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Archive for January, 2025

The Golden Decade Ends

Posted in 1980s, Concerts, films, Heavy Metal, Heavy Metal and the 1980s, Music, Rock, soundtracks, Uncategorized with tags Books, Books on music, Classic Rock, hair metal, hard rock, Heavy Metal, Heavy Rock, metal, Music, Rock, Rock And Roll Children, The 1980s, Thrash Metal on January 28, 2025 by 80smetalman

Like everything else, even golden ages come to an end. This was the case with the ‘Golden Age of Heavy Metal.” Many things contributed to this and not just the introduction of grunge in the 1990s. A big factor, which I have attempted to point out is that by the end of the decade, the market was over-saturated with metal bands and although most of them were very good, they got lost in the shuffle. Whatever, the case, the 1980s and the golden age was over.

It was my son, Will, who first called the 1980s, the golden age of heavy metal and he was born in 1991. Many metalheads from generations since have confirmed this belief about the golden decade. In fact, that was the next to final line in my book, “Rock and Roll Children,” when Mitch’s son tells his father and father’s friends, “You guys lived in the golden age of heavy metal.”

Now, finishing the 1980s was supposed to be my endgame. Originally, I wasn’t going to go beyond the golden decade for a number of reasons. Oh, I still would have been around but the history tour would have been over. However, many of you out there have encouraged me to go further and I will keep my promise to carry the history tour into 1990 then I’ll see where to go from there. One thing I ask is that you, my readers, support me and tell others that I’m still here. A few years ago, I was getting more than 20 likes on my posts, these days, I’m lucky if I get ten. But I will carry on.

The original intention of starting 80smetalman was to promote and hopefully gain more sales from my book, “Rock and Roll Children.” That hasn’t been too successful either, although the only way you can get a copy is to buy direct from me. I’m happy to oblige. So let me end with the final line from my book: “The 1980s was the golden age of heavy metal. Full of kick ass albums and great concert memories and I was glad to have been around to witness it.”

Next post: A Great Band That Never Was

To buy Rock and Roll Children, email me at: [email protected]

I’ll also be continuing my campaign for a knighthood for Bruce Dickinson. To sign, click the link: https://www.change.org/p/special-honours-committees-for-knighthoods-a-knighthood-for-bruce-dickinson

14 Comments »

Great Metal Albums of 1989: Kings X- Gretchen Goes to Nebraska

Posted in 1980s, Heavy Metal, Heavy Metal and the 1980s, Music, Rock, Uncategorized with tags Americans, Classic Rock, Crosby Stills Nash & Young, Foreigner, Gretchen Goes to Nebraska, hard rock, Heavy Metal, Heavy Rock, Kings X, metal, Music, progressive metal, progressive rock, Rock, Southern Rock, The 1970s, The 1980s, The Outlaws on January 25, 2025 by 80smetalman

“Gretchen Goes to Nebraska,” in my opinion came out at least ten years too late. This blend of hard rock and progressive rock, would have gone down very well back in the 1970s. As I was coming out of my musical shell by 1979 and seeking out more hard rock and on the very first steps to becoming a metalhead, I would have loved this album and become a Kings X fan. However, it came out in 1989 and I was distracted by that thing called life and despite the praises that were heaped upon the album back then, it still passed me by.

The 70s, trippy sounding progressive rock comes right out of the gate on the opener, “Out of the Silent Planet.” When I listen to it, I imagine the stoners from my high school days sitting back and absorbing the song while they smoke certain substances. The song has that effect. More 70s but only more hard rocking sounds from the decade comes in on “Over My Head.” The fuzzy guitars make things interesting and Ty Tabor nails the guitar solo, along with some good vocals from Doug Pinnick.

It may or may not be 70s but “Summerland” has more of a Southern Rock feel. The guitar and harmonizing here are top notch. I can easily imagine the Outlaws singing this but Kings X do an excellent job. Motown goes metal on “Everybody Knows a Bit of Something.” The harmony backing vocals sound very 60s Motown but there is a heavy metal guitar on it which makes it sound even more cooler. That is quickly followed by the ballad, “The Difference (In the Garden of St. Anne’s on the Hill),” I won’t write that one too many times. This time, the backing vocals are more Crosby, Stills and Nash but they definitely work.

