Soilwork, King Diamond Vets + More Cover ‘Rocky IV’ Anthem ‘No Easy Way Out’
If anything, this time of quarantining has given people everywhere a chance to catch up on movies. It's also given musicians the opportunity to hone their chops via video chat collaborations. A group of metal musicians have now decided to combine those two ideas into one with a supergroup known as At the Movies.
Explaining the idea, the band says, "What happens when you're in quarantine? You watch a LOT of movies! That's when Chris Laney realized how many fantastic soundtracks there are out there. After an online AW with Allan Sørensen, they decided to contact some friends to ask them to join in for some quarantine fun."
The group, which includes Soilwork's Bjorn Speed Strid, Randy Piper's Animal's Chris Laney, Royal Hunt and Pretty Maids' Allan Sørensen, Mercenary and Pretty Maids' Morten Sandager, King Diamond's Pontus Egberg and Hammerfall's Pontus Norgren, have decided to take on Robert Tepper's Rocky IV favorite "No Easy Way Out" as their first installment.
Tepper got his start in the music biz primarily as a songwriter, co-writing the Benny Mardones hit '80s ballad "Into the Night." In 1985, he signed a record deal for his own music, with "No Easy Way Out" getting picked up for the Rocky IV soundtrack and bolstering his own album of the same name. The track climbed to No. 22 on the Billboard Hot 100 and reached No. 12 on the Mainstream Rock Chart, but that would be Tepper's sole hit as an artist. In later years, he'd return to writing for film and television while continuing to record his own music.
Still, that '80s film favorite with the prominent keyboards and aggressive guitar struck a chord with these metal heroes, who decided to start their movie-themed project with "No Easy Way Out." Have a listen and watch the socially-distanced performance in the player below.
And stay tuned to the At the Movies band video channel for future movie themed collaborations.
At the Movies, "No Easy Way Out" (Robert Tepper Cover)
Robert Tepper, "No Easy Way Out"