HOLY EXPEDITION

Bow Wow's second official live album, 1983's Holy Expedition, could have tapped into almost 100 songs spread across the Japanese hard rockers' extensive nine studio LPs, but conspicuously focused almost entirely on their most recent outings, which had witnessed a return to hard rock after the group's failed pop music sojourn. Having been recorded at London's legendary Marquee Theatre, on May 9, 1983, Holy Expedition also served notice of the Japanese band's imminent relocation to the U.K. in a bid to further their career beyond the Land of the Rising Sun. That bid would ultimately fail miserably for numerous reasons, but one would never have guessed it while listening to this confident and quite triumphant performance before a small but clearly very partisan crowd of longtime admirers, keen on welcoming the group with open arms. Fueled by this enthusiasm, Bow Wow literally charge headlong through a batch of thundering yet infectious hard rockers like "Getting Back on the Road," "Touch Me, I'm on Fire," and "Devil Woman," barely pausing for breath along the way. In fact, at just eight energized songs, Holy Expedition might have been qualified as an EP were it not for the band's extended jams through old nugget "Theme of Bow Wow" (crowd participation included) and the newer "Can't Get Back to You," which featured hyperbolic solo spots from both drummer Toshihiro Niimi and guitar wizard Kyoji Yamamoto. As with all Bow Wow live albums, the latter's stunning virtuosity provided a separate spectacle all its own, making this release an absolute must-have for devotees, but not quite essential for first-time listeners.