We get an early Foreigner feel with “I’ll Never Be the Same.” I’m talking “Double Vision” and “Head Games” era but the guitar work here is again noteworthy. It’s the organ intro on “Mission” which is totally captivating. It brings back more memories of 70s progressive rock but then goes into more of a metal jam but with plenty of swagger and my favourite song on the album. Straight forward metal comes in with “Fall On Me.” It would have been even more mindblowing if the guitar had been turned up a bit more but we do get another killer solo from Ty.

Some of my Canadian readers brace yourself because “Pleiades” sounds similar to Nickelback. Maybe the latter got their idea from this song in forming their sound. If so, I’ll still go with Kings X here, especially since the song is a dig at TV evangelists. “Don’t Believe It” sounds more 70s Motown but with a much harder edge and nothing wrong with that. Still, they go serious metal on “Send a Message.” While I might be droning on about the 70s throughout this post, this one is definitely in the 80s. I love the vibe here. The album closes out on a high with “Burning Down.” It seems they took everything they did on the other songs and poured it all out in this one. The harmonizing, the guitars and so on. It’s one of those which straddle the line between ballad and not a ballad but it’s a great one to finish on.

Now, one might think that with all these influences in the music that the album is all over the place. Trust me, it’s not. Everything just seems to fit together very well. Plus, Doug sings well as well as carrying out his duties on the bass. Ty is a true shredder and the drumming of Jerry Gaskill provides the beat that helps make the album great.

Track Listing:

Out of the Silent Planet
Over My Head
Summerland
Everybody Knows A Bit of Something
The Difference (In the Garden of St. Anne’s on the Hill)
I’ll Never Be the Same
Mission
Fall on Me
Pleiades
Don’t Believe It
Send a Message
Burning Down

Doug Pinnick- bass, lead vocals

Ty Tabor- guitar, dulcimer, flute, sitar, backing vocals

Jerry Gaskill- drums, percussion, backing vocals

“Gretchen Goes to Nebraska” was the second album from Kings X and I tend to agree with what the critics said about it. It’s another great album I regret missing back in the day.

Next post: The Golden Decade Ends

To buy Rock and Roll Children, email me at: [email protected]

To sign the petition to give Bruce Dickinson his knighthood, click the link: https://www.change.org/p/special-honours-committees-for-knighthoods-a-knighthood-for-bruce-dickinson

15 Comments »

Great Rock Albums of 1989: The B-52s- Cosmic Thing

Posted in 1980s, Death, Music, Rock, Uncategorized with tags Americans, Classic Rock, Cosmic Thing, hard rock, humour, Music, new wave, punk, reviews, Rock, The 1980s, The B-52s, top of the pops on January 22, 2025 by 80smetalman

Here’s the danger when you know a band more by their singles than their album output. My experience with The B-52s is mainly through their two biggest hits, “Rock Lobster” and the biggest hit which appears on the “Cosmic Thing” album, “Love Shack.” In fact, if it hadn’t been for the blog ‘A Sound Day” featuring the latter song in a recent post, that would have passed me by. Damn my memory! It made me realize and I’m surprised that no one picked up on it but through the entire trip through 80s rock and metal history, I haven’t visited any B-52s albums. Should I be shot for it? Possibly so, but I’ll be adding their albums to the ones I missed.

“Cosmic Thing” was born out of tragedy. Following the death of founder and guitarist, Ricky Wilson, in 1986, the band took some time off and created the album in memory to Ricky. Keith Strickland took over the guitar duties and thus, the album was made. While “Love Shack” is the best known single from the album, it went to number one in Australia, New Zealand and Ireland, number two in the UK and number three in the US, the album actually spawned four more singles, “Cosmic Thing,” “Deadbeat Club,” “Roam” and “Channel Z.” BTW, can any of my Canadian readers tell me how it did there?

A rare occasion but I actually agree with one point that some critics have said about the album. While going a little more serious, the B-52s didn’t abandon the silliness they were known for. “Love Shack” is the perfect example of this. It’s a fun song, no further explanation needed. In fact, here’s another rarity for me, the singles are actually the best songs on the album but that doesn’t stop it from having a hidden gem. It just made finding it a bit easier and it goes to “Dry County.” Going back to the singles, I really like “Roam” with the two ladies in the band taking the vocals and doing a great job on it and not forgetting that you can have fun while making a good song. “Roam” did get to number three in Canada.

