Rush (Bonus Tracks)

This is the 1975 debut album by the British band Strife, a seminal influence on Iron Maiden and a truly superlative, underrated act. Though active throughout the '70s, they might be most properly filed into the second renaissance of hard rock/heavy metal in the late mid-to-late part of that decade. At that time, their peers such as Judas Priest, UFO, Budgie and Thin Lizzy were finally flourishing with material that was more modern and aggressive than what came before. Although unfortunately failing to capture the same success as such other bands, Strife were more than a match in quality. In particular, their sound was as unique and forward-thinking as any of those legends.