Oxford. England. The quintessential English university town. A hallowed seat of upper class learning which over the years has turned many a posh kid in to captains of industry and politicians. Not the kind of place you’d expect to be the home of a good old NWOBHM band in the 1980s is it?

The long-haired noisy rockers and the Thatcher-era spoiled brats (for the avoidance of doubt my tongue is firmly in my cheek – no offence rich people) about to climb the greasy pole perhaps not the most likely of bedfellows.

Although Oxford can claim Virtue as one of their own, the band didn’t make much of a mark commercially coming towards the end of the classic NWOBHM period with a scant recording output before they came and went.

Their We Stand to Fight single is a quite remarkable and powerful slice of music it is a wonder why Virtue passed largely unnoticed by the biz.

The riffage is marvellous as is the lead guitar work in particular the intro and outro. Oh, and the middle bit. Well, the whole song……..As good as or better than many of their more famous contemporaries and still sounding great. Don’t believe me? Then have a look and listen at this:

Other than the phenomenal song you have just listened to, Virtue had an EP out with a demo doing the rounds too before they called it a day in the mid-1980s. Despite such a powerful, classy offering they disappeared pretty much without trace.

Now Virtue can be enjoyed again with the availability on CD, thanks to Remorse records, of We Stand to Fight and that demo (Fools Gold) including other stonking songs High Treason, Fool’s Gold, Hideaway and Seek and Destroy.

When you listen to Virtue you will wonder why they didn’t make it.

>> VIRTUE WE STAND TO FIGHT ON AMAZON <<