Racer X - Second Heat (1987, Netherlands) 12" Vinyl LP Album

- The neon-marquee shred classic that turned guitar geeks into speed junkies

Album Front cover Photo of Racer X - Second Heat (1987, Netherlands)12" Vinyl LP Album https://vinyl-records.nl/

Dusk street scene with a glowing theater marquee: neon “RACER X” sign above, “SECOND HEAT” blazing on the lightbox, and cheeky XXX panels down the left like a film strip. Purple-orange sky, empty sidewalks, pure after-hours mood.

Racer X kicked the 80s shred boom up a gear with "Second Heat" (1987), a fan-favorite landmark in the Shrapnel Records speed/neo-classical metal wave: not a chart darling, but absolutely scene-defining for anyone who thinks guitars should throw sparks, not “vibes.” It sounds chrome-bright and razor-tight, drums snapping like a whip while the twin guitars slice and shimmer in the same breath. Dive into "Scarified" for the white-knuckle sprint, "Sacrifice" for the bite, and "Motor Man" when you want pure octane with a grin. Produced by Steve Fontano with Mike Varney backing the madness, it still hits hard on the Dutch 12-inch vinyl LP.

Racer X "Second Heat" (1987): Shred Metal With Grease Under Its Nails

Album Description:

"Second Heat" hit in early 1987 like a sports car doing 200 through a quiet neighborhood: loud, fast, and impossible to ignore. This is heavy metal, sure, but it is also Shrapnel-era speed and shred with no interest in being polite. I drop the needle and the room immediately turns into a guitar clinic with a bar fight going on in the back.

Musical Exploration and Genre

The magic is the twin-guitar attack: riffs that bite, harmonies that lock, and solos that sprint until the tape starts sweating. Tracks like "Scarified", "Sacrifice" and "Motor Man" are pure adrenaline engineering; even when the band slows down, it is only to reload. Racer X sit in that sweet spot where melody still matters, but velocity is the headline.

Covers, Curiosities, and Raised Eyebrows

The eyebrow-raiser is "Heart of a Lion": a Judas Priest cast-off from the "Turbo" era, written by K.K. Downing, Glenn Tipton, and Rob Halford. Racer X were the first to put it out officially, and they treat it like a borrowed muscle car they have no intention of returning in one piece. Then there is David Bowie's "Moonage Daydream" — not subtle, not shy, and absolutely used as a launch ramp for more fretboard fireworks.

Production and Recording

The album was recorded in November and December 1986 at Prairie Sun Recording in Cotati, California, with Steve Fontano handling the hands-on production and engineering alongside Mike Varney. The sound is sharp without going sterile: tight drums, clear bass, and guitars that cut like fresh razor blades. Mastering duties went to George Horn at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley — which explains why the whole thing still punches through a proper system.

Album Cover Art

The cover looks like an XXX-theater marquee flashing in the night, and honestly, it fits: this record sells excess. Not romance, not mystery — excess. The art credit goes to Guy Aitchison, and the image does the job perfectly: it dares you to play it loud, and then smirks while you do.

Song Notes:

Heart of a Lion, written by Glenn Tipton, K.K. Downing, and Rob Halford

"Moonage Daydream", was written by David Bowie

Music Genre:  Shred/Speed Metal Music

Album Production Information:

Produced by Steve Fontano,

Executive Producer: Mike Varney

  • Mike Varney – Producer, Shrapnel Records founder

    The behind-the-scenes catalyst of the 80s shred boom, with late-70s punk fingerprints all over his origin story.

    Mike Varney is the American producer and label boss who turned fast fingers into a business plan. I first clocked him in the late 1970s, thumping bass in San Francisco punks The Nuns, then moving to guitar with the Rocky Sullivan Band. Out in Novato, California, he founded Shrapnel Records in 1980, and by the early 1980s he was hunting new monsters via Guitar Player "Spotlight" and the U.S. Metal compilations. Mid-80s he supercharged the shred boom with releases tied to Steeler (with Yngwie Malmsteen) and Racer X, then kept the pipeline hot for Cacophony, Vinnie Moore, Tony MacAlpine and friends. Later he widened the map with Tone Center and Blues Bureau, still betting on feel as much as speed.

