Bubble perms, biker jackets, unfeasibly fitted jeans and bags of tunes, the north-east’s TOPT looked like they might have the wherewithal to go the sort of distances that Sheffield’s Def Leppard had done. As it was, they gave the world John Sykes (Thin Lizzy and Whitesnake) and scored a Top 20 album in the very fine The Cage.
Older fans might struggle to recognise this line-up, guitarist Robb Weir aside, but they’d find much to admire in this incarnation’s songs. Singer Jacopo Meille is the real find, sounding like a rich hybrid of a young Sean Harris and Toby Jepson. Musically, too, they still resonate, especially good in opener Only The Brave (even if that is Ozzy’s riff), and the undulating groove of Dust.