Track Listing:

Cosmic Thing
Dry County
Deadbeat Club
Love Shack
Junebug
Roam
Bushfire
Channel Z
Topaz
Follow Your Bliss

Kate Pierson- vocals, keyboards

Fred Schneider- vocals, percussion

Keith Strickland- guitar, keyboards, backing vocals

Cindy Wilson- vocals

Additional Musicians:

Tommy Mandel- keyboards

Steve Ferrone- drums

Sarah Lee- bass, keyboards, backing vocals

Phillip Saisse- keyboards

Sony Emory- drums

Charlie Drayton- drums

The Uptown Horns

I thought I’d better include this one.

“Cosmic Thing” proved that the B-52s weren’t quite ready to head off into obscurity. This is a good fun album which serves the memory Ricky Wilson proud.

Next post: Kings X- Gretchen Goes to Nebraska

To buy Rock and Roll Children, email me at: [email protected]

18 Comments »

Rest in Peace John Sykes

Posted in 1980s, Death, Heavy Metal, Heavy Metal and the 1980s, Illness, Music, Rock, Uncategorized with tags Blue Murder, British, Classic Rock, death, Guitarists, hard rock, Heavy Metal, Heavy Rock, John Sykes, The 1980s, Thin Lizzy, Tygers of Pan Tang, Whitesnake on January 21, 2025 by 80smetalman

It only took 20 days into the new year before it claimed the first musical legend. Yesterday, John Sykes went to Rock Heaven after a long battle with cancer, he was 65. No one needs me to tell you about what a great guitarist John was and his stellar career. He played in Tygers of Pan Tang, Thin Lizzy, Whitesnake and formed his own band, Blue Murder before launching into a solo career.

In my personal tribute to John Sykes, I now present some of my favourite songs from the bands he was in and I’m sure you have many of your own. Have a listen and raise a glass to this great guitarist.

Rest in peace John.

12 Comments »

Great Metal Albums of 1989: XYZ

Posted in 1980s, Heavy Metal, Heavy Metal and the 1980s, Music, Rock, Uncategorized with tags Americans, Classic Rock, Dokken, France, glam rock, hair metal, hard rock, Heavy Metal, Heavy Rock, metal, Music, Rock, The 1980s, XYZ on January 19, 2025 by 80smetalman

History confirms that glam and hair metal was declining in popularity in 1989 and into the 1990s and that is the main reason why this self titled debut album from French-American band XYZ didn’t do as well as the record label had hoped. The album was produced by Don Dokken and as a result, XYZ were criticized for sounding to much like Don’s band. Listening to the album, while it’s true I can hear some of Don’s influence, I do think that XYZ do forge their own way.

In light of the above, the opening track, “Maggy,” does sound a bit like Dokken but that doesn’t make it a bad song. However, I don’t ever recall hearing Dokken play a song like the second one, “Inside Out.” This was released as a single and to me, it’s the best song on the album. It has a real groove about it and the guitar solo from Marc Richard Diglio is amazing. Terry Ilous is yet another reason for me to heap praise upon singers where English is not their first language.

“What Keeps Me Loving You” is the first of four ballads on the album. This is a power ballad in the true sense with the chords struck by Marc and his guitar solo. Like a true ballad singer, Terry sounds like he pours his soul out in the vocals. The second power ballad, “Follow the Night” brings even more power and at times, it threatens to go off into a more straight forward metal song but then slows down again for Terry to pour his soul out and another cool guitar solo. Ballad three, “Souvenir,” is more in the vein of the first ballad, therefore, I’ll take the track as an opportunity to say what a good rhythm section Pat Fontaine and Paul Monroe are. The final track and final ballad, “After the Rain,” is less power and more of an acoustic ballad but is still a great closer. It could be argued that four ballads on the album might have been the problem with it. Did so many ballads put off metalheads to the album? I await your responses.

The remaining tracks are all straight ahead rockers all done well. “Come On’n Love Me” has plenty of swagger like “Inside Out.” Love the opening riff. “Take What You Can” and “Tied Up” are both good rocking metal songs where the band is real tight. In fact, it’s a toss up between “Tied Up” and “Come On’n Love Me” for the hidden gem, so I’ll give it to them both. In the end, you get a good metal album that would have been much more successful had it been recorded a year earlier.

Track Listing:

Maggy
Inside Out
What Keeps Me Loving You
Take What You Can
Follow the Night
Come On’n Love Me
Souvenirs
Tied Up
Nice Day to Die
After the Rain

Terry Ilous- lead vocals

Marc Richard Diglio- guitar, backing vocals

Pat Fontaine- bass, backing vocals

Paul Monroe- drums, backing vocals

Here’s what can happen when Americans and the French come together. They form a great band like XYZ and put out a cool metal album as this debut album proves.

