''Street Lethal'' is the first studio album by the American heavy metal band Racer X, released on January 1, 1986 through

Shrapnel Records Shrapnel Records is an American record label founded in 1980 by record producer Mike Varney. History Guitarist Marty Friedman (formerly of Megadeth and Cacophony), one of the label's most successful artists, first appeared on the album ''Unsu ...

. The

instrumental An instrumental is a recording normally without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through semantic widening, a broader sense of the word song may refer to instru ...

track "Y.R.O." stands for "Yngwie Rip-Off", as it bears similarities to "Black Star" by guitarist

Yngwie Malmsteen Yngwie Johan Malmsteen ( ; born Lars Johan Yngve Lannerbäck, 30 June 1963) is a Swedish guitarist. He first became known in the 1980s for his neoclassical playing style in heavy metal, and has released 22 studio albums in a career spanning ov ...

(from his 1984 album ''

Rising Force ''Rising Force'' is the first studio album by guitarist Yngwie Malmsteen, released in late 1984 through Polydor Records.bassline Bassline (also known as a bass line or bass part) is the term used in many styles of music, such as blues, jazz, funk, Dub music, dub and electronic music, electronic, traditional music, traditional, or classical music for the low-pitched Part ( ...

. It later appeared in the 2009 video game ''

Brütal Legend ''Brütal Legend'' is an action-adventure video game with real-time strategy game elements created by Double Fine and published by Electronic Arts for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. The game was released during October 2009 in North America, ...

''.

Critical reception

In a contemporary review, Paul Henderson of ''

Kerrang! ''Kerrang!'' is a British weekly magazine devoted to rock, punk and heavy metal music, currently published by Wasted Talent (the same company that owns electronic music publication ''Mixmag''). It was first published on 6 June 1981 as a one- ...

'' found ''Street Lethal'' "a pretty good album despite the occasional over-emphasis on 'melt-down' guitar pyrotechnics"; he praised the song structures, which he thought would more likely turn up on a Van Halen album, and the band's musicianship which "would put to shame many of the so-called 'big names' of heavy rock." Because of Jeff Martin's vocals and

Paul Gilbert Paul Brandon Gilbert is an American hard rock and heavy metal guitarist. He is the co-founder of the band Mr. Big, and was also a member of Racer X, with whom he released several albums. In 1996, Gilbert launched a solo career, for which h ...

's rhythmic guitar work, ''

Rock Hard "Rock Hard" is a single by the Beastie Boys, released by Def Jam Records on 12" in 1984. The track contains samples from the AC/DC song "Back in Black", which was used without obtaining legal permission, causing the record to be withdraw ...

'' reviewer found similarities with the early works of Japanese bands

Anthem An anthem is a musical composition of celebration, usually used as a symbol for a distinct group, particularly the national anthems of countries. Originally, and in music theory and religious contexts, it also refers more particularly to short ...

and

Loudness In acoustics, loudness is the subjectivity, subjective perception of sound pressure. More formally, it is defined as, "That attribute of auditory sensation in terms of which sounds can be ordered on a scale extending from quiet to loud". The rel ...

and concluded that "if you are on speed metal with level and melody, you can also blindly access this product from Mike Varney's inexhaustible talent supply". Andy Hinds at

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

called ''Street Lethal'' "essentially a showcase for then teenaged guitar prodigy Paul Gilbert" and "skillfully executed,

Judas Priest Judas Priest are an English heavy metal band formed in Birmingham in 1969. They have sold over 50 million albums and are frequently ranked as one of the greatest metal bands of all time. Despite an innovative and pioneering body of work in th ...

-style metal". Jeff Martin's singing was also likened to that of Judas Priest's

Rob Halford Robert John Arthur Halford (born 25 August 1951) is an English heavy metal singer. He is the lead vocalist of Judas Priest, which was formed in 1969 and has received accolades such as the 2010 Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance. He has b ...

and the rhythm section praised for "their part in maintaining the excitement." Hinds recommended the album for fans of shred, saying that it "has plenty to drool over." Canadian journalist

Martin Popoff Martin Popoff (born April 28, 1963) is a Canadian music journalist, critic and author. He is mainly known for writing about the genre of heavy metal music. The senior editor and co-founder of ''Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles'', he has additionally ...

appreciated Paul Gilbert's rocking guitar "not in the classical fugue state so prevalent on other shred records" and the mix of speed metal with "sturdy party rock songs."

Track listing

Personnel

Racer X * Jeff Martin – vocals *

– guitar *

Harry Gschoesser Harald "Harry" Gschoesser (born July 25, 1961) is an Austrian entrepreneur and musician. He is the founder of the social network for musicians, Speedgig. He is also a former band drummer of Racer X, which is an American heavy metal band based ...

– drums * John Alderete – bass Technical *Steve Fontano – producer,

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...

, mixing *George Horn – mastering at

Fantasy Studios Fantasy Studios was a music recording studio in Berkeley, California, at the Zaentz Media Center, known for its recording of award-winning albums including Journey's ''Escape'' and Green Day's ''Dookie''. Built as a private recording studio for ...

, Berkeley, California *

Mike Varney Mike Varney is an American record producer and music publisher. He is the founder of the Shrapnel Label Group, which includes Shrapnel Records, Tone Center Records, and Blues Bureau International. He also has a 50% stake in Magna Carta Record ...

– executive producer *

Guy Aitchison Guy Aitchison (born 1968) is an American tattoo artist and painter. He was featured on the tattoo reality television shows ''LA Ink'' and ''Tattoo Wars''. Biography Guy Aitchison was born in Michigan. He began painting album covers in 1985 and ...

– cover art

References

External links

In Review: Racer X "Street Lethal"
at Guitar Nine Records {{Authority control Racer X (band) albums 1986 debut albums Shrapnel Records albums Albums produced by Mike Varney