Wounded Bird had the good sense to reissue
Loudness' quintessential live album -- originally issued by Warner Bros. in 1992 -- for a new generation of heavy metal fans. Hopefully, this will raise the profile of a group that continues to be woefully ignored by the Western metal world.
Once and for All finds the group at its performing peak, featuring
Akira Takasaki's guitar shredding before mid-'90s metal trends took hold of
Loudness and shook them to their roots. It's a victory, and one of the few in the '90s for
Takasaki and lead vocalist
Masaki Yamada, before they succumbed to a decade of inconsistency. ~ Rob Theakston