"Illusions Kill" Album Description:
I always smile when a record’s passport stamps don’t match its accent. Aaronsrod started out in Honolulu, Hawaii, yet this Roadrunner copy is plainly manufactured in the Netherlands (STEMRA and all). The mid-’80s were like that: islands, Europe, and tape machines shaking hands in the dark.
"Illusions Kill" was recorded and mixed at Sea-West Studios, Hawaii in 1985, with Rick Asher Keefer producing and engineering. That matters, because it doesn’t sound like a band politely “captured” in a studio. It sounds like someone hit record and then got out of the way.
The sleeve doesn’t do the fake “mystique” thing either. Front cover: the band caught mid-scream/mid-laugh, big red logo, big red title — more bar-fight grin than occult candlelight. Frank Jensen handled the logo and graphic design (and even sneaks in with backing vocals), while Eddee Louie’s photos keep the whole package grounded in actual humans, not mythology.
Needle down and it’s Angelo Jensen up front, pushing hard without turning everything into theatre. Two guitars (Brian Spalding and Neil Delaforce) slash and climb in that straight-ahead way Roadrunner loved in 1986: not “innovative,” not “genre-defining,” just hungry. Edward Dysarz locks the bottom end in place, and Gerard Gonsalves drives the kit like he’s late for something important.
What I like is the lack of manners. "Do Me In" jumps first, then they yank you sideways with a cover of Sly & The Family Stone’s "I Wanna Take You Higher" — because why not? Later, they toss in Adam Bomb’s "Russian Roulette" like another shot at the bar. Ten tracks, no long speeches, and the band keeps moving even when the chorus gets a little too eager. That’s part of the charm. {index=13}
Roadrunner Records, catalog RR 9690. A 12" full-length that doesn’t beg to be called a “classic” — it just sits there, sleeves a bit scuffed, still loud enough to annoy the neighbours if you let it. Which, honestly, is the correct use of this record.
