"Yesterday's Heroes" is not a new album of the Hamburg based band, but a quite interesting collection. Two brand new tracks, plus five more by NOT FRAGILE and a bunch of cover versions that are absolut cult: MOTÖRHEAD, THE SWEET, SLADE, Brian Connolly and - the BAY CITY ROLLERS! Of course everything in real Metal versions, for sure you've never heard those songs like that before, hehe.

For all that do not know NOT FRAGILE yet, the guys already are around for 20 years and play Power Metal, but not the modern kind, but a variant that at times is not that far away from Thrash, without big frills, rather very straightforward and fully equipped with the spirit of the Eighties. Even the two new tracks "Immortal Legions" and "Blood On The Land" deeply breathe that time, but the have been updated a but, without losing their roots, far from that even, especially Torsten Buczko's voice is quite something different, some might call it cranky, this voice comes straight from the glorious Eighties!

Their own sound is a little leaning towards the early pumpkin brigade from the same town, but without being a copy, that only on the side. NOT FRAGILE hardly had any success with it, but still you have to attest songs like "Immortal Legions", "Blood On The Land" or also "Made Of Metal" and the epic "Cheltenham" that they qualitatively are standing high above the rather limited success of the band…

The cover versions are all stuff that you normally do not hear on CDs like this, especially in such metalized versions. Sure, MOTÖRHEAD's "Locomotive" did not need much metalization, but still thunders through the speakers, the cult factor is even higher with the classics of THE SWEET and SLADE and even the Brian Connolly ballad "Hypnotized" shreds your speakers. That they have replaced all keyboards by guitar licks and generally proudly proclaims that no keyboards, synthesizers and similar stuff has been used on this album only adds to that.

One word to the closing track "Yesterday's Hero" by the BAY CITY ROLLERS. The track has been co-written by a certain George Young, who is the older brother of a certain brother duo named Angus and Malcolm, also known from a small, hardly noticeable band called AC/DC… In any way a cool version that's a lot of fun!

Anyways, "Yesterday's Heroes" is a very enjoyable album, which, as said before, has a damn high cult factor because of its unusual cover versions and should not only appeal to fans of the Eighties :)

Available at Hellion Records, for 15,50 Euro. (Online August 24, 2003)