In the middle of ‘Edge of the World’ recording sessions, with John Entwistle (The Who) and the largely renowned drummer Cozy Powel, Atlantic asked our Master Glenn to work new music with some different musicians from all over the world.
New material was written, and the Rolling Stones track ‘Paint it Black’ was arranged in a thrashy and glam version.
Mark Dodson was chosen by Glenn to collaborate with production, after several works together in JP. He gathered some of the invited musicians to make the album sound consistent.
The album was recorded in LA with drummers Bruce Wackerman (Bad Religion) and Shannon Larkin (Godsmack), and the bass players Robert Trujillo (Metallica), Billy Sheean (Mr. Big) and CJ Devillar. Whitfield Crane joined for some backing and harmony vocals in two tracks.
In Atlantic the final mix was received with enthusiasm and the executives boldly supported the setlist and started working on the pre-release. Baptism of Fire was shortly born.
I admire these guys mostly for their impeccable technique, but also because they were pioneers in music production. The quality of their records shows a high level of knowledge in music production techniques. I am currently studying music engineering and I found a couple of things that I see in their records as an inspiration, for example, how they achieved this massive sound but at the same time, getting this rich, balanced mixing.
About these days recording his first solo material, Glenn remember “…It was great working with these guys. There was mutual respect on both sides and they had bundles of enthusiasm and energy. It certainly kept me on my toes. It’s great to hear Cozy and Billy Sheean playing incredibly together on the instrumental title track “Baptizm Of Fire” or John’s unique eight-string bass on “The Healer” and Shannon Larkin’s energy and technique on “Paint It Black”. The contributions by Bruce Wackerman were very impressive, he was still very young, but so talented!”
Ten years later a remastered version was released, with a very special bonus track called ‘New Breed’. The special guests on the song are Glenn’s daughter Karina, writing the lyrics, and his son Rick, playing solid drums. An intrepid classic metal song by the most respectful heavy metal family clan.
01 – Hard Core (4:41)
02 – Paint It Black (2:52)
03 – Enter The Storm (5:56)
04 – Fuel Me Up (3:02)
05 – Extinct (5:34)
06 – Baptizm Of Fire (5:17)
07 – The Healer (4:58)
08 – Cruise Control (4:06)
09 – Kill Or Be Killed (3:22)
10 – Voodoo Brother (5:33)
11 – Left For Dead (3:40)
12 – Himalaya (7:41)
13 – New Breed (5:23)