Fastway – Eat Dog Eat

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After a somewhat lukewarm reception to their 2008 tour, when former Little Angels and current Dio Disciples vocalist Toby Jepson was first introduced as the new voice of “Fast” Eddie Clarke’s Fastway, further activity from the band didn’t seem entirely likely. But they entered the studio two years later and have now recorded the first Fastway album in over two decades. The result is the best recorded work from Clarke of his entire career, including the classic Motörhead records he was so famously part of. Every part of Eddie’s playing on Eat Dog Eat, especially his riffs, represents his best to date, but above all each song here is probably better than almost all of the rest of the Fastway catalogue. Jepson does a superb job with the vocals here (along with his incredible performances with Dio Disciples, he really is in the form of his life right now) and every track is catchy without sacrificing any hard rock feel, especially Deliver Me, which is a bona fide future anthem. In terms of the sound, it’s perhaps closer to recent UFO than it is to older Fastway, so thankfully there’s no return of the keyboard-laden Ratt-isms of the mid-’80s, and no ballads, while some of the riffs are easily the heaviest Eddie’s ever written, particularly sinister groover Who Do You Believe. Indeed, as catchy as the chorus hooks and vocal lines are, Eddie has craftest equally hummable riffs. Along with the new releases from Kruk and The Wheel, Eat Dog Eat is one of the best hard rock records of 2011.

Written by Andy Lye
More: 2011, Albums, Hard Rock, Quick.Play Reviews, Fastway