WTF search terms are fewer and further between today. But they still trickle in, oh yes they do! This time out, people found their way to my site searching for gossip. Have a look below at the bizarre things that people Google:
regina russell fucked by frankie bnali photos
Nooooo. No no no. That’s something you could not un-see.
did steve perry have long hair once
Yes and it was beautiful.
bobby dall sexual gossip
One of those things that just makes you question why.
Quiet Riot took the unusual step of firing their only original member, lead singer Kevin DuBrow, in 1987. They soldiered on with new singer Paul Shortino and did a brief tour of Japan before calling it a day for the band. Meanwhile, Kevin DuBrow was supposed to working on a new band called Little Women.
In 1991, various media were reporting that Kevin DuBrow and Carlos Cavazo had gotten back together in 1991 as a new band called Heat. It was a quiet reunion for the singer and guitarist who had been estranged since DuBrow’s firing in 1987. Within two years of forming Heat, the band had morphed into a new version of Quiet Riot, now featuring former drummer Frankie Banali and newcomer Kenny Hillary (RIP).
Terrified features 3/4 of the classic Metal Health lineup with only Rudy Sarzo being absent. (He’d join again later on Alive and Well). Like a mighty ship changing course in heavy waters, Terrified is a monstrous Quiet Riot CD, anchored by Cavazo’s newly heavy guitar playing and Banali’s inimitable thunder. The drum production on this album could be the best on any Quiet Riot disc, and up there with Banali’s sound with bands such as W.A.S.P.
Lots of winners on the Terrified: “Cold Day In Hell” boasts an angry 90s groove, but with the melodic sensibilities of Metal Health-era QR. “Loaded Gun” almost sounds like a Metal Health outtake, because it has a throwback vibe. Their cover of “Itchycoo Park” is the only acoustic song, a much needed respite before re-entering the fray on the storming title track. Only a few filler tracks (in a row) almost derail the album, but soon we’re back on track with “Rude, Crude Mood”. It may be one of the worst lyrics that DuBrow’s ever written but the music sure rocks. “Little Angel” is fast but forgettable, and before long you’re into “Resurrection”, a six-minute instrumental tour-de-force. Banali and Cavazo take the helm on it with a shuddering riff, and they don’t let go until it’s fade out. An awesome track.
Quiet Riot’s career can be divided up into a number of phases. In the 1970s, there was the Randy Rhoads era represented by two decent Japanese albums. This was followed by the the so-called “classic era” of major label releases (Metal Health to QR) from 1983-1988. Then there is the reunion era which runs from Terrified to Rehab (2006) and finally Kevin Dubrow’s death in 2007. As a coda, Frankie Banali resurrected the name with a variety of lead singers and continues to tour and record. Their last album was 2014’s 10 featuring lead singer Jizzy Pearl. Terrified would stand as the best album of the reunion era, which they sadly struggled to equal on later releases like Down to the Bone.
When grunge took over the airwaves in 1991-1992, a lot of older guard bands found themselves without a record contract. W.A.S.P.’s 1992 concept album The Crimson Idol failed to generate enough interest for Capitol Records to continue investing in the band. A greatest hits contractual obligation album was a typical move for bands in this situation, and that is how First Blood…Last Cuts came to be. With that in mind, the 16 track album is great bang for the buck. Rarities and new songs add value, and the photo-loaded booklet is tons of fun.
A rarity right off the bat, “Animal” was a non-album single and W.A.S.P.’s first. It’s better known as “Fuck Like a Beast”, and that might explain why it wasn’t on the W.A.S.P. album. A good but not exceptional track, it does boast a nice metal chug, but it’s otherwise just there for shock value. It is primitive metal akin to the first LP, with Blackie in full screech. You either like W.A.S.P. or you don’t.
“L.O.V.E. Machine” from the first LP is remixed with the first verse re-recorded, for some reason. Presumably Blackie must have been dissatisfied with the original. There are several remixes on this CD, including singles “I Wanna Be Somebody”, “I Don’t Need No Doctor” (a metalized Ray Charles cover via Humble Pie), “Blind In Texas” and “Wild Child”. The remixes generally have a sharper drum sound, particular the tracks originally from the muddy first album. The remixing leads to an uneven listen. Rather than sounding fresh, the remixes feel off-kilter and slightly unfamiliar, especially when butted up against non-remixed tracks. The muddy “On Your Knees” follows the remixed “I Wanna Be Somebody”. The transition between the two songs, both originally from the same album, could be better.
