Revolver : First Shot
(1981)
Category: overlooked

There are several Rock bands called Revolver. This is the German Hard Rock band that was fronted by the African-American female singer Mary B. Thompson. Apart from the music, their debut album is also interesting for a few peripheral reasons. First of all, it was produced by the famous German Metal producer Dieter Dierks. Secondly, it has Don Dokken doing some backing vocals on it.

Revolver was a competent melodic Hard Rock band, but the most interesting thing about them was Thompson's strong voice. It lifts the songs above the average, even the filler material. But four tracks are way above average, two of them even being downright excellent.

'I See the Light' is a commercial sounding well written Hard Rock song. 'Not too Late' is a decent ballad with a harder chorus. It might be a bit too syrupy for some though. One of the two excellent tracks on the album is the second ballad, called 'Yesterday Dreams'. It's the kind of thing that will be enjoyed by fans of bands like Journey and Foreigner. And the best song of the album is 'Contact'. It's a mid tempo Hard Rock song with a very catchy chorus and with a slow ending that has a stretched out guitar solo on it. Thompson really excells on this one.

'First Shot' could make a fine addition to your record collection, if you're into 80's Hard Rock. It certainly was a promising debut but unfortunately we'll never know how the band would have progressed, for it would also prove to be their only release.