Next post: The B-52’s- Cosmic Thing

To buy Rock and Roll Children, email me at: [email protected]

To sign the petition to give Bruce Dickinson a knighthood, click the link: https://www.change.org/p/special-honours-committees-for-knighthoods-a-knighthood-for-bruce-dickinson

12 Comments »

Check Out These Cool Songs

Posted in Heavy Metal, Music, Rock, Uncategorized with tags Atomic Sound Quality 3245, bullying, hard rock, Heavy Metal, Heavy Rock, Thrash Metal on January 18, 2025 by 80smetalman

My good friend, Sheila ‘Spiral Sister’ Murrey passed on a great heavy metal anti-bullying song. The song is called “The Bullies” by Atomic Sound Quality 3245. They do two versions of the song, one a more commercial friendly hard rock song which starts with a cool lead guitar hook. The second version is pure unadulterated thrash metal. Being the metalhead I am, both songs are great both musically and hitting home the message of bullying. Listen and enjoy and also check out Sheila’s blog. https://sheilamurrey.net/

https://suno.com/song/b57d88eb-a3cd-41c4-a595-d1bd4a0bef94

https://suno.com/song/f984600d-6578-428a-962a-41ec17969d32

4 Comments »

Great Rock/Metal Albums of 1989: Soundgarden- Louder Than Love

Posted in 1980s, Heavy Metal, Heavy Metal and the 1980s, Music, Rock, Uncategorized with tags Americans, Classic Rock, doom metal, grunge, hard rock, Heavy Metal, Heavy Rock, Louder Than Love, metal, Music, Rock, Soundgarden, The 1980s, The 1990s on January 16, 2025 by 80smetalman

Several times in the past couple of years, I have admitted that in the 1990s, I was musically aloof. Responsibilities of life was the major contributor in that regard but in any case, there were many bands and albums which passed me by unnoticed. One of these was the second album from Soundgarden, “Louder Than Life.”

Another contributor, although not major, is that I never really got into grunge in the 1990s. I don’t hate it and there are plenty of songs and bands from the genre I like but if I’m brutally honest, I’m an old fashioned 80s metal man, yes, pun intended! The “Louder Than Life” album is a prime example of how I feel. I’ve given the three mandatory pre-listens and I’m listening to it now and I will say, it’s a decent album but it doesn’t have me wanting to blast it from the rooftops.

Point from the above paragraph, this is a decent album even if the songs don’t completely float my boat. If grunge hadn’t already been invented, I would have called this, ‘depressive metal.’ On quite a few tracks, “Gun” comes to mind, when I’m listening, I keep thinking I should do so whilst washing down a couple of Valium with a bottle of whisky. But yet, I don’t dislike the track either. It’s my weird mind or if you’re into the zodiac, it’s the Gemini in me. Personally, I don’t believe in the latter. I feel the same way about “Power Trip.”

Two songs do standout for me, the first is the first single from the album, “Hands All Over.” This one is a less depressing than the others. It has a bit of an uplift to it and some nice guitar hooks. The second is the hidden gem on the album, “Big Dumb Sex.” Yes, the title and lyrics caught the attention of the American religious fanatics, which makes it even more likable but this is the most metal song on the album. I can hear some Black Sabbath influence here and if they had gone more in this vein, I would have enjoyed the album even more. I like a bit of doom metal and this one is perfect. Saying that, the two songs with “Full On” in the title are pretty good.

Track Listing:

Ugly Truth
Hands All Over
Gun
Power Trip
Get on the Snake
Full On Kevin’s Mom
Loud Love
I Awake
No Wrong, No Right
Uncovered
Big Dumb Sex
Full On

Chris Cornell- vocals, rhythm guitar

Kim Thayil- lead guitar

Hiro Yamamato- bass

Matt Cameron- drums

So the verdict’s in, “Louder Than Love” is an all right album but not one I want to listen to again and again. I’m not knocking Soundgarden here, I have heard some of their stuff and like it. Therefore, being a fair person, I am putting their debut album from 1988, “Ultramega OK,” on the list of albums I have missed out and will listen and post about it in the future.

