TAZ began to form when singer Karl ‘Taz’ Peck and bassist George Dimitri felt their current band SNOW WHITE was stagnating. Mutual management acquaintances brought them together with drummer Mike DelBorello and guitarists Karen Kreutzer (WICKED LESTER, PHANTOM BLUE) and Lori Price. The group practiced at Mike’s house in Clinton, MD, writing original songs while learning several covers of several current metal bands to help fill their live set.
In April of 1988, the band headed into LSP Studios in Edgemere, MD, to record a five-song EP, engineered, mixed and mastered by Les Lentz. Four original songs and a cover of the band HAWAII’s version of Jefferson Airplane’s “Somebody To Love”. Kreutzer was good friends with Marty Friedman (HAWAII, CACOPHONY, MEGADETH), so he would give TAZ his blessing to record HAWAII’s version of the 1967 rock classic.
With some line up changes TAZ recorded a new EP in 1989, and continued to play clubs like The Rage, Paragon and Network around the Baltimore/DC area. Some members would go on to other endeavors, and TAZ disbanded in 1990.
Now Heaven and Hell Records is releasing for the first time on CD both 1988 & 1989 EPs, fully remastered from the original tapes, entitled “Razor’s Edge“. TAZ played American glam metal, sleazy hard rock, similar to Tigertailz, Poison, Tuff, etc.
In 1989 Dimitri and Peck once again started from scratch recruiting new musicians for TAZ. Their management would introduce them to guitarist Ed Avella who’d answer an ad posted in the local Maryland Musician Monthly and join the band.
Within this time, Dimitri would meet drummer John Sennett and guitarist JR Kelly through an ad they placed looking for players for their project. Sennett would end up joining TAZ as the band’s new drummer. Not long after, Kelly would step in to fill the rhythm guitar vacancy, having only one week to learn the entire setlist and be ready for a show at the Paragon in College Park, MD.
The newly solidified TAZ line-up got to work writing more original music. In November of 1989, the group entered Basement Floor Productions in Sparrows Point, MD and recorded six more original songs with engineer Tim Miskimon.
It’s always impressive how many interesting hard rock-related bands were slumbering in the underground back in the ’80s. TAZ had a lot of potential. The song “Somebody To Love” only can be heard here, a previously unreleased. As is almost always the case with this reissue label, “Razor’s Edge” is limited to just 500 copies.
Highly Recommended
1 Dream Like This
2 All My Fault
3 Somebody To Love
4 Hell Without You ['88]
5 When I Look In Your Eyes
6 Cross My Heart
7 Hell Without You ['89]
8 Razor’s Edge
9 Streets Of Fire
10 The Way You Look
11 Don’t Always Get What You Want
Taz – Razor’s Edge 2024 Heaven And Hell Records Remaster, MP3+FLAC
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