Idefi was the third album of the Texas metal band Drive that went unreleased over twenty years ago due to record company issues, the emergence of the dreaded "grunge" sound and the untimely death of its lead singer and lead guitarist. Now 20th Century Music and the surviving members of the band have remastered and released Idefi, a full album of songs from the 80's pop metal heyday.
The album opens with "Inherit the Wind" and you listen to a gifted vocalist and astounding guitarist and wonder why bands such as these did not make a bigger mark in the music world (before the setbacks and tragedies.) "Otra Vez" is a tender ballad sung entirely in Spanish with a twist for having a Whitesnake-influenced lyrical guitar solo. And "Padilla" is a full tilt rocker sung by the whole band also in Spanish. The guitarist alternates between blazing solos and Mexican mariachi acoustic strumming. These inclusions are truly a surprise and a delight. I haven't come across this arrangement ever in an American metal band.
If you ever dreamt of a combination that merged Zebra with Dokken, the track "U or Me" is definitely going to fit the bill. I find it's precisely these types of artistic chances that sets Drive apart of many bands of that era. Its heart and soul push tracks "Insanity", "U12B" and "Under the Spanish Sun" beyond the standard formula and into a higher level of musical strata. The title track "Idefi" is a blazing heap of heavy harmonics and heavenly guitar phrasing. My compliments to the drummer who gets the opportunity to stand out and takes this metal weighty song and gives it a blues percussion.
One of the last tracks of this divergent album of sonic advancement and brilliance is "Woman" a Deep Purple moody homage with a singer of wider range (no offense DP) and transforms a mere song into a metal opera of atmospherics, searing solos and rock strong band craft. The same can be said for the eight minute blues-masterpiece that showcases their pride and power. The band plays in such unison as if the song matters more than individual talents. This truth is a tell-tale sign of a superband that might have broke through if they only had more time. Rest in peace, vocalist, David Taylor and guitarist, Rick Chavez. Your fate shatters our heart. Your music mends it for another day.
Track List 1. Inherit the Wind 4:12
2. Insanity 5:43
3. Otra Vez 4:21
4. Pandilla 6:50
5. U12B 4:50
6. U or Me 5:04
7. Under the Spanish Sun 5:40
8. Idefi 5:13
9. Woman 5:47
10. Not Yet 5:12
11. Enemy Win 5:11
12. Me and My Carnal 8:36
13. Fool 4:58
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Idefi was the third album of the Texas metal band Drive that went unreleased over twenty years ago due to record company issues, the emergence of the dreaded "grunge" sound and the untimely death of its lead singer and lead guitarist. Now 20th Century Music and the surviving members of the band have remastered and released Idefi, a full album of songs from the 80's pop metal heyday.
The album opens with "Inherit the Wind" and you listen to a gifted vocalist and astounding guitarist and wonder why bands such as these did not make a bigger mark in the music world (before the setbacks and tragedies.) "Otra Vez" is a tender ballad sung entirely in Spanish with a twist for having a Whitesnake-influenced lyrical guitar solo. And "Padilla" is a full tilt rocker sung by the whole band also in Spanish. The guitarist alternates between blazing solos and Mexican mariachi acoustic strumming. These inclusions are truly a surprise and a delight. I haven't come across this arrangement ever in an American metal band.
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