Birmingham-based Quartz was once considered to be at the forefront of the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal (NWOBHM) explosion that happened in the late ’70s/early ’80s. The band has a brief connection with a certain hugely-influential fellow Brummie band. Formed in 1974, Quartz released its self-titled debut album in 1977, which was produced by Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi. Further Sabbath connections to Quartz saw original guitarist/keyboardist Geoff Nicholls leave the band in 1977 to join Sabbath, which he continued to play with for 24 years before rejoining Quartz in 2011. Furthermore, original drummer Malcolm Cope was approached by Ozzy Osbourne to join his solo band in 1980, but he turned him down due to his allegiance to Quartz.

Too Hot To Handle is a collection of 16 previously unreleased demo songs recorded between 1981 and 1982. Some of those tracks were re-recorded in different versions for the band’s third full-length album, Against All Odds (1983), and some of them are now seeing the light of day here. The title track utilizes its NWOBHM elements with a thunder-like delivery decorated with a hard-driving mid-paced rhythm and cutting guitars. “Crack The Sky” is more in line with In Trance or Fly To The Rainbow-era Scorpions, possessing a catchy, singable chorus line. “Hard Road” has a UFO meets 10CC vibe. I love the High 'n' Dry-era Def Leppard similarities on “Love ’Em And Run”. A touch of Mamas Boys shows up on “Madman” while “Buried Alive”’s main riff sounds eerily-similar to Sabbath’s “Symptom Of The Universe”. It’s great to hear these tracks in their raw form with old-school production values. This album is very worthy and loaded with quality material  making Too Hot To Handle a great trip down NWOBHM memory lane.