This NWOBHM Band Should Have Been Huge: The Early Years of TOKYO BLADE. LET'S TALK METAL # 225

People frequently say, "X band should have been big" but let's be honest, often that's just wishful thinking from dedicated fans. In some cases, however, a band really did seem to have all the ingredients needed to go over the top and become an arena-filling act for years to come, yet they didn't.
TOKYO BLADE is one of those bands.
They were on the scene early during the NWOBHM and their songs showcased the heavy chops of IRON MAIDEN combined with the more accessible vibes of DEF LEPPARD. A winning formula, or so you would think...
Let's talk about the early years of a great 'What If' band who have persevered and had a long career but never scaled the summit of the hard 'n heavy music landscape.

[@JoeTheisen-dy8zy]

You always pick interesting bands to feature on this channel, great work. Andy Boulton is another criminally under appreciated guitarist/songwriter-at least when he’s not doing glam stuff. One big difference between Iron Maiden or Def Leppard and Tokyo Blade? Maiden and Leppard had the big bucks and big management backing them; Tokyo Blade was always on a shoestring budget. That couldn’t have been easy to overcome. Nice job. Cheers

[@letstalkmetal]

Thanks, glad you enjoy the bands I pick! You're exactly right about the management situation; Maiden and Leppard had top-notch folks overseeing their career, which is something few bands ever have.

[@andydio1964]

Great episode, I am a huge fan of Tokyo Blade especially the 80’s albums. You are the first person I ever heard talk about them.

[@letstalkmetal]

Thanks! I never hear folks talk about them either, which is a real shame. Glad some folks are enjoying this video.

[@tokyoblade-englandofficial6779]

If you checkout the 1982 Ebony Records compilation entitled "Metal Maniaxe" we recorded a track under the moniker of Mádäme Guillotine called Machine Run before changing to Tokyo Blade , in fact we recorded two songs under that name (as was the label requirement at the time) , only one made the cut the other entitled "Loosing Control" has never been released ..... Cheers for the big up 🤘🤘

[@letstalkmetal]

Oh cool, I had that compilation years ago but did not know that was y'all under the MADAME GUILLOTINE name! Thanks for the info and for leaving a comment. I've been hearing good things about the newest TB album; I'll get caught up on your newer material one day!

[@waxwiresnwaves]

I've been getting into and collecting NWOBHM the last couple of years. Learning that most singles are made of a special blend of vinyl and unobtanium, I've been sticking to albums and compilation albums. It's nice to see the singles on your channel, cheers.

[@letstalkmetal]

LOL those British pressing plants were pretty generous with the amount of unobtanium they mixed into the wax :) Nothing wrong with sticking to the albums and comps; some of the best NWOBHM tracks came from compilations.

[@ericlewis9472]

This was great Allen very educational and insightful I love learning all I can about these old nwobhm bands

[@letstalkmetal]

Thanks Eric, glad you enjoyed this one :)

[@jameshuseby9931]

Thanks again Alan received my 2cd Tokyo Blade today has 1983 original Album 2 Ep and Cave sessions would never been in collection without your channel

[@ionfarmer]

Tokyo Blade, Shok Paris & Mistreater were staples for me back in the day back in the day. So many under appreciated bands, as you so well know, and educate me about!

[@letstalkmetal]

Cheers Ion! Love Shok Paris' first two albums, such a killer band!

[@MrAaron194]

Alan!!!!, thank you. Been jamming these guys online ever since i saw this video. Great recommendation

[@letstalkmetal]

Awesome, glad you're enjoying them \m/

[@Overlorde1]

Great show Alan!

[@letstalkmetal]

Thanks Overlorde!

[@Beer_and_Pizza_Metal_Guy]

Cool video. This has got to be one of the most convoluted and confusing discographies out there. I have the first two albums and the Bernett Records version of the Madame Guillotine EP, which compiles some of the early single tracks. could've been huge if they managed to put out their first album a couple of years earlier.