Next post: XYZ

To buy Rock and Roll Children, email me at: [email protected]

9 Comments »

Great Punk Albums of 1989: Snuff- Snuff Said

Posted in 1980s, Heavy Metal, Heavy Metal and the 1980s, Music, Rock, Uncategorized with tags British, Classic Rock, hard rock, hardcore, Heavy Metal, Heavy Rock, Music, punk, punk-rock, reviews, Rock, Snuff, Snuff Said, Speak English or Die, Stormtroopers of Death, Suicidal Tendencies, The 1980s on January 13, 2025 by 80smetalman

My thanks has to go out to Joe of 1537 fame for enlightening me to this album. He wrote about the British punk band Snuff and their debut album, “Snuff Said” and after listening to the sample track and learning that the album came out in 1989, I knew right then that I had to add it to my list of albums for the year and I’ll tell you that I’m glad I did. So thank you very much 1537!

Onto the album and my initial and continuing response to “Snuff Said” is that this album is pure punk the way punk was meant to be. Even with the bonus tracks, which I was treated to thanks to Youtube, it’s still a case of 19 songs in just a 47 minutes. Now that’s punk. The only albums I can think of that can beat that are “Speak English or Die” from the Stormtroopers of Death and the debut album from Suicidal Tendencies. Then again, those are my two favourite albums full stop.

As I said, this album is pure punk. It’s fast, furious and as I am listening to it right now, I have this serious desire to want to stage dive. Believe me, this can be said for all of the tracks but for me, the standout tracks, which slightly differ from Joe’s are, “Some-How,” their amazing cover of the Tiffany hit, “I Think We’re Alone Now,” “Another Girl,” “Pass Me By” and their own personal take on “Purple Haze.” While I have to agree with Joe that some tracks aren’t as standout as others, you’re bound to get that with so many tracks, all of them together make a fabulous punk party.

Track Listing:

Words of Wisdom
Some-How
Now You Don’t Remember
Not Listening
I See/HM Trout
Too Late
Another Girl
I Think We’re Alone Now
Win Some Lose Some
Pass Me By
Keep the Beat
The Night of the Li’s
Purple Haze
Little Git
What Kind of Love
Not Listening
Dead and Buried
That’s Enough
For Both Sides/No One Home

Tracks 13-19 are Bonus Tracks

Duncan Redmonds- drums, vocals

Simon Wells- guitar, vocals

Andy Crighton- bass

Although I didn’t notice it back in 1989, shame on me, it was good that the spirit of hardcore punk was still kept alive by bands such as Snuff. And they’re still on the go making music! May they live on.

Next post: Soundgarden- Louder Than Love

To buy Rock And Roll Children, email me at: [email protected]

10 Comments »

Great Metal Albums of 1989: Enuff Z’nuff

Posted in 1980s, Heavy Metal, Heavy Metal and the 1980s, Music, Rock, Uncategorized with tags Americans, Classic Rock, Enuff Z'Nuff, glam rock, hard rock, Heavy Metal, Heavy Rock, metal, Music, Rock, sleaze rock, The 1980s on January 10, 2025 by 80smetalman

Here’s a reason why getting old sucks. It was in late 1989 when my sister, Dawn, started making tapes of songs from different metal artists and sending them to me. I am sure that on the very first one, there was a song by Chicago metallers, Enuff Z’Nuff. The problem is that after listening to the album several times, I still can’t figure out which song from the album it was. Now, I could go find out but that means crawling up into my attic and go through my cassettes which are up there. Too much work if you ask me, so I’ll let that remain a mystery.

Like with many debut albums, Enuff Z’Nuff were still finding their direction and the first three tracks of the album symbolize it. The opener, “New Thing,” is a straight forward metal track and a single. It’s not a total throat grabber which an opening track should be but it’s sufficient. Then we move on to the very blues influenced “She Wants More.” I like the harmonizing and lead guitarist, Derek Frigo, steps out of the shadows and plays a blinding solo, great stuff. Following on is the second and more successful single, (it just missed the Top 40), “Fly High Michelle.” Vocalist, Donnie Vie, pours his heart out in the song and there’s a nice guitar solo at the middle but it’s pretty much a nice power ballad.

Those first three songs define what the rest of the album is like. You get some straight forward metal tunes, although I would say that “Hot Little Summer Girls” is what a metal tune should be, great power chords, vocals and a nice guitar solo. With that said, “Kiss the Clown” is a better example because it ticks the boxes of the other song but done so with a bit more flair. “Little Indian Angel” is a cool tune with an intro which simulates Native American music.

