Back in the 70’s naming your band after a place created by a Fantasy Author wasn’t frowned upon, and as one of the most distinctively named bands in Rock over the years Tygers have always been a band known for their NWOBHM pedigree and their association with a certain guitarist, but it’s their founding guitarist Robb Weir who has kept the flame burning since 1978.
Reforming in 1999 you’d think that a logical start to a ‘Best of/Anthology’ compilation would to go back those 22 years, but instead the band has just gone back just the 13 presumably as they can only look at the their last few releases on Target and Rocksector Records (Tygers of Pan Tang (2016) and Ritual (2019) and Ambush (2012) and picked the best from the last two on Target and thrown in ‘She’ and ‘Keeping Me Alive’ from 2012’s Ambush album. Then added ‘Let it Burn’, ‘What You Say’ and ‘Hot Blooded’ from 2008’s ‘Animal Instinct Two’ on Live Wire Records (the thirteen tears in question).
If you’re confused don’t worry the press release cant even decide whether its “a fine selection of songs that were written and recorded over the last 13 years” or “The biggest of the newest hits from the last 8 years.” So if you’re a fan then you’re probably in for a bit of a disappointment if you have the last few albums as you’ll you’re getting that you haven’t heard before is an orchestral version of ‘Spoils of War’ which is nice, and an old B’-Side never on CD before entitled ‘Plug Me In’ that originally appeared on the B-Side of the ‘Never Give In’ single from 2017.
Part of me gets so frustrated with releases like this that offer so little to long haul fans whilst the other part of me can’t help hoping that an effective repackaging like this might just get the band the recognition their recent years deserve. Don’t get me wrong I’m a fan of vintage Tygers of Pan Tang, but I much prefer the latest Target releases and if you were asking me for recommendations I’d be pushing you not towards this mish-mash of the last few tears but to investing in both Tygers of Pan Tang (2016) and Ritual (2019).
If you love Hard Rock with great guitars and powerful vocals and a rhythm section that knows their stuff you really can’t go past modern day Tygers – this compilation is full of killer riffs, great songwriting, or as the press release says “Party songs, heavy songs, rock anthems, groovy rock’n’rollers, catchy songs cleverly constructed with accessible melodies, the band has packed all of this in to this meaty package.” If that’s what you want it’s all here no matter where you press play!
The band has a tour planned in for early 2022 and is hoping to widen and include more dates worldwide as circumstances permit.
