Sunday, February 20, 2011

Artist: Helix, Album: Back For Another Taste, Song: Good To The Last Drop

"When I'm feeling empty won't ya fill me up.  Make it good to the last drop."  Helix were a metal band that started out in Kitchener, Ontario in the early seventies.  They were actually one of the few rock bands that pre-dated the heavy metal genre before becoming one of Canada's most popular bands within it.  Unlike some of their peers (Rush, Fludd, Max Webster), these guys were metal heads through and through.  Sure they started out as a cover band like many bands did.  However, from their major label debut, No Rest For The Wicked, with Capitol Records in 1983, until today, they haven't strayed from that sound.  The band toured Canada and the U.S. constantly in those early years and thanks to some strong radio support in Texas as well as in their own homeland, they signed their major label deal and starting playing gigs with bands like Motorhead, Kiss, WASP, Krokus and the list goes on and on.  I remember seeing them play with the Black Crowes as well.  They had some huge hits in the eighties like Rock You, Deep Cuts The Knife, The Kids Are All Shakin', Gimme Gimme Good Lovin' (cover), Dream On, Make Me Do Anything You Want (cover) and Heavy Metal Love.  Back For Another Taste, was released in 1990 and heavy metal was starting to lose it's lustre.  The song, Good To The Last Drop, was actually a very late single release and became a surprise hit for the band.  It is one of the band's slower tunes but it's phenomenal.  The band still plays today and has a wonderful website the chronicles the band's history.  You can follow them at http://www.planethelix.com/.  This particular song can be found in a few places.  It exists on the original album, Back For Another Taste, as well as two compilations called, Rockin' You For 30 Years and Smash Hits Unplugged.  Smash Hits Unplugged is available on Itunes.  There were copies of Back For Another Taste and Rockin' You For 30 Years available on Ebay and Amazon between $10 and $50 at the time of this blog.  Rockin' You For 30 Years is also available from the band's website.  The band also released a new album last year entitled, Vagabond Bones.  You can hear the song, Good To The Last Drop, on You Tube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2XFyjQF8b04).  Thanks for reading and enjoy!