Blues based song number two comes in the form of “In the Groove” and I think it’s an appropriate title because the band sound like they were just that. On this track, you get to fully appreciate what Chip Z’Nuff can do on the bass and his line does lay down a good, funky rhythm to the song. I mustn’t forget the drumming Vikki Fox because his beat does ground the song for Donnie’s vocals and a killer guitar solo from Derek. This is definitely the best song on the album.

The second ballad is the penultimate track, “I Could Never Be Without You.” It’s not as good as “Fly High Michelle” but it’s good enough. Things end with the powerful but bluesy in some places “Finger on the Trigger.” It’s one of those which can fly by if you’re not paying attention, I nearly missed the cowboy sounding acoustic intro, but it is the right way to end the album.

Track Listing:

New Thing
She Wants More
Fly High Michelle
Hot Little Summer Girls
In the Groove
Little Indian Angel
For Now
Kiss the Clown
I Could Never Be Without You
Finger on the Trigger

Donnie Vie- lead vocals, rhythm guitar, keyboards

Derek Frigo- lead guitar

Chip Z’Nuff- bass, guitar, vocals

Vikki Fox- drums

What surprised me and it probably shouldn’t have, is that Enuff Z’Nuff is still on the go and put out a good number of albums. Obviously there have been many lineup changes, Chip is the only member from this lineup left. Still, a band has to start somewhere and this debut album was a great place for them to do just that.

Next post: Snuff- Snuff Said

To buy Rock and Roll Children, email me at: [email protected]

4 Comments »

Great Metal Albums of 1989: Make a Difference Foundation- Stairway to Heaven, Highway to Hell

Posted in 1980s, Concerts, Death, Heavy Metal, Heavy Metal and the 1980s, Illness, Music, Rock, Uncategorized with tags AC/DC, Americans, Bon Jovi, British, Cinderella, Classic Rock, compilation albums, Elvis Presley, Germany, Gorky Park, hard rock, Heavy Metal, Heavy Rock, Highway to Hell, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Led Zepplin, live albums, Make a Difference Foundation, metal, Moscow, Motley Crue, Music, Ozzy Osbourne, Rock, Russia, Skid Row, Stairway to Heaven, The 1980s, The Scorpions, The Sex Pistols, The Who, Thin Lizzy, Tommy Bolin on January 7, 2025 by 80smetalman

This compilation album was put together for a charitable cause. The Make a Difference Foundation was set up to fight drug and alcohol addiction among the youth. Half the proceeds from the album went to the foundation while the other half went to the Soviet Union’s All Union Society for Sobriety. All the artists who contributed on the album played at the Moscow Peace Festival in the Summer of 89, which is why the last four tracks are from the concert and all the songs they recorded were covers of songs from artists who died from drug or alcohol abuse. The list is too long to mention and since I had this on cassette, it was on the inside cover.

Without any more prattling, here’s the album.

Russian band, Gorky Park, come out of the blocks and hit you square on the nose with this cool metalized cover of the Who classic. The stereotypical Russian intro leads into the song very nicely. A great way to start the album.

Skid Row take a great Sex Pistols song and take it to new heights. They don’t deviate much from the hardcore punk of the original artists and it’s all well here.

With stereotypical German efficiency, the Scorpions get straight down to business and belt out the second Who track on the album. It lives up to what I’ve come to expect from these guys.

If I was to pick a hidden gem for the album, it would be this track. Before I heard this, I couldn’t have envisioned Ozzy singing this Jimi Hendrix classic but he does a good job on it. However, Ozzy isn’t the star of the song, guitarist Zakk Wylde is the true star the way he just shreds all the way through it.

Ticking right along is Motley Crue’s rendition of a Tommy Bolin number. To be honest, I’m not familiar with Tommy’s material but Motley Crue seem to do well on here. It’s another reason for me taking back my label of Mick Mars being the worst guitarist in metal, he certainly isn’t.

In a not too long ago post, I put Bon Jovi’s cover of this song against the original Thin Lizzy. The original won hands down and some of you agreed with me that the cover by English band, Briar, was even better than Bon Jovi’s. Still, that doesn’t make this cover a bad one. Back in 1989, Bon Jovi were at the zenith of their popularity and could have made a cover of “Wake Me Up Before You Go Go” and it would have been successful. This could be proof of what happens to a band resting on their laurels.

This one could be the one possible misstep, Cinderella’s cover of the Janis Joplin song, “Move Over.” It starts out okay but my problem with it is that Tom Keifer does too much screaming. He doesn’t need to do that as it almost cancels out the cool guitar solo. When he sings normal, it all sounds okay.