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| Head On | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Cover photo bySimon Fowler | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 11 July 1980[1] | |||
| Recorded | April–May 1980 | |||
| Studio | Kingsway Recorders, London | |||
| Genre | Hard rock,heavy metal | |||
| Length | 39:47 | |||
| Label | GEM/RCA | |||
| Producer | Samson | |||
| Samson chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [2] |
| Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal | 6/10[3] |
Head On is the secondstudio album by Britishhard rock bandSamson, released in1980. The cover art features the band's masked drummer,Thunderstick. This is the first album with futureIron Maiden-frontmanBruce Dickinson on vocal duties, although some later re-issues of the debut do feature alternative bonus versions of songs, re-done with Dickinson vocals.
The instrumental "Thunderburst" is credited as co-written bySteve Harris. The track is in fact a version of "The Ides of March", an early Iron Maiden song written during the brief time in 1977 in which Thunderstick was in Iron Maiden. Iron Maiden released their own version on the Iron Maiden albumKillers the next year, though Steve Harris credited the song solely to himself, annoying the members of Samson.
A jazz-style spoof version of "Vice Versa", titled "Egg Timer" and credited to Cosmo Toons and the Split Knee Loons, appears on theFor Gillan Fans Only album, given away for free with the first 15,000 copies ofGillan'sGlory Road, released in 1980.
All tracks byBruce Dickinson,Paul Samson,Chris Aylmer andThunderstick except "Thunderburst" by Dickinson, Samson, Aylmer, Thunderstick andSteve Harris
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Hard Times" | 4:42 |
| 2. | "Take It Like a Man" | 4:09 |
| 3. | "Vice Versa" | 4:44 |
| 4. | "Manwatcher" | 3:37 |
| 5. | "Too Close to Rock" | 3:36 |
| 6. | "Thunderburst" (instrumental) | 2:06 |
| 7. | "Hammerhead" | 3:40 |
| 8. | "Hunted" | 3:00 |
| 9. | "Take Me to Your Leader" | 3:49 |
| 10. | "Walking Out on You" | 6:36 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 11. | "Angel with a Machine Gun" | 2:54 |
| 12. | "Kingsway Jam" | 9:51 |
Head On has seen numerous CD re-issues over the years. The first came in 1989 courtesy of German company Repertoire and in 1990 via Grand Slamm in the U.S. and Jimco in Japan, followed by Bruce Dickinson's short-lived Air Raid label in 2000. The re-issues on Castle/Sanctuary (2001) and Lemon (2013) both contain a pair of bonus tracks, "Angel with a Machine Gun" and "Kingsway Jam", not included on the earlier editions.
| Chart (1980) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| UK Albums (OCC)[4] | 34 |
