Prefiguring the funk rock explosion of the late 80s and early 90s, Mother’s Finest were grooving like the proverbial bastards way back in the 70s, although often finding themselves butting heads with record labels that thought they ought to be focusing their attentions away from the rock and aiming for a smoother, more R&B sound.
Iron Age, released in 1981, was the band’s middle finger to such views, and was written as an antidote to 1978’s Mother Factor, for which Epic had talked the band into toning down the rock quotient. Unhappy with the lightweight results, they vowed to rectify the error by going full-on metal after finding new management and signing a record deal with Atlantic for the US.
Loose, limber and heavier than Metallica, Iron Age positively thunders from the get-go, rolling along ondirty, fat bass lines and spicy slabs of crunchy down-tuned guitars, driving opener Movin’ On setting out their stall before Luv Drug, Rock ’N Roll 2 Nite and the salacious, low-slung strut of All The Way take things stratospheric and beyond. It’s a joyfully raunchy, bravura performance right through to thrashy punk closer Earthling, and for many fans the high point of the band’s catalogue.
