THOR Thor Review by Jake Austen (from Roctober 41) Thor "Thor Against the World," "An-Thor-logy" DVD (Smog Veil, smogveil.com)

I sadly had a Thor-free 70s and 80s, somehow never experiencing the artist who would have been my favorite had I known of him. When touring with a band in the 90s I found a record with a shirtless, leather clad bodybuilder holding wild Dobermans on the cover, and when my bandmates already knew of Thor I was kind of pissed that they hadn't filled me in earlier. I bought the album and really dug the low fi glam-disco-metal of "Keep The Dogs Away." I picked up his other material and though his subsequent 80s albums ("Dogs" was 1977) were more Metal, they came out in an era of cheesy drum fills and bad Metal trends. The joyful, absurdist lyrics were still intact, but the music wasn't great. I also caught a Z-grade movie starring Thor and that confused me more. Who was this guy? In recent years Thor has come back into my world. He made it into the pages of this magazine by befriending Nardwuar and messing with Gene Simmons. Thor and Nardwuar? That actually answers some questions, as obviously he isn't some dumb bodybuilder who was rocking without self-awareness of his act's absurdity, or a cocky asshole jock who was possibly being "ironic" in a dick-ish way. Rather he was a humorous, cool dude. Far more questions were answered this year, as Thor's two new releases, and his Mighty Tour make it clear that Thor is one of the greats. His new CD "Thor Against the World" is a return to the galloping, danceable Metallic bubbleglam of his debut, with some incredibly catchy songs. The bulk of the "Dogs" LP actually had serious weak points despite its excellent title track. Thus, the new album is his best ever. Better still is the DVD. Now we really get his story. Jon Mikl Thor apparently became musclebound for the best reason ever…to emulate comic books! At his most beautiful he hooked up with a singing burlesque review, and the disc features Thor on Merv Griffin doing his thing is a glittering stripper outfit. It then jumps to his would be Metal days and here Thor again reveals a humble side. Despite the grandness of the song and the hulking size of the singer, his videos are done on a small bar stage. The rest of the DVD features news stories on Thor, Metal videos, cable access appearances, feats of strength and even a few commercials he starred in. This is the release of the year! And to top it off, Thor played Chicago for the first time ever! Yes, he still has arms like tree trunks, but he's thicker all around now. But that means there's more of him to love, which didn't stop him from giving an amazingly ridiculously awesome show! Before the first song was done he was playing air-sword! He did over 20 helmet changes! He fought monsters! He lost caps on his teeth bending a steel bar in his mouth! THANK YOU THOR, WE ARE NOT WORTHY!