Violation, legendary Bay Area heavy metal heroes, have released their first anthology as part of the »The Underground Metal Vault« series, courtesy of Ripple Music! It’s a brand-new series of 12-inch vinyl and CDs dedicated to the overlooked heroes of metal from the late ’70s and early ’80s.
Ripple Music’s new 12-inch vinyl and CD series, »The Underground Metal Vault«, will shine a light on a whole bunch of lesser-known metal bands that popped up on the global scene between the end of the ’70s and the start of the ’80s. Fired up by the raw passion of the NWOBHM movement and by the rediscovered Judas Priest, Scorpions and Van Halen, who were getting more popular by the day, a generation of leather-jacketed local-scene musicians had way more fire in them than most of the big names of the time could ever have imagined.
Violation were right at the front of these outfits. A band of Bay Area musicians formed in the late ’70s, they gigged relentlessly until they caught the attention of Y&T’s legendary drummer, Leonard Haze. He offered to produce the three tracks that came out on the »Meet Me At Midnight« single, and even laid down the drums himself for the B-side. Soon after, Shrapnel Records put them on the »US Metal Vol. 3« compilation, and label boss Mike Varney was blown away.
Tracklist for “The Anthology”:
1. Balls Out
2. Coming After You
3. Don’t Leave Me
4. Following My Heart
5. Goin Down Fighting
6. Gonna Get To You
7. Hot Fire
8. I Found You
9. I Need You Back
10. Longest Night
11. Meet Me At Midnight
12. Ready To Roll
13. Balls Out (original version)
14. Goin Down Fighting (original version)
15. Gonna Get To You (original version)
Violation formed in the late ’70s in Livermore, California, founded by Paul Harris and Perry Fotos, who were soon joined by bassist Brian Khoury and drummer Mike Pavlick. Rehearsals happened after hours at Khoury’s family record shop, Galaxy Records – the perfect spot to make a racket with nothing to interrupt or disturb them.
Starting out as a cover band, Violation wowed crowds with note-perfect renditions of UFO, AC/DC, Thin Lizzy and Blue Öyster Cult, while Harris’s solo in »Rock Bottom«, played with pinpoint precision down to the last note, grew into a local legend. Originals soon followed, including the fan favorites »Hot Fire« and the ballad »Coming After You«, built on Harris’s melodic hooks and screaming solos. The band spread its reach across the whole Bay Area, playing cult venues like Keystone, The Stone and Old Waldorf, and sharing stages with Mötley Crüe, Metallica, Quiet Riot, Y&T and others. In time they became headliners at clubs, including Whisky a Go Go in Hollywood.
In 1982, after Pavlick left, the remaining members recorded three originals and were joined by Leonard Haze, Y&T’s drummer. The »Meet Me at Midnight« single came out with Balls Out on the B-side, and it sold well both in the US and abroad, helped along by a review in Kerrang! that rocketed it to the top of their charts. With new drummer Don “Rocket” Stephenson and vocalist Tim Hall, Violation got an invitation from Shrapnel Records to join the compilation album “US Metal, Vol. 3”. For that compilation they re-recorded a version of Gonna Get to You. But soon after the album came out, Hall left the band, and Violation called it quits in 1983.
