height of the new wave, "Live 1977" (CD 3) acts as a raw, unrefined antidote to the burgeoning punk scene that was taking over the UK at that time. Recorded on July 11, 1977, at Target in Reading, Berkshire, it is the only surviving record of this power trio, making this third CD an essential piece of rock history, and undoubtedly one of the cornerstones of NWOBHM, as several of the songs would eventually form the aforementioned first album by Samson; "Big Brother," "Six Foot Under," "The Shuffle," "Bad Side of Time." Despite the difficult sound quality, you can still feel something special emerging.