CRACKED MIRROR »Same« LP Private Pressing 1983

Along with WIDOW, CLIENTELLE and VOLTZ, the self-titled longplayer by CRACKED MIRROR is without a doubt one of the rarest privately produced N.W.O.B.H.M. albums in history! If you believe Record Collector’s »Rare Record Price Guide« (usually a very reliable source), only 200 copies of the album were pressed back in 1983. Most of those were sold at gigs in the East Sussex area and as a result very few N.W.O.B.H.M. aficinados were able to secure a copy (a CD re-release has never happened). A shame really, as the nine songs leave nothing to be desired. CRACKED MIRROR, led by guitarist/singer Jozef Rytlweski, are one of the most original outfits of the whole early 80‘s N.W.O.B.H.M. movement. Musically, the band relies on Rytlewski’s heavy riffing combined with a doomy Hammond sound reminiscent of ATOMIC ROOSTER, BLACK WIDOW and early WHITE SPIRIT – a truely awesome mixture. Outstanding tracks are “Bomb Blast” and “We shall not forget”, both (convincingly) carrying a strong anti-war theme. On my regular record hunting visits to the British Isles, I managed to pick up two (!) copies of the album in a dusty record shop (affiliated with Mr. Rytlewski?) in the historic Southern English coastal town of Hastings. What a find! Both copies are at least in excellent shape (both cover and record) and I will be happy to trade/sell one of the two...

Matthias Mader

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