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Includes recordings originally released on Neat Records. Includes liner notes by Garry Sharpe-Young. Liner Note Author: Garry Sharpe-Young. Active throughout the 1990s, Birmingham, England's Marshall Law was an anomaly in the sense that it was a throwback to the British heavy metal heyday of hometown heroes Judas Priest, while at the same time appreciating the vicious riffage of speed metal groups like Metal Church and Metallica, themselves products of the post-Priest metal years. Marshall Law featured the powerful vocals of Andy Pike; the dueling, chugging guitars of Andy Southwell and Dave Martin; and bassist Roger Davis. Original drummer Mick Donovan was replaced with Chris Green for 1999's Warning From History. Power Crazy: The Best of Marshall Law collects tracks from all five of the band's albums. Cutting power metal workouts like "Victory at Last" and "Blood on Blood" are more successful than ballads like "No Justice" and "March of History," if only because Marshall Law's ability to write a hook wasn't necessarily concurrent with its ability to truly rock hesher-style. The strongest material here are the three tracks culled from Law in the Raw, Marshall Law's 1996 live album. The self-titled anthem, "Under the Hammer," and "Electric Eye" are such classic slices of live metal, you can almost feel the crush from the crowd and the sweat in your eyes. Overall, Power Crazy serves not only as a best-of, but as a solid introduction to a group who may not have gotten its due during its own heyday. ~ Johnny Loftus
