Krokus: One Vice at a Time(1982)

 

 

“Meet a million people
Tell me what to do
All the slimy leeches…yuk!
Make me feel so blue
But the booze in the bus
Hot legs round the neck
State to state coast to coast
Hey guys! I’ll be back…”

Here comes those wacky Swiss Dudes Krokus who back in 1982 dropped one hell of a punch in the form of One Vice at a Time!

I first heard the name Krokus back in 1981 when my pal Muc had gotten ahold of the Krokus album Metal Rendevous which featured the classic HeatStrokes tune.

It was pretty apparent that the lead vocals of Marc Storace sounded quite a bit like Bon Scott(RIP) of AC/DC.  So it was a no brainer purchase when Krokus released One Vice at a Time!

Krokus along with co-producer Tony Platt(AC/DC’s mixing engineer) lay down the boom on the albums 9 tracks one in which a cover of American Woman by those dudes known as The Guess Who.

If you’re looking for any kind of power ballad on here forget about it. This album is recorded roughly around the edges. The guitars are raw sounding basically a dry recording not an overproduced album by any stretch of the imagination. When you have a drummer that goes by the name of Freddy Steady(I shit you not) you know the beat is going to be in the pocket

Ok, I’ll say it.  AC/DC sounding! But…

Krokus sings for there supper about the not so glamorous side of life on this album. Drugs/Hookers/Booze/More Drugs/More Hookers/More Booze make up this record which is off the rails crazy good!

Long Stick Goes Boom is a rocking opening number which hit’s between the eye’s and with that basically sets the table with a five and a half minute sledgehammer over the noggin!

That’s the thing with this album. The pace doesn’t let up! A ton of Angus n Malcolm guitar-like riffs is spread throughout this album, as the guitars of Mark Kohler and Fernando Von Arb sound like two buzz saw’s throughout the 36 minutes of pure old school rock.

Down The Drain that sets off, Side 2 sounds like an all-out jam tune that looks like it was tossed together in minutes, but that’s the thing that makes it sound so good on this album. Sounds intensely live like umm AC/DC!

Krokus does a fabulous booze-drenched version of American Woman which sleaze’s itself perfectly on Side 2!

I’m On The Run is the exciting song on here as the one, and only Bruce Dickinson who had just joined Iron Maiden sings backing vocals here. Give it a listen. Crank it below!

Save Me is another ripping track that features some classy street lyrics.

No chance for a first-class hooker
Can’t even buy my booze
They wanna bend me the way they need me
But I’m not bound to lose
Don’t want to get called up
I’m not gonna fight their wars
I’m a free man black stallion
Come to my door

Krokus man, yeah well they got a soft spot in my Metal Heart and why wouldn’t they?

Krokus had for me a real good 3 album run starting with One Vice At A Time followed by the classic Headhunter(1983) rounded off by the commercial hard rock The Blitz album in 1984!

One Vice at a Time? I’m thinking, many Vices at a time on this album!

I mean I loved the fact that these guys, especially on this album, just ripped out a bunch of tunes about the seedier side of life with a lot of kicking out the jams that found a spot on my turntable back in 1982 and once again in 2019!