Girl: Sheer Greed (Rock Candy)

Starting a rock band in the late ‘70s in the UK must have been a crazy experience. On one side you have the punk scene running wild, and on the other you have the New Wave of British Heavy Metal (NWOBHM) scene about to break wide open, and somewhere off to the side the ‘70s glam rock icons were still looming large. Caught somewhere in-between was a band called Girl, who released their Chris Tsangarides-produced debut album Sheer Greed on the Jet label in 1980.

More often than not, Girl is remembered as the band Phil Collen was in prior to joining Def Leppard. It also featured future L.A. Guns singer Phil Lewis. Beyond being the launching point for Collen and Lewis’ careers, Girl had a really remarkable sound. Sheer Greed, despite being marketed to a metal audience, was more like a harder-edged glam rock album than anything else. They were more at home with Hanoi Rocks than Diamond Head or Saxon.

Sheer Greed is just a flat-out terrific rock n’ roll album. The band put together some catchy, decadent rock songs and they delivered them with attitude and talent to spare. Lewis’s vocals paired perfectly with Collen and Gerry Laffy’s sharp guitar work. Single “Hollywood Tease” is a great example of what the band was all about. “Doctor Doctor” and “Heartbreak America” also stand out, as does their glammed up version of KISS’s “Do You Love Me.”

Girl was the right band at the wrong time. Five years later and transplanted to L.A., this band would have had all the Poison-type hair metal bands following their every move. Instead they’re more known for where their members later ended up. It didn’t help that their albums have been so hard for those of us who discovered them late to track down. Fortunately the good people at the Rock Candy label have made Sheer Greed (and its follow-up Wasted Youth) available on CD once more. Now there’s no excuse for fans of bands like Hanoi Rocks, New York Dolls, L.A. Guns, Aerosmith and early Def Leppard not to own this ‘80s rock classic.

Reissue Notes: Rock Candy’s 2016 reissue of Sheer Greed features newly remastered audio, two bonus tracks (covers of The Kinks’ “You Really Got Me” and Russ Ballard’s “Love is a Game) and a fantastic booklet loaded with vintage photos and a new band history/interview by Classic Rock scribe Malcolm Dome. It makes an already great album that much better.

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