Bow Wow – Charge (1977)

01. Jet Jive — 3:31
02. Must Say »Adieu» — 6:31
03. Blue Eyed Lady — 5:07
04. The Clown — 4:04
05. Rock And Roll Kid — 2:21
06. Fallen Leaves — 3:00
07. Heavy — 4:56
08. Sister Soul — 2:56
09. Behind The Mask — 4:51

Kyoji Yamamoto — lead guitar, lead vocals, percussion
Mitsuhiro Saito — guitar, lead vocals
Kenji Sano — bass, vocals
Toshihiro Nimi — drums, percussion, vocals

Despite the relative swiftness with which they churned out material during the infancy of their career, Japan's Bow Wow already sounded like seasoned veterans on their third studio album, Charge, released in late 1977, barely a year after their recording debut. This state of events largely resulted from the Tokyo-based quartet's untold hours of rehearsal woodshedding and never-say-no touring philosophy (recently highlighted by opening slots with both Aerosmith and Kiss), and so it was no wonder that the scattered focus of their first LP had so quickly given way to the unstoppable heavy rock juggernaut heard on their second opus, Signal Fire, and, subsequently, the increasingly refined and varied songcraft collected on Charge (where every bandmember contributed songs of his own). Sure, there were still enough balls-out hard rockers on hand -- "Jet Jive," "The Clown," "Heavy," etc. -- that were tailor-made to satiate the core headbanging contingent among Bow Wow's fans, but more surprising fare such as "Blue Eyed Lady" and "Fallen Leaves" found the band stretching in new directions like boogie rock (replete with Wishbone Ash-like dual guitar harmonies) and tender acoustic balladry, respectively. Still other highlights worthy of mention included the extended jamming of "Must Say ‘Adieu'," which prioritized the band's formidable instrumental capabilities along with a Kenji Sano bass solo, and album-capping power ballad "Behind the Mask," which captured the length and breadth of Bow Wow's range, from utmost subtlety to muscular power -- all of it devised by resident guitar hero Kyoji Yamamoto. All this solidified the band's reputation and has since guaranteed Charge pride of place at or near the top of Bow Wow's extensive career discography. --- Eduardo Rivadavia, Rovi

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