FROM THE CRYPTS - CELEBRATING PAST ALBUM RELEASES in the HISTORY of HARD ROCK & HEAVY METAL…
On November 23, 1989, Nuclear Assault released their third full-length studio album “Handle With Care” via In Effect. The song Critical Mass was released as a single to promote the album.
(Critical Mass 12" Promo)
Background:
The sentence "The svastika is calling you", which is heard at the very end of the song Torture Tactics, is taken from the movie The Blues Brothers. This sentence is yelled on the megaphone by the head of the Illinois Nazi Party (played by Henry Gibson) during the scene of the bridge. Torture Tactics being a very caricatured political song towards Nazis, this sentence is suited, since The Blues Brothers is a caricatured movie too.
The Handle With Care Tour 89'-90':
Nuclear Assault began touring to support the album Handle With Care prior to its release. On October 4, 1989, during the European leg of the tour, Nuclear Assault played the Hammersmith Odeon, London UK with support from D.A.M. (UK Thrash), Candlemass and Dark Angel.
Everything from this night was released on video by Fotodisk in 1990: Nuclear Assault's set was released as a separate VHS (Handle With Care European Tour 89'), while Candlemass, Dark Angel and D.A.M.'s sets were released together as 3-Way Thrash.
Other Nuclear Assault UK dates included: Newport Centre (29th Sept), Bradford Queens Hall (30th), Glasgow Mayfair (1st Oct), Newcastle Mayfair (2nd), Manchester Ritz (3rd), Nottingham Trent Poly (5th), Milton Keynes Woughton Centre (6th), and Wolverhampton Wulfrun Hall (7th).
Nuclear Assault also headlined a small run in the winter of 1989, with Mordred, Rotting Corpse and Non-Fiction and Mortar as support for select shows throughout the tour (see below for lineups). Nuclear Assault also played select dates with Mind Over Four (not shown).
Nuclear Assault also embarked on a U.S. tour opening for Testament and Savatage. On March 26, 1990, the tour brought them to the Capital Theatre in my hometown of Flint, which was the tours only Michigan appearance.
The tour for the album also saw the band make a trip to Japan.
Critical Reception:
Reviews for Handle with Care have been mostly positive. AllMusic's Eduardo Rivadavia awards the album four-and-a-half stars out of five and describes it as "a record which stands the test of time as one of the East Coast's best offerings to the thrash metal genre." Rivadavia also praises Handle with Care a "perfect introduction, and pretty much all one will ever need from Nuclear Assault", while he describes Critical Mass, F♮ (Wake Up)," and When Freedom Die as "outstanding thrashers."
Handle with Care is the band's most successful and best-selling album to date. The album entered the Billboard 200 album charts in February 1990, three months after its release. The album peaked at No. 126 and remained on the chart for 24 weeks. The album also entered the UK Albums Chart peaking at No. 60.
Handle with Care was ranked at No. 7 on Loudwire's top ten list of Thrash Albums NOT Released by the Big 4.
Note: The reviews shared here are for historical reference. The views and opinions expressed within are not always supported (in full or in part) by Into the Wells. — E.N. Wells
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