[@letstalkmetal]

Nice, I don't have that EP. Yeah, feels like hey just missed the boat by a year or so :(

[@Beer_and_Pizza_Metal_Guy]

@@letstalkmetal There are like 4 different versions of that EP, and of course each one of these has a different tracklist than the others... SMH

[@letstalkmetal]

@@Beer_and_Pizza_Metal_Guy LOL It's weird how that was such a common practice in the early 80s. Every label that issued a version tweaked something about the release.

[@bvdaussiemetalhead9338]

Great band 🤘I have the first 3 albums plus the Warrior of the rising sun comp on OG vinyl.

[@letstalkmetal]

Nice! I've never had that comp.

[@albertampel4175]

"When two amoebas get closer..." Hehe... The NWOBHM I´d compare to the time when the fish got out of the water and started walk. The first two Tokyo Blade are awesome! I know a couple of the later ones but boy...! I haven´t heard the last one. I´ve seen them a couple of times over the last 20 years but it always felt like a coverband to me.

[@letstalkmetal]

Now all I can see if a picture of Paul DiAnno crawling out of the primordial ooze and creeping towards the heavy metal barn dance :)

[@timholden3436]

Good introduction and discussion wrt the early material under different names. I have the Canadian version of the first album on the collectible Banzai label. It has yet another slight cover variant with "Midnight Rendezvous" in red square font in a symmetry-spoiling 1" x 2" white box impinging on the dragon's left wing. this release does NOT have the Blue Mountains of Virginia outro after Sunrise in Tokyo, Tr B4. Otherwise it has the US Combat Records version track listing. None of the Canadian releases have a merchandise or other insert unfortunately (not surprising as they would be for the wrong country). Third release Madame Guillotine 12' 3-track EP is a top opener. Mine is on UK Powerstation, the only record in my collection on that label. For the 3rd album "Blackhearts and Jaded Spades" we were given a gatefold with loads of blurb and pics, but boring Steam Hammer label. I have never seen a 7" 45rpm single here in Greater Vancouver BC.

[@letstalkmetal]

Thanks for the details, sounds like you've got some cool versions of those. I'll keep an eye out for that Banzai version, if only to have one copy that doesn't end with that silly outro :)

[@jameshuseby9931]

Thanks Alan need some Tokyo Blade in collection

[@letstalkmetal]

Cheers James!

[@JeffMcCormack777]

I love Tokyo Blade. Have a couple OG copies on vinyl, but then bought the HRR reissues not too long ago, and have been keeping up with the newer releases. Love that Alan came back in these later years, I always like his stuff, and of course love it when they released Night of the Blade...the Night Before. Love, love, love those High Vaultage releases. I wish I could get a copy of those Genghis Kahn singles, but yes, they are pricy these days for sure. Like you, I kind of lost interest on the ones that followed, but quickly picked back up when Alan came back, and now have been going back to try to acquire the other stuff. If you're a sick little monkey, I am too when it come to Tokyo Blade early years. lol

[@letstalkmetal]

Cool to find another sick little monkey to join the TB fan club! I should get around to checking out the newer stuff sometime.

[@GRockVC]

Good spotlight there Alan. Yeah I think they probably could have been a bigger band and more popular but like you say there only seems to ever be a very small number of bands from a certain genre/time period that really make it big. I'd say they're on par with the likes of Diamond Head and Satan, some excellent material but remain overlooked. I've liked what I've heard from their new album that's just been released last week, so I think i'll jump back on the TB bandwagon and pick it up.

[@letstalkmetal]

Yeah I think they were just a little too late to the party to be counted among the top bands. I haven't heard the new one but other folks have said it's good.

[@robertmorris8371]

Nice video Alan Tokyo Blade are again one those bands always heard their name mentioned never checked them out certainly those first two albums would be for me I heard killers era maiden in the guitars hopefully with their latter era stuff they would have tried to recapture that early sound like a lot NWOBHM bands have done with recent albums ie satan tygers of pan tang etc

[@letstalkmetal]

I think you'd like their early stuff Robert, they seem like a band that is in your wheelhouse

[@ErickNWOBHM]

Yes, early and pre Blade were absolutely terrific. Love their high energy sound. Also, for those interested, Classic Metal released a fat box CD with both versions of The Night Before in 2022. Still available out there.