Thankfully the strong songs outnumber the middling by a hefty margin. “Headless Children” and “The Real Me” (a Who cover from Quadrophenia) remain two highlights of the W.A.S.P. canon. The chugging heavy epic “Chainsaw Charlie” has never been topped by Blackie.
The final incentives are the two new songs, although one (“Rock and Roll to Death”) was recycled on 1995’s Still Not Black Enough. “Sunset and Babylon” is special as it features Lita Ford on guest lead guitar. The nimble-fingered Ford adds some character to the tune, a pretty standard rock n’ roller from Blackie and cohorts.
At 75 minutes, First Blood…Last Cuts is a long running album providing great value. Perhaps it runs a song or two too long, but nit picking aside it is a solidly hot listen through. The drunken cowboy blasts of “Blind in Texas” are as fondly remembered as the gentle strumming on ballads like “Hold On to My Heart”. Indeed, as the album runs on to its second half, ballads begin to outshine the rockers. “Forever Free” remains one of W.A.S.P.’s brightest stars, as likeable as it was in 1989. “The Idol” is a darkly beautiful ballad demonstrating that Blackie Lawless is indeed deeper than just his assless chaps. Although the album dialogue should have been chopped for this greatest hits CD, it just breaks up the flow.
Most people do not need all the W.A.S.P. albums. In fact, scientific studies have shown that one or two W.A.S.P.’s is all the average homo sapiens will ever need. First Blood…Last Cuts would be solidly recommended CD for your first or only W.A.S.P. purchase.
I’ve reviewed almost every single Quiet Riot album now. Only Guilty Pleasures awaits of the studio albums I have left to cover. Why did I leave 1984’s Condition Critical for so long? As the follow-up to Metal Health, you’d think I would have tackled it already. But I didn’t even have the album ripped to my computer.
As a half-arsed Metal Health clone, I’ve never felt like Condition Critical deserved a lot of time spent on it. I received it in 1985, and it has never been an album I have particularly cared for. I still think today that most of the songs are not very good. At that, almost every song is an inferior clone of a prior one on Metal Health:
“Sign of the Times” = “Metal Health (Bang Your Head)”
“Mama Weer all Crazee Now” (Slade cover) = “Cum On Feel the Noize” (Slade cover)
“Winners Take All” = “Thunderbird”
And so on and so forth. Spencer Proffer returned to produce, so even sonically Conditional Critical is all but a clone of the previous record. I’m sure the guys thought they were repeating the magic to take them back to the top of the charts. How wrong they were! Most of the new songs were written solely by Kevin DuBrow, and it feels rushed.
Condition Critical still retains some of the fun of Metal Health. Although not as good, the dumb-titled “Stomp Your Hands, Clap Your Feet” is plenty fun just like Quiet Riot classics. “Party all Night” is also a hoot, and you have to admit that the guys did make a pretty hilarious music video for it. Quiet Riot broke with the help of MTV, and they at least retained their knack for making an amusing music video.
On side two of the album there was hidden a serious heavy tune, the title track “Condition Critical”. This slow grinder is one of those great lost tracks that you can only get on the album. Banali breaks the levee with some solid drums. Songs like this make tracking down the record worthwhile for those willing to give it a shot.
On the other hand, I had a friend who said “Winners Take All” is probably the worst Quiet Riot song of all time.
All week, Aaron over at theKeepsMeAliveand I will be colluding. Monday to Friday, we will be talking about the same CDs. He hasn’t read my reviews, and I haven’t read his. Today, we’re both discussing Quiet Riot‘s landmark Metal Health. Be sure to check both reviews each day this week!
QUIET RIOT – Metal Health (1983, 2001 Sony remastered edition)
While my first rock album ever was Kilroy Was Here, by Styx, my first metal album ever was this one: Metal Health, by Quiet Riot. Although I was really into Styx, Quiet Riot were the first band that I “loved”. Some music that people liked when they were in grade school embarrasses them today that they ever owned it. Not me, not this album. Since buying it in ’84, I’ve owned this album on cassette, LP and twice on CD. And I’ll probably buy it again; I understand there is a more recent reissue out with more bonus tracks. Metal Health was the crucial cornerstone in my musical development, and always will be one of my all-time favourites. Read on!
The opening drum crash to “Metal Health”, sometimes also referred to as “Bang Your Head (Metal Health)”, instantly transports me back in time. Chuck Wright played bass on this one, extra slinky and funky (although Rudy Sarzo plays on most of the album). Suddenly I’m in the basement at my parents’ house, listening to this cassette on my old Sanyo ghetto blaster. I still recall, the cassette shell was white. I played the crap out of it, annoying everyone.
