EZO – Fire Fire (Release Year – 1989)
The Japanese band known as Flatbacker had two releases under their belt, before they were discovered by Gene Simmons of KISS who suggested the name change to EZO.
The band was signed to Geffen records and released a couple of albums in the late 80’s.
Fire Fire is the second and final release by this four piece
metal band. The band lost their deal with Geffen and broke up after this record was released. Their current whereabouts are unknown. Fire Fire is a very slicked produced record. EZO sounds like a million bucks on this disc. The tunes fall between somewhere between hard rock and heavy metal, and is in the vein of Loudness. Shoyo Iida’s fretwork does not disappoint on this record. Masaki Yamada is an above average singer/screamer. He even had a brief stint in Loudness
Fire Fire is a pretty good record for the most part. My favorite cuts are Love Junkie, the title track Fire Fire, Streetwalker, and Million Miles Away.
Both EZO records are a chore to find. If you are able to grab either one at a decent price, do so. They are pulling down big bucks on Ebay and on Amazon.com. Happy Hunting!
Rating:
Out of 10
Track Listing:
1. Love Junkie
2. Night Crawler
3. Fire Fire
4. Wild Talk
5. Burn Down the Night
6. Black Moon
7. Back to Zero
8. Cold-Blooded
9. She’s Ridin’ the Rhythm
10. Streetwalker
11. Million Miles Away
EZO is:
Masaki Yamada – Vocals
Taro Takahashi – Bass
Hiro Homma – Drums
Shoyo Iida – Guitar
Leave A Comment ↓
Wow! How did I miss these guys?
My first listen to Fire Fire blew me away. Definitely an awesome CD. Thanks again for another spot on recommendation!
I’m a huge fan of Loudness, bought all their tapes as soon as they were released back in the day (and have all their records as mp3s now). How can anyone say their early releases sucked? Thunder In the East, Lightning Strikes and Hurricane Eyes are all classic 80’s metal discs!!
I’m with everyone on EZO. Loudness pretty much sucked. They were lightweights and perhaps a bit of a novelty being from Japan. EZO actually put out some good stuff with some teeth, which is unusual for glam.
I’m with Bic & Que on this one. E-Z-O is one of my favorite under-the-radar bands of the 1980s. I first discovered them in 1996 while DJ’ing at the University of Kentucky and spun “Here It Comes” from the first album constantly…from VINYL!!! I’m still looking for the Japanese-language version of “Here It Comes” (if anyone can help me out, hint hint wink wink).
This will probably ruffle a few feathers…..but we like this band even more than Loudness…..
I’ve never heard this one, but I have their first LP and it’s one that I really like from that era. I was never quite sure why it didn’t take off. Maybe it was too good at a time when everyone wanted to hear music that sucked.