The first Quartz album falls into a unique class of bands from the latter half of the 1970s and into the very early 80s that were somewhere between 70s styled rock and the heavy metal movement that was about to explode. The album opener Mainline Riders features a main riff that would be right at home on Sabbath’s Heaven & Hell album a few years later.
Seeing that Tony Iommi did in fact produce this album and the band featured Sabbath keyboardist Geoff Nichols (who played keyboards and guitar in Quartz), it all kind of falls into place. The full album is pretty varied with a 70s vibe but the songs feel sharper and more angular in a 1980s style. Unfortunately, it didn’t sell well at the time and the album has since been reissued a couple of times until 2018 when it made a few rounds of new pressings. It’s a strong record and I’d say it’s aged quite well. After a three year gap, Quartz (minus Geoff Nichols) would release more albums, most notably the fully metallic Stand Up And Fight in 1980 and they are still going as of today. Nichols stayed with Iommi as an on and off again official member of Black Sabbath into the 1990s.
This is a 2018 UK reissue on Back In Black. It’d say it’s a nice pressing with original art and a gatefold cover (which is just lyrics). The LP sounds great.
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