“I got a mouth like an alligator” sings lead howler Kevin DuBrow, and how accurate he was. I had no idea that Kevin’s mouth would cause the band to oust him only a few years down the road. I liked the attitude of the lyrics, and the aggression of the guitars. Impossible to ignore was new drummer Frankie Banali, who to this day is an absolute ballcrusher of a hard rock drummer. His metronomic groove on Metal Health gave it the drive. I wouldn’t have been able to break it down and articulate it like that when I was a kid, but these are the factors that attracted me to the song.
“Cum On Feel The Noize”, the Slade cover, is now more famous than the Slade original or Oasis’ version for that matter. It’s a great tune, but Quiet Riot and producer Spencer Proffer nailed the sound and the vibe. The gang vocals are irresistible. The cover was a huge hit, but it painted them into a corner.
Much like my first rock purchase Kilroy Was Here, there were songs I liked and songs I hated. I don’t think I was the only 12 year old kid who didn’t have the patience for ballads. Girls? Who cares! So I also hated “Don’t Wanna Let You Go”. I wasn’t obsessive about listening to whole albums back then, since I was brought up in the LP age where we just dropped the needle. So I often fast-forwarded through “Don’t Wanna Let You Go”. Or we would play side one of the cassette, rewind, and play it again. (“Don’t Wanna Let You Go” was on side two of the cassette version). Shortly after I suddenly noticed girls were EVERYWHERE, the song started to click with me. Its sparse arrangement driven by Frankie’s drums make it a really special song. Carlos Cavazo’s guitar solo had melody and composition to it, and drew my attention to the fact that a guitar solo wasn’t just a 30 second bore, but a micro-structure within the song, like a song all its own.
“Slick Black Cadillac” is a remake of a song from the second Quiet Riot album (cleverly titled Quiet Riot II) although we didn’t know that at the time. “Slick Black Cadillac” is simply a classic today, and even though there isn’t a Randy Rhoads writing credit on it, you can hear the echo of his influence in Carlos’ guitar fills. The lyrics to this song are so catchy, and soon you too will be singin’ about those solid gold hubcaps. I was attracted to songs that told a story, and the rudimentary story here is a guy in a Caddy runnin’ from the “coppers on his trail”. There’s no Dylanesque poetry, and DuBrow was never a crooner. This is about loud guitars and drums, a singer who is screaming his face off, and songs about cars and rocking!
You know I got a fully equipped rock ‘n’ roll machine, At speeds that take me high, high, high, At dead man’s curve, I only hear one word, drive, drive, drive!
Love’s A Bitch” is less successful but it has a mournful quality that isn’t bad. “Breathless” is better, a fast rocker featuring Frankie’s breakneck but steady pounding of the skins. Following at the same pace, “Run for Cover” is just as furious, but lacking in melody. Carlos Cavazo’s guitar showcase “Battle Axe” used to precede “Slick Black Cadillac” on my cassette version, which it was perfectly suited for. On the original LP and the CD, it opens “Let’s Get Crazy”. Because the running order of the cassette is permanently branded into my memory, it’s hard to get used to. “Let’s Get Crazy” is goofy, seemingly an attempt to have another song like “Metal Health” on the same album. As such it’s filler.
Finally there is “Thunderbird”, the piano-based ballad that Kevin wrote for the late Randy Rhoads. Didn’t like it then, love it today.* It’s a beautiful song and maybe the best thing DuBrow’s ever written. It’s cheesy as hell, but who cares? The heart is there.
CD bonus tracks include a fun live take of “Slick Black Cadillac” (complete with DuBrow’s “vrroooom, vrrrrroooom!”) taken from a radio promo release. Also present is “Danger Zone”, an outtake that is not quite up to the album standards, but certainly close. Remastering is loud and clear, and liner notes are informative enough.
Enjoy. Doesn’t matter if it’s 1984 or 2015, this is a great album.
4.5/5 stars
* When we were kids, my sister and I used to play ‘air bands’ to this album. I’d always make her sing “Thunderbird” while I would get the ‘better’ songs!
You guys know the drill. Here are 10(+) weird search terms that led people here. Let’s give’r.
1. dio stripper music
In answer to 1, I think Rainbow in the Dark would be a great stripper song. Do you know the answer to #2?
2. what does 333 mean to David lee Roth
I asked Craig Fee for more info on this one. “No clue on 333. Number of people that actually think Sammy is better?”
