Retroactive Records has done it again! Just released from the vaults from Boston based band Mass are two EXCELLENT classic reissues! Up first we have the ‘Take You Home’ EP originally issued on Medussa Records in 1988 and also the 1989 smash hit release ‘Voices in the Night’ originally on Enigma Records. I actually went back to visit my original cassette tape versions of both of these just to hear the improvements made on these and I have to say that Cliffy Huntington has done it again! Another truly amazing job here on both of these reissues. If you think you have heard these before, think again! These remasters have vastly improved that original sound and made these releases brand new once again!
Let’s start by looking in to the reissue of ‘Take You Home’. This EP was originally released as a 6 track EP featuring the tracks Pedal to the metal, Can’t get enough, Want it back, Over you, Take you home and Holy One. If you have not heard these tracks and you’re a fan of that classic melodic rock and metal sound of bands like Stryper, Def Leppard and Cinderella you need to check these albums out! Louis St August and all of the members of Mass are truly specialists in this melodic rock AOR genre. If that’s not enough for you, on this release you even get an exclusive bonus track called ‘Under The Gun’.
Up next we have the reissue of the classic release ‘Voices in the Night’. I made mention of a Stryper similarity when describing the sound of ‘Take You Home’, well that was absolutely intentional. In case you did not know this album was originally produced by Stryper front man Michael Sweet, hence you can hear a lot of similarities throughout this album. That is in no way a complaint at all, since Stryper practically invented the classic melodic rock sound in the 80’s.
I was in fact originally turned on to this album in 1989 through my love of the band Stryper and hearing that Michael produced this album. Once I picked it up and heard it for the first time, I knew this album could stand up against the best of them on its own and hence I was a life-long Mass fan. Well hearing this classic reissue again completely remastered took me back to the first time I heard the album and I was once again reminded of how classic the band Mass actually is! The album originally contained 11 blistering tracks of hard rock, but just like ‘Take You Home’ this remastered reissue comes with another cool bonus track, this time around we get the track ‘Stevie’ added to the end of this classic release.
While these 2 albums from the late 80’s may be a good start to check out Mass, I encourage you to go back and check out the rest of the Mass back catalog, the bands most recent release ‘Sea of Black’ is absolutely exceptional and shows you that this band has still got it and I personally can’t wait to see what the future holds for this Boston based band.
Rating 8 out of 10
