Take You Home

Three years after their RCA debut, Mass returned on the Enigma subsidiary Medusa Records with a John Rollo-produced EP of six songs entitled Take You Home. "Pedal to the Medal" still has that '80s compression and big sound behind Louie St. August's intense upper-range vocals. The band New England's drummer, Hirsh Gardner, did the pre-production demos, taking that Mike Stone/Todd Rundgren sound with him. Gardner was retained as "production assistant" as the band and John Rollo (of Kinks, Quiet Riot fame) crafted these smart tunes into a solid effort. "Can't Get Enough" rocks with more passion than Enigma labelmates Poison, a driving pop-metal number which gets the nod as the standout here. "Holy One" is the runner-up, with some of the best Gene D'Itria guitar runs over a Black Sabbath "Children of the Grave"-influenced riff. Not a Christian rock band per se, Louie St. August does command "You must follow sweet Jesus" in "Holy One," this song containing the most mayhem: guitars, drums, bass, and voice in a restrained kind of chaos. The group continued to work with producer John Rollo in the '90s, though they only released one song in that decade, "Under the Gun," on The Best of the Boston Music Showcase. In the new millennium, two more Rollo songs were released on their Best Ones compilation, and they renewed their work with Michael Sweet from Stryper as well. The sound on Take You Home is solid, but it's just the foundation for what these gents would craft years later. Important because it notes their starting point with Rollo and shows development, as Mass would turn into one of the finest hard rock bands ever out of New England through a combination of persistence and staying the course with the music they believe in.