Perfect Man Rage

German metalheads Rage had decided to disband after their disappointing second album, Execution Guaranteed; but it took band prime mover Peter "Peavey" Wagner less than a year to have second thoughts, so he proceeded to rebuild from the ground up. First by penning a new batch of quality songs, then by bringing in new musicians in guitarist Manni Schmidt and drummer Chris Efthimiades so as to reconfigure Rage from a quartet into a trio, making them "stronger, faster, better than they were before," as the saying goes. Sure enough, the resulting LP, 1988's exemplary Perfect Man, became the most successful and enduring of their career. With undeniable winners like "Wasteland," "Don't Fear the Winter," and the title track fueling its charge down the heavy metal autobahn, Perfect Man boasted a perfect combination of razor-sharp brutality and crisp production values…

German metalheads Rage had decided to disband after their disappointing second album, Execution Guaranteed; but it took band prime mover Peter "Peavey" Wagner less than a year to have second thoughts, so he proceeded to rebuild from the ground up. First by penning a new batch of quality songs, then by bringing in new musicians in guitarist Manni Schmidt and drummer Chris Efthimiades so as to reconfigure Rage from a quartet into a trio, making them "stronger, faster, better than they were before," as the saying goes. Sure enough, the resulting LP, 1988's exemplary Perfect Man, became the most successful and enduring of their career. With undeniable winners like "Wasteland," "Don't Fear the Winter," and the title track fueling its charge down the heavy metal autobahn, Perfect Man boasted a perfect combination of razor-sharp brutality and crisp production values…

German metalheads Rage had decided to disband after their disappointing second album, Execution Guaranteed; but it took band prime mover Peter "Peavey" Wagner less than a year to have second thoughts, so he proceeded to rebuild from the ground up. First by penning a new batch of quality songs, then by bringing in new musicians in guitarist Manni Schmidt and drummer Chris Efthimiades so as to reconfigure Rage from a quartet into a trio, making them "stronger, faster, better than they were before," as the saying goes. Sure enough, the resulting LP, 1988's exemplary Perfect Man, became the most successful and enduring of their career. With undeniable winners like "Wasteland," "Don't Fear the Winter," and the title track fueling its charge down the heavy metal autobahn, Perfect Man boasted a perfect combination of razor-sharp brutality and crisp production values…

German metalheads Rage had decided to disband after their disappointing second album, Execution Guaranteed; but it took band prime mover Peter "Peavey" Wagner less than a year to have second thoughts, so he proceeded to rebuild from the ground up. First by penning a new batch of quality songs, then by bringing in new musicians in guitarist Manni Schmidt and drummer Chris Efthimiades so as to reconfigure Rage from a quartet into a trio, making them "stronger, faster, better than they were before," as the saying goes. Sure enough, the resulting LP, 1988's exemplary Perfect Man, became the most successful and enduring of their career. With undeniable winners like "Wasteland," "Don't Fear the Winter," and the title track fueling its charge down the heavy metal autobahn, Perfect Man boasted a perfect combination of razor-sharp brutality and crisp production values…

Energized by the surprising popularity of Perfect Man, Rage sought to capitalize on their good streak, with 1989's Secrets in a Weird World. And to their credit, the German trio remained spot on from a stylistic standpoint, rehashing the melodic thrash formula that seemed to best suit their talents. Unfortunately, vocalist/bassist Peter "Peavey" Wagner neglected to bring any decent songs with him. Maybe his creative juices had been sapped by the sheer volume of material committed to this album's heralded predecessor, but whatever the reason, semimemorable moments like the great riff behind "Light Into the Darkness" or forceful thrashers "Time Waits for No One" and "Invisible Horizons" are few and far between here. Instead, the listener is castigated by overwhelmingly mediocre fare such as "Make My Day," "The Inner Search," and "Talk to Grandpa" (excuse me?)…

Energized by the surprising popularity of Perfect Man, Rage sought to capitalize on their good streak, with 1989's Secrets in a Weird World. And to their credit, the German trio remained spot on from a stylistic standpoint, rehashing the melodic thrash formula that seemed to best suit their talents. Unfortunately, vocalist/bassist Peter "Peavey" Wagner neglected to bring any decent songs with him. Maybe his creative juices had been sapped by the sheer volume of material committed to this album's heralded predecessor, but whatever the reason, semimemorable moments like the great riff behind "Light Into the Darkness" or forceful thrashers "Time Waits for No One" and "Invisible Horizons" are few and far between here. Instead, the listener is castigated by overwhelmingly mediocre fare such as "Make My Day," "The Inner Search," and "Talk to Grandpa" (excuse me?)…

Energized by the surprising popularity of Perfect Man, Rage sought to capitalize on their good streak, with 1989's Secrets in a Weird World. And to their credit, the German trio remained spot on from a stylistic standpoint, rehashing the melodic thrash formula that seemed to best suit their talents. Unfortunately, vocalist/bassist Peter "Peavey" Wagner neglected to bring any decent songs with him. Maybe his creative juices had been sapped by the sheer volume of material committed to this album's heralded predecessor, but whatever the reason, semimemorable moments like the great riff behind "Light Into the Darkness" or forceful thrashers "Time Waits for No One" and "Invisible Horizons" are few and far between here. Instead, the listener is castigated by overwhelmingly mediocre fare such as "Make My Day," "The Inner Search," and "Talk to Grandpa" (excuse me?)…

German heavy metal outfit Rage originally formed in the early '80s, and although the group has issued albums on a steady basis ever since, lead singer/bassist Peter "Peavey" Wagner is the only original member still in attendance. First known as Avenger, the group issued a pair of recordings (Prayer of Steel and Depraved to Black) before switching their name to Rage to avoid confusion with a British band of the same name…

The German heavy metal outfit, Rage, originally formed in the early '80s, and although the group has issued albums on a steady basis ever since, lead singer/bassist Peter "Peavey" Wagner is the only original member still in attendance. First known as Avenger, the group issued a pair of recordings (Prayer of Steel and Depraved to Black) before switching their name to Rage, to avoid confusion with a British band of the same name. 1986's Reign of Fear signaled the group's first album to be released under their new name, as they continued on in the same heavy hitting musical direction on subsequent releases; although they used some orchestral flourishes on their late-'90s experimental albums Lingua Mortis (1996) and XIII (1999)…

In keeping with the band's imperfect career, The Best From the Noise Years takes an imperfect stab at assembling the best moments from German melodic thrashers Rage…