What do you get when 3 African American rockers and a Romanian immigrant record a heavy metal album?  The result is 1986's Speed Of Light album by the band Sound Barrier.  Whereas the band released an earlier album (Total Control in 1983) and an EP (Born To Rock in 1984) that featured a funkier/blues form of metal, Speed Of Light saw the band embrace the fantasy metal approach used by bands such as Maiden and Priest.  Lots of rocking stuff on this album - Love the instrumental beginning to On The Level!  Included on the album is a Thin Lizzy cover, Hollywood (Down On Your Luck) which is pretty cool.  Apparently the cassette release had a bonus tune called OK Let's Go!  Wikipedia states guitar virtuoso Vic Johnson (Sammy Hagar and The Circle) as 'taking on several side projects...including Sound Barrier, an all-black heavy metal band. Sound Barrier evolved into Total Eclipse'.  Not sure what his involvement was...I read on an internet post somewhere that drummer Dave 'Skavido' Brown played the drummer in the fictional band Marvin Berry and The Starlighters in the classic film Back To The Future.  The movie lists the character as being played by David Harold Brown - Said Facebook page of David Harold Brown has a picture from Back To The Future (Marvin Berry & Band performing at the Enchantment Under The Sea Dance) and there are several posts that mention playing Sound Barrier songs, so it just might be true. 

 

1/2 Robscurity point deducted for the cartoonish looking cover that looks like it was drawn by a fifth grader.

 

 

 

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