Most Helpful Customer Reviews
|
|
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
The rise and fall of Quiet Riot in a single album, September 19, 2006
THE BAND: Kevin Dubrow (vocals... R.I.P.), Carlos Cavazo (guitars), Rudy Sarzo (bass, synthesizer), Frankie Banali (drums & percussion).
THE DISC: (1983) Originally 10 songs clocking in at approximately 41 minutes, this remastered version gives you 2 bonus tracks and almost 52 minutes worth. The bonus tracks: "Danger Zone" (unreleased studio cut), and a live version of "Slick Black Cadillac". Included with the disc is a 10-page booklet containing song titles/credits/times, original artwork and additional black & white photos, a brief 3-page intro, and thank you's. Recorded at The Pasha Music House in Hollywood, CA. Originally released on Pasha's label, this digitally remastered version is on Sony/Portrait/Epic.
COMMENTS: Disco was officially out a few years prior. The early 80's introduced us to the next popular fad - New Wave. Hard rock was trying to make a come back. To many listeners, American metal was still a question mark at the start of the 1980's. The British/European invasion of heavy metal was in full force (Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Scorpions, etc). In 1983 the biggest seller was Quiet Riot's "Metal Health" - bigger than Def Leppard's "Pyromania", Motley Crue's "Shout At The Devil", or Iron Maiden's "Piece Of Mind". 6+ million units sold and growing. As quickly as "Metal Health" rose (the first metal record ever to hit #1 on the Billboard album charts), the band fell from grace. DuBrow's antics were fairly well documented (#1 reason being difficult to get along with)... with other bands as well as his own. "Metal Health" was a solid album, and it's still a classic... but, it hasn't stood the test of time as well as any of the other albums mentioned above. For me, Quiet Riot was the definition of "pop" hair metal. "Metal Health" created the standard formula that all successful pop/hair metal bands seemed to follow... 1. Some aggressive hard rocking songs (""Breathless", "Run For Cover", "Love's A Bitch"); a couple of hits ("Metal Health", "Cum On Feel The Noise"), and a power ballad ("Thunderbird"). Quiet Riot's cover version of Slade's "Cum On Feel The Noise" hit #20 on the Billboard charts (#5 on the pop charts), as the title track hit #31. "Slick Black Cadillac" had minor success on the radio as well. Cavazo's "Battle Axe" is a short guitar solo - in the same vein as Eddie Van Halen's "Eruption". A brief history of the players is documented in the disc booklet - Quiet Riot being formed by guitar-god Randy Rhoads and singer DuBrow in the mid 1970's without much success; Rhoads and bassist Sarzo leaving QR to play with now solo Ozzy; Rhoads killed in a plane crash; Sarzo returns with Banali joining on drums and Cavazo on lead guitar. Some truly great songs here - my favorites are the title track, "Don't Want To Let You Go", and "Breathless". The ballad "Thunderbird" (though an ode to Rhoads) is musically weak. The bonus tracks - "Danger Zone" fits right in with the rest of the album (good stuff), but the live "Slick Black Cadillac" is absolutely horrible (sounds like an out-of-breath high school band doing a cover tune). The potential was there to continue (and more albums being released), but Quiet Riot never again achieved the success it had in '83. "Metal Health" is a classic in the "pop" arena of metal (4.5 stars).
|
|
|
19 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
This isn't Led Zeppelin, but it isn't trying to be, August 13, 2002
People slam this band all the time. "Cheese" metal. I don't think so. Real classic metal fans know this is on the level of anything Ozzy or KISS did. It's at least better then the [stuff] Def Leppard was putting out (Hysteria...nuff said). Give this a chance. Quiet Riot was not trying to be some legends like Zeppelin. They just wanted to put out some decent metal. They did...
|
|
|
6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
The First Metal Album To Go #1!, December 4, 2005
I got this album after seeing the kick ass video for the song Metal Health. I couldn't get enough of it! I still enjoy cranking that metal anthem. Ironically Quiet Riot would achieve great success a few years after guitar legend Randy Rhoads left the band to join Ozzy. New guitarist Carlos Cavazo was no Randy but he could play a good riff or a wailing solo. The big hit off the album was the cover of Slade's Cum On Feel The Noize. It seemed you couldn't turn on MTV without seeing that video. But the album has other good songs like the emotional Love's A Bitch and the Cavazo guitar showcase Battle Axe! Then there is the ballad Thunderbird, apparently written about Randy who died in a plane crash in 1982, and the smooth rocker Breathless. The track Slick Black Cadillac is a decent song from the Randy years and Let's Get Crazy is simple but fun headbanger. The only song I never got into was Don't Wanna Let You Go. Quiet Riot's career would go downhill after the next album but Metal Health is still a good album despite some of the ridicule heaped on it.
|
|
|
Most Recent Customer Reviews
|
Interact With Your Music: Discover, listen to, and buy new music, all from the pages of SPIN's digital edition, free to Amazon customers.
by Quiet Riot 
