Customer Reviews

Hear

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

New Jersey rockers Trixter were a little older (I think they all hit the legal drinking age), and a little wiser when their second album - 1992's Hear - was released. I have to say I wasn't terribly impressed with their self-titled debut album, but the band definitely made some improvements this time around.

Hear is still a pretty basic "by the numbers" pop metal album, but it's a pretty good one too. The songs are more melodic, the production is better, and the musicianship is tighter. The lyrics aren't any smarter ("Come on baby, get on top of my rockin' horse"), but this is hair metal after all. At the very least it's on par with what bands like Slaughter, Firehouse, Danger Danger, Warrant, and Steelheart were releasing at the time.

Trixter would go on to issue a covers album before being washed away in the alternative rock wave of the early 90's. As much as I enjoy this kind of music, it's not hard to understand how a band like Trixter didn't have the kind of staying power to weather out that particular storm.

As many of you know, Trixter had a wave of success with their debut album at the tail end of the 80s metal era. Unfortunately, by the time they were able to break from the commercialized mold that record producers were throwing out there by the dozens, Grunge had taken over and it was too late for this one to get the break it most rightly deserved. This album exceeds Trixter's excellent debut in songwriting, musicianship, and production quality to boot. Rockin' tracks like Road of a Thousand Dreams (which sounds incredibly similar to Bon Jovi's "I Believe" at the beginning) and Bloodrock are great hook-laden melodic rock, and Runaway Train and As the Candle Burns will be two of your favorite ballads of all time. If you're a fan of the 80s metal era and never bothered to pick this one up, you certainly should do so. It's a very strong release with zero filler.

I remember going to see Trixter back in '91. I absolutely loved thier first album. It was nothing special and didnt really stand out among other albums, there was just something that I liked about the sound. After a few years I didnt really listen to music after the 'grunge' thing hit. Just last year I heard a Trixter song and it got me to thinking about them. I found this CD and decided to give it a listen. I was absolutlely blown away. This CD is one of the best I have ever heard from anybody. It has a much heavier sound than thier first effort. I would advise anybody who listened to Trixter or 'glam' or 'hair' or whatever you want to call it, to go out and get this if you can. I call it good old fashioned kick ass rock and roll. Im not sure if this CD was ahead of its time or behind its time. Great piece of work, just a little too late. I wish these guys were still recording, Id love to hear what they could do.

Can you think that grunge killed a lot of very talented post Van Halen bands like Trixter in the early nineties (White Lion, Warrant, House of Lords, Tyketto and hundreds more)? It's something that can make you crazy! Would you compare Edward Van Halen to Kurt Cobain? ... gosh, even this simple idea can let me shake my head for days. A generation of musically unaware people marked the success of people who CAN'T play seriously, and confined the real musicians to obscurity! So sad! Very untalented bands, very untalented musicians, with the worst songs ever written, three chords garage guitar players with no taste at all for rock'n'roll succeded in killing super post Van Halen bands like Trixter which were fantastic. The first album of theirs to be true was not as strong as this one as the other hair metal lovers have already pointed out. It was too cheesy, and it was more or less built around the very mellow single "Surrender" which was a nice power ballad for the era, but today it may sound a little too syroup even for a lover of the genre like myself ... "Hear!" instead really stands out, because it is super rock'n'roll, very consistent from the first tune to the last. No weaknesses here. And it is still phenomenal after all these years! It is hair metal at his best, proudly hair metal, proudly super american hot rod rock and roll! The first six songs from the opener "Road..." to "Bloodrock" is simply some of the greatest music in hair metal, very very high quality super rock'n'roll!!! I mean, if you love hair metal you have to own this because it is one of the best rock and roll albums of that era. I can compare this one to Mechanical Resonance from Tesla, .... and it is a great great compliment from me! When I think to grunge the only thing I can do ... is spit on the floor. Thanxs to Trixter for this masterpiece.

Truly a rock masterpiece. Trixter's second album, following
up their more methodical debut, showcases the song writing
diversity that Steve and the boys weren't able to ride to the top. From the start with the anthem "Road of a thousand dreams", to the blistering "Rockin' Horse" & "bloodrock",
and showing their melodic mastery with "Nobody's a Hero",
this album shows how ahead of their time and unappreciated they were. Released around the time grunge came into fashion, this album unfortunately fell under the radar, and now with grunge
out of the picture, it leaves us saying- "Trixter, where are you
when we need you!"-
At least I can say I saw them live- 3 times

First off, this would be nice to have considering it is out of print and sold poorly at the time of release in 1992 but to be honest after recently hearing this album, i;'ve came to the conclusion that this is the best album released by Trixter. i've heard one song "What it takes" and may I say... WOW!

Besides rarity, "Hear" is more of a hard rock-orientated album. Much like how Skid Row's debut was pop-metal and their sophomore 'Slave to the grind" was thrashier and much louder, this like that: Trixter's debut was very hair metal, pop metal, GLAM if you will, this (while not as much of an extreme change as Skid Row made) is much louder, Heavier, and features much faster drumming. Trixter really became serious about their instruments the 2 years in between this and their debut and became better musicians by the time "Hear" was released.

trixter is one of the better glam metal bands and you should buy this. I also recommend 1990's "trixter" and 1994's covers album "Undercovers" (which is even rarer) than this one.

BUY THIS RARE, OUT-OF-PRINT MASTERPIECE!

This CD is one of the best that I have ever heard and truely love. The blend of "Hard Rocking Sounds" of "Damn GOOD, Bloodrock, Nobodys A Hero, On The Road Again, What It Takes", to the "Soft Melodic Sounds" of "As The Candle Burns", is truely an almost ELECTRIFING EXPERINCE.