[@letstalkmetal]

Thanks for pointing that out, I've never seen that version. I'm glad it's available for folks who are interested in checking it out.

[@larilahtela]

Tokyo Blade's last 3 albums have all been very good. They were automatic purchases for me (on CD) once I learned Alan Marsh was back. Unbroken is probably my favourite of the three, but Dark Revolution is excellent, too.

[@DokkenSabbath]

Great band! I like the majority of the catalog but I haven't heard everything. I quite like the albums No Remorse and Dark Revolution. They are quite solid later albums. I actually like their more commercial albums like Blackhearts and Ain't Misbehavin'. But nothing touches the first two albums and the EP. I agree, the band should have done better and been more successful. My favorite Tokyo Blade song is actually Straight Through the Heart (Lightning Strikes) from the No Remorse album.

[@scottoz7891]

I really like Tokyo Blades earlier years also. AGREED not really mentioned much. Had a Great twin guitar attack...❤

[@letstalkmetal]

Yeah, great guitar work! \m/

[@Lazerrus]

Nice first state and second state butcher cov......I mean Tokyo Blade labels ;-) Great stuff as always Alan. Good tip on the white label boots.

[@letstalkmetal]

LOL No Beatles terminology please Duane, this is an insect-free area!

[@jacobbrockman366]

John Wiggins is a fantastic guitar player! Unfortunately he departed after Blackhearts and Jaded Spades.

[@letstalkmetal]

Thanks for confirming that, I wasn't sure when he left. Great guitarist!

[@Frank_nwobhm]

I'd have left before that dismal release. They really fell off the cliff with that one.

[@letstalkmetal]

@@Frank_nwobhm I haven't heard that one in forever, maybe never? I get a couple of their mixed up after the early stuff.

[@Frank_nwobhm]

@@letstalkmetal It's really bad. But it serves as proof for why they shouldn't have axed Alan Marsh.

[@Soedel.Deluex]

Please Live stream !! With Tygers of Pan Tang 😊

[@letstalkmetal]

That would be pretty wild :)

[@hattorihanzo2275]

The little things done to distinguish pressing can be amusing. Best of them must be later pressings of the first Bathory record getting a slight variant of the fur tuft on the goat's shoulder.

[@TheProphetJoshua]

Their new stuff is good too...their career trajectory is almost identical to Tygers of Pan Tang.

[@letstalkmetal]

I hadn't thought of that but they and Tygers did mirror each other didn't they? Jess Cox and Alan Marsh should start a support group for unappreciated vocalists :)

[@n0s0luti0n]

I bought the Knights of the Blade box a while ago but haven't explored it yet. In the booklet they give Andy Boulton's version of why Alan Marsh left. I'll just type it out: "Powerstation (the label) wanted him out, but we didn't, and we went to Alan and said 'look, here's the score; they don't like you, they don't think you're a good frontman, they don't think you're a great singer, they want you out; but we can fight them, but we need to know how you feel' and he said, 'well, if that's the way they feel about it, I want out,' and sadly that was that."

[@letstalkmetal]

Thanks for posting that Scott, I hadn't seen that before. I don't think Powerstation was in a position to be telling bands what to do lineup-wise; not exactly Warner Bros or Elektra.

[@Frank_nwobhm]

So instead they got Vick Wright who came across as a 13 year old girl impersonating David Lee Roth.

[@n0s0luti0n]

​@@letstalkmetal The story was presented in a way that made it clear that this was solely Andy's version, and that he has said different things in the past. 😀

[@letstalkmetal]

@@n0s0luti0n Good to know, such stories do tend to change over time don't they?

[@richardcrook2112]

Great first single, first album's ok. Not sure after that. I actually like a few of the songs of the Mr Ice album which is a terrible admission, but I'm actually from Salisbury so maybe it's a cope!

