ERIC MOORE & THE GODZ TWENTY FIVE MOORE YEARS RARE 2CDS

Through myriad blown-up deals, busted backs, barnburners and broken promises, the legend of Eric Moore and The Godz has grown, perhaps under the radar, but always graphically exposing the hell that the hard-hearted rock business can be. If anyone deserved (and still deserves) a break - if only for his pure, undiluted, unselfconscious love of timeless rock ‘n’ roll, an approach to the form that draws specifically potent tinctures from the ‘50s as applied to shimmery, sun-dappled stadium rock from the late ‘70s - it is Godz vocalist, bassist and town-ripper-upper Eric Moore.

Based out of Columbus, Ohio, The Godz quickly became the dangerous black-leathered, rock-dogging antidote to the sugary sounds of bands they supported, acts like Kiss, Angel, Cheap Trick, Blue Oyster Cult And Kansas. All of this exposure was appropriately granted on the backs of two looming rock artifacts, the band’s self-titled debut from 1978 and its follow-up, Nothing Is Sacred from ’79. With Eric’s biker roar - somewhat approximating a cross between Dan McCafferty, George Thorogood and Cub Koda – leading the way, the band inspired throngs of metal soldiers all up and down the Midwest to pick up weapons and form their own bands. Their menacing looks, their dirty blue collar rock, their volume, and above all those mirror shades, the smoke, those big bikes… it was a package that made everything else look like romper room music by comparison. Yet, the songs of Eric Moore had deep blues and boogie roots, which is perhaps why they endure, and why they appeal to such a broad spectrum of rock aficionados (bloody big bunch of Europeans included), and why a package like Twenty-Five Moore Years is such a rock ‘n’ roll salvation (let’s not forget the dire unavailability of almost all of this music as well).

Tracks like “Gotta Muv”, “He’s A Fool” and “Hey Mama” represent the retro-rocked second album (best album cover of 1979), but it is the rumble and tumble of “Go Away”, “Baby I Love You” and above all, “Gotta Keep A Runnin’” – all from the classic debut – that burn rubber and endeared The Godz to the biker crowd for goin’ on now, a quarter century of beers and tears. “Gotta Keep A Runnin’” in particular, is a massive metal monster, anointed with a classic cowbell-clanged, riff-mad intro, an unstoppable, tough boogie down the road of life, and then, monumentally, that mid-track stage rap from Moore that did more to consolidate and bolster the metal masses than any Deadly Tedly monologue could ever muster. This massive, gem-encrusted, surprise-packed two CD compilation is worth it for this treadmill-detonating track all on its bad wine and worse women lonesome.

As time dragged on, and as Casablanca crashed in flames fueled by burning banknotes, The Godz found themselves keesters in the dirt and people changin’ hands. Moore scowled, gritted his teeth, bit the bullet and persevered (jail time notwithstanding), firing out more pool cue-bustin’ rock ‘n’ roll with various impromptu gangs before reconstituting the line-up for 1985’s I’ll Get You Rockin’, which coughs up for this compilation the heady, old time dementia of the title track, an Aerosmith barnburner if ever there was one, and, as the remixed, re-tracked, overlapping and renamed Mongolians album from ’87, a song by that name, one of the band’s heaviest metal drag ‘em out fire dragons sporting the proud refrain “You ride hard, you die hard, Mongolians.”

Disc one (did I mention yet the second disc?) tops up to overflowing with three flesh-tearing tracks by Eric recorded in 2003 (what, did you think he was dead?) with instrumental back-up provided by Columbus heirs to The Godz, American Dog. “White Line” opens the disc with a swingin’ ball of lead, Eric’s voice lacerating the airwaves, proving that the man’s hard living has done nothing but fortified his loaded vocal barrels. It is almost shocking. But best is saved for “Wastin’” which quite simply, should be a smash radio hit along the spiritual bloodlines of “Cat Scratch Fever” or “Everybody Wants Some”. It rules, and you will know that by owning this CD.

As we pause, considering the remarkable consistency and synergy of the first disc (after all, Eric wrote all the songs on it save for the Bobbie Gentry cover!), notwithstanding the quarter century elapsed between the recordings therein enclosed, it is of note that Twenty-Five Moore Years is no slouch in the liner notes department, including a moving dedication from American Dog’s Michael Hannon, an exhaustive band history from Steve E. Ojane, a collage of rare photos and pages of many er, Moore, and last but not least, track by track notes from Eric, in which he informs us that he wrote the lyrics to “Go Away” on a pizza box with an eyeliner pencil.

Whereas the true Godz fan may own much of disc one, clutching to heart their vinyl copies of the four on the floor, the entire jean-jacket Godz army will freak when confronted with this collection’s bonus disc. Comprising 12 tracks, this second slice of hard life includes live versions of ripping, metal-affected ‘80s songs like “Shake It” and “We’re All Crazy”, stark acoustic demos, and to close it out, a five track live set from 1995, possibly the most powerful, guitar-drenched Godz music you’ve ever heard pressed to official issue. And what better way to let this old school rock cat back out of his cat-scratched bag than with the penultimate version of “Gotta Keep A Runnin’”, Eric’s assembled rock ‘n’ roll altarboys for the night, boogieing hard-charged and battle-scarred like Status Quo at Wembley, this 8:26 run upstate and back proving that the fire still burns in the belly of the Midwest’s hardest living motherfuckin’ fat-string plucker.

And Eric’s still runnin’ – on a fragile combination of empty and overloaded, mind you. But if the explosive 2003 tracks with American Dog are any indication, this package, and your patronage thereof, might just be the love letter necessary and instrumental in putting Eric back on track for a full album of guitar-charging buffalo rockers, street-heated chrome-plated master blasters and Texas wrecks us tales that together, provide us a sordid, slightly fearful glimpse at how the dangerous desperados amongst us live their lives to the fullest, perhaps so we don’t have to.

Written by Martin Popoff

Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles

The Collectors Guide To Heavy Metal, CMJ Music Monthly