Pettology

If you were a loyal reader of Hit Parade magazine in the early to mid-'80s, you would have undoubtedly come across several adverts and/or articles about the obscure Scottish metal band, Heavy Pettin'. Best known for having their debut album co-produced by Queen's Brian May (in fact, the most published photo of the band features its members in a studio surrounding May) and longtime Queen producer Mack, Heavy Pettin' never fully lived up to their early hype. Still, a small cult following remains for the band (especially in Europe), as a four disc box set was issued in 2006, Pettology. Included are Heavy Pettin's first two albums in their entirety — the aforementioned May/Mack produced Lettin Loose from 1983 and Rock Ain't Dead from 1985 — each of which contains bonus tracks. And rounding out the set is a DVD that includes a performance from this era, "Live at the Astoria '84," as well as an additional CD that features solely the audio from the DVD. And although they took their name from an early UFO album, Heavy Pettin's songs was more aligned with such melodic radio rockers as Journey (but not nearly as memorable) rather than true heavy metal — as evidenced by such tracks as "In and out of Love" and "Sole Survivor." As a result, Pettology is recommended strictly for Heavy Pettin' fanatics.