[@letstalkmetal]

LOL There are much worse sins that liking Mr Ice :)

[@ashbowen6551]

I love Tokyo Blade--at least those first two LPs anyway. After that, I'm out. I was in a record store, and the guy behind the counter sold me a copy of the Samurai--Sacred Blade album by telling me Alan Marsh formed Samurai after he got the boot from Tokyo Blade. That's not true, but the Sacred Blade album sure sounds like Son of Tokyo Blade.

[@letstalkmetal]

Good call Ash, Samurai was in the same vein. I haven't heard Sacred Blade in forever. I don't remember if Weapon Master was as good or not. A band I ought to revisit.

[@Frank_nwobhm]

Love those early Tokyo Blade albums. I believe they committed career suicide when they replaced Alan Marsh with Vick Wright. Alan's influence on the songwriting would seem to have kept them on a heavier course. Nothing wrong with Vicks vocals, but there was nothing wrong with Alan's either. It's interesting that Alan went on to form Shogun with former Chinatown guitarist Danny Gilwym. These guys certainly had a real Asian hangup going on in their band names.

[@letstalkmetal]

THe Japanese imagery during the NWOBHM has always interested me; I don't know where it sprang from but lots of bands had names, album titles, or 'Rising Sun' pattern clothes.

[@Frank_nwobhm]

@@letstalkmetal I've seen it attributed to the overall rise in Eastern martial arts culture with all the Bruce Lee stuff going on in the early and mid 70's. It seems plausible.

[@letstalkmetal]

@@Frank_nwobhm Could be, though the timing is a little off if the bruce Lee craze was more mid-70s.

[@Frank_nwobhm]

@letstalkmetal It was resonating through the ensuing years...perhaps.

[@peterbrickley6041]

Death angel on ultraviolence ", also could have left their jokes off and a few other bands stuff!

[@letstalkmetal]

Yeah, jokes on albums rarely turn out well.

[@mazeoftorment805]

their first full length coming out not till 83 insted of 80/81 probably didn’t help. though that didn’t help saxon get as popular as maiden so really who knows.the first 2 albums I like a good amount myself havnt herd anything after that though.

[@letstalkmetal]

You're right Devon, 83 was late to be getting your first album out- you immediately had to compete with the success of Pyromania.

[@Frank_nwobhm]

By '83, their sound was already a bit dated. Nobody was going to stand out and make it with dated material when the landscape was changing so rapidly.

[@letstalkmetal]

@@Frank_nwobhm Not without a big promotional push anyway. But yeah, by the end of 83 bands were starting to choose whether to go heavy or go hair.

[@Frank_nwobhm]

@@letstalkmetal Right. There were loads of bands in that 2nd wave of NWOBHM that were kind of re-hashing the same sound that had been popular3 and 4 years before. Couple that with Great Britain being a relatively small playing field and the fickle nature of the British press and fandom along with an international invasion of NWOBHM influenced bands from all around the world bringing their own music into England, and it made things tough for the home-grown bands to make it.

[@letstalkmetal]

@@Frank_nwobhm I think John Tucker made that point about American bands starting to get popular in the UK around 83-84. It seems like in every metal subgenre it only takes a couple of years for a horde of soundalikes to come out of the woodwork when a new scene forms. You're right about the 2nd wavers in the NWOBHM, but the same could be said for thrash, death, and black metal; a few groups gain popularity, then a hundred imitators follow in their wake.

[@samuel8412]

Vick Wright's other project, Johnny Crash, did AC/DC better than AC/DC, at the time. Just like Rhino Bucket. I'm a huge AC/DC fan but gotta be honest.

[@letstalkmetal]

Oh cool, I didn't know that's what they sounded like, thanks for pointing that out.

[@paulomartins7900]

The recordings doesn't sound too good

[@letstalkmetal]

Hmm, not sure why that is

[@Frank_nwobhm]

Maybe try listening to them on your system if you have one. The recordings were as well done as anything else from the era and were better than most.

[@ryanpaul1403]

Dissection must have literally ripped off the acoustic bit on "if heaven is hell"

[@letstalkmetal]

LOL I had not thought of that :)