Nitro was the kind of band that sparked a lot of legends. Like the one that Rampage Records signed them after lead singer Jim Gillette shattered three wine glasses with his voice. Or the one that Gillette and guitarist Michael Angelo Batio (he of the “crossed sword” quadruple axe) recruited drummer Bobby Rock by telling him at a beach party that they "wanted to record the most over-the-top, in-your-face metal record ever." That they succeeded in this pursuit is beyond any doubt. 1989’s O.F.R. (we could tell you what the album title stands for, but then we’d have to kill you, or at least slap a Parental Advisory sticker on you) is a frenetic assault of double floor toms, lightning guitar licks and notes sung so superhumanly high that various parts of one’s anatomy clench instinctively at the sound. And the length of Nitro’s tresses puts all other “hair metal” posers to shame…just check out the band photos on the back cover, which we have faithfully re-created, along with the printed inner sleeve, on the first-ever vinyl reissue of this charting album. Red and yellow “Explosion” vinyl pressing, limited to 700 copies…we can’t promise your stereo won’t combust!

SIDE ONE

1. Freight Train
2. Double Trouble
3. Machine Gunn Eddie

4. Long Way Home

SIDE TWO

1. Bring It Down
2. Nasty Reputation 3. Fighting Mad
4. Shot Heard ‘Round the World

5. O.F.R.