3. is ace frehley japanesr
No.
4. a) trailer park boys officer high cockb) officer high cock c) chickenjacked d) i’m mowing the air randy episode
So many Trailer Park Boys search terms this month, and new ones too, such as “officier high cock” from the new season. What people expected to find when they google “officer high cock” is another question altogether.
5.why is skid row subhuman race so expensive
Perhaps you are looking at a Japanese import. They are very expensive. :)
6.11994
No idea how this led somebody to me.
7.hotpiss
On the other hand, I do know how this one led to me.
W.A.S.P. – The Headless Children (1998 Sanctuary remaster, originally 1989)
When this album came out in ’89, my friends gave me a hard time for buying it. “You still listening to W.A.S.P.? Don’t they suck?” Then later on that summer, the ballad “Forever Free” was released as a single, and suddenly everybody wanted to tape my W.A.S.P. album! Funny how that worked out.
This is W.A.S.P.’s best. As far as the early stuff goes, It’s their meanest, heaviest, most aggressive and honest record. It’s the last before Chris Holmes split (for the first time anyway) and it has Frankie Banali (Quiet Riot) on drums. This is it. If you’re going to own one W.A.S.P. album, it has to be this one. The first single “The Real Me” (a Townshend-approved Who cover) was misleading, as the album is much heavier than that. The title track, “Thunderhead”, and especially “The Heretic” all kick some serious metallic ass. Double-bass, fast riffs, eerie Sabbathy organ, it’s all here.
Blackie outdid himself on this one, even his concept album opus The Crimson Idol couldn’t top it. Lyrically this is (mostly) more serious territory, tackling subjects such as hard drugs, Reagan, and the decline of western civilization. Occasionally they lapse back into joke material (“Mean Man”) but soon it’s back to serious rocking.
Blackie was inspired to get serious by his old song, “B.A.D.” from the first album. A fan had come up to Blackie and said that song had helped her kick drugs. It was the line, “It’s the bloody fix you do” that inspired her to quit. Blackie realized, “Here we did this thing without even trying. What could we do if we tried?”
Hence, songs like “Thunderhead”. Even the excellent ballad “Forever Free” has some serious spirit to it, an ode to someone who is no longer with us. Regardless of the lyrics, music is the most important thing, and The Headless Children is W.A.S.P.’s strongest collection of music to date. It was all there: heavy metal with solid riffs and influences dating back to the roots. Mood wise, we are firmly in the blackest of Sabbath territory on many songs.
The bonus material is interesting on the remastered edition. “Locomotive Breath” is a W.A.S.P.-ified version of a Jethro Tull classic, much simpler but heavy as lead. Other tracks are outtakes, and some musical and lyrical bits would be re-used on Crimson Idol. See if you can spot them. The closing track “Blind In Texas” (a live B-side) is unfortunately a useless version with some drunk dude being invited to sing the chorus. A waste of plastic. Fortunately the rest of the album proper makes up for it.
We’ve had a couple strong new releases in a row here of late: The newHelixandJudas Priest albums have been particularly great.
I guess two out of three ain’t bad.
NEW RELEASE
QUIET RIOT – 10 (2014 iTunes or Amazon mp3 download)
I’ve made no secret of my dislike for the happenings in Quiet Riot recently. I find their current reunion, with no original members, to be tenuous at best. Singer after singer, Quiet Riot stumbled onwards before finally hiring Jizzy Pearl of Love/Hate and Ratt fame. With Pearl they’ve managed to record an album. 10 is the name of that album, another thing I find a little disrespectful. The name 10 seems to me to imply it’s their 10th album. It’s not; all fans know Metal Health was their third, not first, album. This seems to play into an earlier attempt to re-write the Quiet Riot related Wikipedia pages to state that Metal Health was the band’s first record. Why? I can only speculate that this is done to promote the current Quiet Riot as having “original members”, when in fact they have none.
However, I’m going to listen with open ears, because that’s what I’m here to do.
First track, “Rock in Peace” is one I like quite a lot. What I don’t like is the muddy, muddy sound. The drums sound like they’re in another room. It’s too bad because I think the song has potential. As for Jizzy, it’s easy to adjust to him as lead singer of Quiet Riot. Although he doesn’t sound like the late Kevin DuBrow too much, he does have certain screamy qualities in common with DuBrow. This enables him to adapt to the Quiet Riot sound. The lyrics quote the band’s biggest original hit, “Metal Health”, which is alright. Halford’s quoted himself before too. OK, so production aside, not bad.
