Zion was a melodic/glam heavy metal band from Sioux Falls, South Dakota. After releasing a pair of self-released cassette demos in 1982 (Roll the Rock/Less of Me) and 1984 (Rock for Eternity), they signed with Image Records out of New York. The band’s full-length debut Thunder from the Mountain seemed to be a huge success for the label, getting rave reviews from critics and fans alike. “It It a Crime?” spent several weeks on Christian rock radio charts.
For my money, Thunder is a top-5 album in the glam metal genre, a list that also includes Angelica’s self-titled debut, Holy Soldier’s self-titled debut, Guardian’s Fire and Love, and just about any album from Stryper’s early years. Unfortunately, Zion broke up not long afterwards and we didn’t hear from them again for quite some time. Meanwhile singer Rex Scott joined X-Sinner when Dave Robbins left the band.
A compilation of live tracks and alternate takes was released in 2007 by Retroactive Records, called Thrillseeker, and a completely remixed and remastered version of the debut album was released in 2019. I’m putting both versions of “Who Pulls the Strings” here so you can listen to both and compare/contrast.
