In July 1982, the group released its first EP, Ruff Cutts , on the

In July 1982, the group released its first EP, Ruff Cutts , on the Secret Records label, still featuring Tony Petri on the drums. This was followed shortly by the group’s first studio album, Under the Blade , produced by Pete Way of UFO . Despite rather low production quality, the album was an underground hit in the UK, providing the band with sufficient name recognition to open for such metal acts as Motörhead . The album had an overall raw metal sound and included “Tear It Loose”, a very fast speed-metal song featuring a guitar solo by “Fast” Eddie Clarke of Motörhead. Another single, the future hit “We’re Not Gonna Take It”, was planned for release, but Secret Records went out of business before Snider was able to complete the lyrics.