“Bang For Your Buck” has some tasty guitar by the talented Alex Grossi, making his first Quiet Riot album appearance here. Unfortunately the otherwise fine song is held back by Jizzy, overreaching and straining. Grossi really does redeem the song especially with the solo…but damn this album sounds muddy. Congested. Like I have a head cold while listening to it.
Third in line is the weird titled “Backside of Water”. I don’t know what that title means, and since this is a digital release, there are no lyrics. It smokes along nicely, with more fantastic Grossi guitars, but it’s an unremarkable song that doesn’t sound like Quiet Riot, except in the sense that Quiet Riot has a lot of unremarkable songs. The Ratt-like “Back on You” is outtake quality. I’m sensing that the guys think they can just throw a shout-AC/DC-style chorus on something and call it catchy, but it doesn’t work that way.
“Band Down” is what you’d call a “down n’ dirty” rocker. I’d call it dull, and poor sounding. I think they’re trying to recapture that “Stay With Me Tonight” vibe, but without a memorable chorus. But “Dog Bone Alley” is worse, absolutely sunk by horrendous backing vocals. It has a slinky, heavy groove, and some smokin’ guitars, but that’s not enough to build a song with.
Alex Grossi, Jizzy Pearl, Frankie Banali, Chuck Wright
Quiet Riot’s biggest stumbling block has always been songwriting. That’s why some of their biggest hits are covers. Quiet Riot 10 continues that frustrating tradition. Just like albums such as Alive and Well had some good songs and solid moments, so is Quiet Riot 10. And that’s only six songs!
What Quiet Riot did to make a full album is include four live songs, kinda taking a page out of the ZZ Top book, a-la Fandango! These tracks are all obscurities, songs not available in live versions before. They all feature Kevin DuBrow, but could Frankie have not found better sounding recordings? From Quiet Riot III is a horrid sounding version of “Put Up or Shut Up”. This is bootleg quality, and not even good bootleg quality. Too bad; sounds like it was a good version. Then, from the stinky Rehab CD comes an unnecessary “Free”. So it’s heavy, whoop-de-do. It’s a shitty song, and the vocals are so damn distorted at times that it sounds as if Kevin’s under water. “South of Heaven” too suffers from these sonic defects. It seems like they were going for a Zeppelin “Nobody’s Fault But Mine” kind of vibe, but as if the mothership crashed into “The Ocean”. (See what I did there?) Kevin even yelps, “Push, push!” It’s a shame because Frankie really is a smokin’ drummer.
The final track is a nine minute rock n’ roll medley. This is a great jam. Humble Pie’s “Red Light Mama, Red Hot!” is a great little obscure choice. Kevin sounds like he’s having a blast. Actually the whole band sound like they’re having more fun here than they were playing their own originals. This seques into other more familiar hits, still harkening back to that old British blues rock sound.
Live many albums of Quiet Riots past, 10 stumbles and fails at times, while producing pleasing hard rock surprises at others. The sonic issues are a surprise to me. I hope a physical CD release, if there is to be one, would improve the sound.
2/5 stars
1. “Rock in Peace” 4:00 2. “Bang For Your Buck” 3:52 3. “Backside of Water” 4:18 4. “Back on You” 3:24 5. “Band Down” 3:17 6. “Dogbone Alley” 4:29
Live 7. “Put Up or Shut Up” 4:18 8. “Free” 4:05 9. “South of Heaven” 5:25 10. “Rock ‘n’ Roll Medley” 9:22
For further reading, check out Jon Wilmenius’ review of Quiet Riot 10.
QUIET RIOT 1978
Randy Rhoads – lead guitar (founder)
Kevin DuBrow – lead vocals
Kelli Garni – bass
Drew Forsythe – drums
QUIET RIOT 1988
Carlos Cavazo – lead guitar
Paul Shortino – lead vocals
Sean McNabb – bass
Frankie Banali – drums
Quiet Riot are a rare bird in rock history; they actually released this album with no original members intact. Quiet Riot suffered numerous lineup changes until finally singer Kevin DuBrow was fired in ’87 after the disastrous QRIII. Bassist Chuck Wright also left the sinking ship (he joined House of Lords).
Banali and Cavazo made the questionable decision to carry on with a new singer, and that singer was Paul Shortino of Ruff Cutt. My only exposure to Shortino at that time was his excellent contribution to the song “Stars” by Hear N’ Aid. I loved his raspy voice and I was intrigued. Replacing Chuck Wright was bassist Sean McNabb…who, a few years later, again replaced Chuck Wright, this time in House of Lords. Since then he’s also been in Great White.
