History & Biography Breaker is a Cleveland-based metal band obviously very much influenced by Accept. The band's first official line-up in 1982 comprised of singer Jim Hamar (originally a guitarist), guitarist Michael Klein, guitarist Don Depew, bass player Ian Shipley and drummer Mark Klein in late 1982. In 1983 they recorded a single called Blood Money backed with Afraid Of The Dark at Suma Recording Studio. A demo was worked on and the band appeared on the Cleveland Metal sampler LP.
Hamer was booted out, but would soon rejoin the band. The band forged ahead well into 1990 before throwing in the towel - one minor split up notwithstanding. The band's plans for a follow-up album called Engines Of Disaster never came to fruition.
The American metallers would reform in the year 1998 and even record a cover version of Accept's song Breaker. The band was working on a new album in 2002 when singer Jim Hamar would depart. He would be replaced by Abdullah's Jeff Shirilla. Get Tough would be reissued on CD featuring newer songs. This edition would be called Get Tough!/Get Tougher!
Mark Klein would be named Cleveland's best drummer in a local contest in 2004. Breaker would work on putting a 1983 radio broadcast show on CD format. The release would be entitled Coffee Break Concert. In late 2007, the Americans announced a brief reunion with original vocalist Jim Hamar to play at the Bang Your Head!!! festival at Messegelände in Balingen, Germany. The festival would take place on June 27-28, 2008. Peace Love Death was a live album and compilation released in the summer of 2008 through Auburn Records. After an aborted reunion attempt in 2008 Breaker and original vocalist Jim Hamar opened for Anvil on November 5th, 2011 at the West Side Masonic Temple in Cleveland, Ohio. Hamar’s show with the band was the first in ten years.
Ian Shipley returned on bass in 2017 having left in 1988.
Reviews BREAKER - COFFEE BREAKER SERIES - AUBURN
Cleveland's Breaker was a Cleveland metal favourite in the '80s, but the band never quite hit a bigger scene. This release is a time capsule recording of a live-to-air show performed by the band for local radio station WMMS. The noon series of live shows was entitled Coffee Break Concert and with a little ingenuity the band has come up with the album's title. The length and breadth of the material is very impressive given the age of the band in 1983. Recorded just a year after the band's inception, this live recording showcases a hard rock and heavy metal band whose most recognizable asset must have been the personality of vocalist Jim Hamar. His performance, for instance, on the song Sleepless Nights is a treat and somehow reminiscent of early Judas Priest. The sound is clearly not superb, with the guitars low in the mix, but things do improve towards the end of the disc. The band's performance of songs like Blood Money, Silent Obsession, From The Heart and others is interrupted by banter by the radio DJ which is amusing to hear. These Auburn releases, along with Shok Paris' 1989 live recording, have certainly turned out better than the notion itself would have let on. - Ali "The Metallian"
Interviews
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