Agent Steel

This was the first band page to really hit big time with the emails...nearly all of them asking if they could buy my original Combat version of "Unstoppable Force"! Granted, the mails have tapered off since the Century Media reissues were announced...in fact, I haven't gotten an email regarding Agent Steel in years.

Oh, and in case you haven't heard, the band just recently reformed (God only knows why...); they've put out a new CD, plus they performed "Sweet Leaf" on Hell Rules: A Tribute to Black Sabbath.

"Skeptics Apocalypse" (Century Media reissue)

  1. "The Calling" (0:48)
  2. "Agents of Steel" (3:04)
  3. "Taken by Force" (2:30)
  4. "Evil Eye/Evil Minds" (3:05)
  5. "Bleed for the Godz" (3:28)
  6. "Children of the Sun" (4:53)
  7. "144,000 Gone" (4:35)
  8. "Guilty as Charged" (4:59)
  9. "Back to Reign" (3:23)
  10. "Calling 98 for Skeptics" (0:57)
  11. "The Unexpected"--live (5:06)

Here it is, the Century Media reissue of their debut album, which is quite a bit more raw (and therefore better) than their second album. The two bonus tracks are pretty useless, since the "1998 remix" of "The Calling" isn't really a song, and the live song is of purely HORRIBLE quality...sounds like they took it straight from a cheap bootleg recording!!!

"Back to Reign" was re-recorded as "Debt of Pain" when guitarist Kurt Colfelt joined Holy Terror...hmm, never knew that before. Nor did I know that "Taken by Force" is a cover song, originally appearing on Metal Massacre IV by Sceptre, with John Cyriis as the guitarist. (He must have really SUCKED, if he thought switching to vocalist was an improvement!!)

"Unstoppable Force/Mad Locust Rising" (Century Media reissue)

  1. "Unstoppable Force" (3:52)
  2. "Never Surrender" (3:52)
  3. "Indestructive" (3:30)
  4. "Chosen to Stay" (4:46)
  5. "Still Searching" (4:12)
  6. "Rager" (4:06)
  7. "The Day at Guyana"--instrumental (6:38)
  8. "Nothin' Left" (4:22)
  9. "Traveler" (3:49)
  10. "(The Swarm is Upon Us)"--instrumental (0:16)
  11. "Mad Locust Rising" (4:14)
  12. "The Ripper" (2:32)
  13. "Let it be Done/The Day at Guyana" (4:39)

I'm really mystified by life's little ironies sometimes. I remember finding the original Combat CD (used) at the Wherehouse, for $6.99, and wondered if I should buy it or not. I finally chose to get it, not because it's that great (musically it's okay, but the singer's whiny voice really annoys me) but figured it was pretty rare and I would most likely never see it again. Turns out I was right...within a year of this page's debut, I started getting NUMEROUS email requests from people wanting to buy it, or copy it, or asking me where they can find it! Of course, I decided to gloat instead. :))))

Anyway...the email requests suddenly tapered off once the Century Media reissues were announced. At which point I figured, what the hell, might as well trade it while it's still worth something. Contacted a few people, but nothing ever came through. So I figured I'd just keep it...UNTIL...CM reissued this CD with MAD LOCUST RISING as bonus tracks!! Goddamn fucking NIMRODS!! Why oh WHY didn't you add those tracks to "Skeptics Apocalypse" instead??? So it was a moot point by then, I had no choice but to upgrade (it's got a cover of Judas Priest's "The Ripper", after all.) So I contacted a big-time trader (by the name of "Sentinel Steel") and offered this for trade. (Along with Heathen's "Breaking the Silence"...see that page for more details.) Finally, we agreed on a pretty good trade...he was even kind enough to take that crappy RBC Axe bootleg off my hands...

But wait, it gets better. The night after the morning I finalized the trade, I was sitting in #seismic, when Ralf Walter suddenly announced, "CAN ANYONE GET ME UNSTOPPABLE FORCE??" You should have seen his reaction when I told him I'd already traded it, I thought he was gonna cry. (He was working on getting a Wild Dogs CD...whatever.) Well, I owed this guy a favor, so I quickly contacted Mr. Steel and asked him to delete this CD from my trade. (My ISP decided to blow up at the same time, which made things even MORE chaotic...but I digress.) Finally, I worked out an amended deal and sent the CD to Ralf. SHEESH!!! Never did I imagine, when I first bought this stupid thing that it would create such chaos. But whatever. I got the "Mad Locust Rising" on CD now, which is all that matters.

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