The album itself was a bit of a letdown at first, and only through many determined listens did it finally grow on me. The problem was that Quiet Riot are (or were) primarily a party band. I mean, this is the band who had songs called “Party All Night” and “Stomp Your Hands, Clap Your Feet”. Now, they had changed to a moodier blues-based glam rock band. The first single “Stay With Me Tonight” was darker, slower, bluesy and anchored by a howling Hammond B3 organ. Nothing like anything Quiet Riot had ever done before. Obviously, Banali and Cavazo had decided to trade party hooks in for integrity and possible critical acclaim. Unfortunately that never happened, but the result is that QR remains a hidden hard rock semi-gem. The lack of success led to Quiet Riot disbanding in 1989 after a short tour. Sounding very little like Quiet Riot, and playing unrecognizable renditions of the hits, the band clearly should have changed their name to something else. Clamorous Calm, perhaps?
The album did finally grow on me. Perhaps similarly to a band like House of Lords (who debuted at the same time), the tracks here were a bit darker. The ballads a bit more sad. The rockers a tad more threatening. The fact that this sounds absolutely nothing like Quiet Riot (except for the musicianship of Banali and Cavazo) doesn’t make it a bad album.
My favourite songs:
“Stay With Me Tonight”, the afformentioned first single.
“Run To You”, a guitar-based ballad with a touch of keyboards and great melodies from Shortino.
“I’m Fallin'”, one of the few party rock songs included.
“Don’t Wanna Be Your Fool”, another great darker ballad.
“Callin’ The Shots” which has a pretty solid, bluesy riff.
The sound, by long-time QR producer Spencer Proffer was not up to par. I didn’t expect Quiet Riot to go so bluesy either. These were sounds I was somewhat unfamiliar with at the time. Carlos did have a chance to shine on guitar more than ever before, and Frankie’s drums are loud and powerful as always. As a testament to the man’s talents, he ended up in W.A.S.P. after this on the brilliant Headless Children CD.
In 1993 DuBrow called Cavazo up, made amends, and formed a band called Heat. With the addition of Banali and bassist Kenny Hilary (R.I.P.), Heat morphed back into Quiet Riot. They released the pretty good Terrified CD which was a welcome return to vintage form.
This CD may not be a very good “Quiet Riot album”, but it is actually a pretty good album. If you give it time, you may find something to enjoy herein.
There are several Quiet Riot live albums available: this one, Setlist, Live at the US Festival, and Live & Rare. All are vintage recordings from the early 1980’s. Of the three, you might look at Extended Versions and pass on it. It looks cheap and unofficial. To overlook this CD would be a mistake, and this is why.
Sure, it lacks any sort of booklet or liner notes. All I know is that the first eight tracks are from Pasadena in 1983, and the last two from Nashville the same year. From the outside you wouldn’t know that. The only information is the ominous “Recorded Live” which tells you very little indeed. Being 1983, this is the “classic” lineup of Kevin DuBrow, Frankie Banali, Rudy Sarzo, and Carlos Cavazo, on the Metal Health tour. Introducing “Love’s A Bitch,” DuBrow reveals that they only began their US tour a short while ago.
Perhaps because it’s early in the tour, or maybe because they’re home in California, Quiet Riot pulled out two rarities for the Pasadena show. These are “Gonna Have A Riot” and “Anytime You Want Me”, neither of which are on Quiet Riot I or II. Both are written solely by DuBrow, but “Gonna Have A Riot” is from the Randy Rhoads period. “Anytime You Want Me” is of more recent vintage, and it’s actually quite an excellent pop rocker. Also rare was the set opener, “Danger Zone”, unreleased until 2001 when the studio version was added to the Metal Health remastered CD.
In addition to the rarities, you get the hits: “Metal Health”, “Cum On Feel The Noize”, “Slick Black Cadillac”, “Love’s A Bitch”. There’s also a handful of well liked album cuts such as “Let’s Go Crazy” and the smoking “Breathless”. That song knocked me out as an 11 year old and it still does today. All performed by the band in their prime, before the downfall.
Live & Rare sounded awful, but this CD sounds pretty good. I’m not sure if it’s a radio broadcast, but it’s perfectly listenable. It’s too bad there’s no packaging, because if this had been packaged with more effort and care, it could have been sold as an “official” live album quite easily. Bummer there’s no liner notes, all you’re going to get is the music. However, the music stands up for itself and it’s an enjoyable live album.
mikeladano.com 