    Mike Varney Wiki

    • Sound Engineer: Dino Alden

  • Dino Alden – Sound engineer, producer

    The guy behind that Shrapnel-era snap: fast guitars, clean punch, and not a single ounce of studio perfume.

    Dino Alden is an American sound engineer and producer who put chrome on a whole slice of metal without killing the bite. His first band chapter ran with Childhood's End (?-1985), then he slid into the Shrapnel machine: assistant work on M.A.R.S (1986), Tony MacAlpine's "Maximum Security" (1987), Cacophony's "Speed Metal Symphony" (1987) and Racer X "Second Heat" (1987), before engineering/mixing Marty Friedman's "Dragon's Kiss" (1988). After that he drove desks and mixes for Mordred (1989-1991), produced/engineered Imagika (1995-2000), and handled engineering/mixing/production for Zero Hour (1999-2008). Even in the 2000s he kept polishing Friedman's mixes (2002-2009).

    Dino Alden Wiki

    •  

    Mastering; George Horn

  • George Horn – Chief Mastering Engineer

    If you ever trusted a deadwax whisper more than a press release, chances are his hands were on the last mile.

    George Horn is the Bay Area's quiet mad scientist of lacquer, a Chief Mastering Engineer who kept Fantasy Studios (Berkeley) and CBS Studios (San Francisco) sounding expensive without turning everything into plastic. I follow his trail from 1971 at Columbia/CBS (Coast Recorders), to Kendun Recorders in 1978, then the long Fantasy run from 1980 into the 2000s. In the Tom Hidley-designed mastering room built in the late 1970s, he cut and remastered a ridiculous spread: Charles Mingus and other jazz giants, plus rock lifers like Creedence Clearwater Revival, The Grateful Dead and Santana. In 2008 he opened his own Berkeley mastering room, still chasing clarity like it owed him money.

    George Horn Wiki

    • Collector's Notes:

    After the dismantling of "Racer X" in 1989, "Bruce Bouillet", "Scott Travis" and "John Alderete" continued in a band called "The Scream".

    Record Label: 

    Shrapnel Roadrunner RR 9601
    Varney Metal Music

    Record Format

    12" LP Vinyl Gramophone Record 

    Year & Country 

    1987 Made in Holland

    Album Cover Photo Gallery of: Racer X Second Heat

    Photo of Front Cover 
    The album cover features a marquee for an XXX theater, boldly displaying "Second Heat" as the featured attraction, a nod to the band's fiery sound and energetic live performances. The image, combined with the album's title, perfectly captures the essence of Racer X's music: a relentless and passionate assault on the senses.
    Photo of Record Label 
    Photo of Record Label of Second Heat  

     Note: The images on this page are photos of the actual album. Slight differences in color may exist due to the use of the camera's flash. Images can be zoomed in/out ( eg pinch with your fingers on a tablet or smartphone ).


    Band Members and Musicians on: Racer X Second Heat
      Band-members, Musicians and Performers
    • John Alderete, bass guitar
    • Bruce Bouillet, lead and rhythm guitar
    • Paul Gilbert, lead and rhythm guitar
    • Jeff Martin, vocals
    • Scott Travis, drums

    Collector's notes:

    Jeff Martin (real name: Jeffery Louis Martin) is a singer and drummer. As drummer he has played for Paul Gilbert, George Lynch, Michael Schenker, Dokken and P.K. Mitchell, the last band he played drums in (before starting in lead vocals) is "Surgical Steel".


    Complete Track Listing of: Racer X Second Heat
      The Song/tracks on "Second HEat" are:
    • Sacrifice
    • Gone Too Far
    • Scarified
    • Sunlit Nights
    • Hammer Away
    • Heart of a Lion
    • Motor Man
    • Moonage Daydream
    • Living the Hard Way
    • Lady Killer