Search - Various Artists :: This Is 80's Hair Metal

A nice compilation that is worth the money

William Matson | Maine | 08/29/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

""This is 80's Hair Metal" is part 1 of a 2 part series (so far). Part 2 is another 3-cd set called "More 80's Hair Metal." I will start by responding to other reviewers concerns.



Some reviewers comment on the remakes/rerecordings on this cd. This album, you will notice, came out on Deadline Records. Deadline is a label that specializes in the following:



1. Rerecorded versions of hit songs by the original artists, these are marketed as 'greatest hits collections' (example: "Greatest and Latest" by Warrant, represented here on cd's 1 and 3)



2. Tribute albums featuring members of various 80's rock/metal bands doing the cover songs (i.e. "Leppardmania-Tribute to Def Leppard" or "Snakebites-Tribute to Whitesnake", the latter represented here on cd 3)



3. Live albums (i.e. "Lita Ford-Greatest Hits Live", represented here on cd's 2 and 3)



4. New studio albums ("Liquifury" by Hurricane, represented here)



5. Solo releases by members of 80's rock groups (i.e. Kip Winger from Winger, Mike Tramp from White Lion, etc.), in some cases they do new songs and others, Deadline has them rerecord material from their original band. Sometimes, it is a live solo album in which the artist does hits from their original band. This sort of stuff is on this album. In the case of Kip Winger, it was an 'unplugged' solo release from the studio.



6. Reissues of out of print albums ("Pissed" by Dangerous Toys, represented here on cd 1)



7. Albums of demos/unreleased songs that never made a studio release (King Kobra "The Lost Years", represented here on cd 1)



8. Remixes, occasionally the label takes 80's rock hits (usually rerecorded) and adds techno/industrial/electronica beats to the background to create 'dance' music ("Ultrapussy" cd by Faster Pussycat, which is represented here on cd's 1 and 3)



That's what this label does, all for 80's rock/metal acts.



The songs on this box set are pulled from various Deadline releases. The reason you do not see Twisted Sister, Motley Crue, Kiss, Britny Fox, Black Sabbath, etc. is that none of those artists ever recorded anything for Deadline, so there obviously is no material available from those bands to use. You can't fault the label for that.



As for the rerecordings, lots of people rerecorded their songs for small labels: Little Richard, Steppenwolf, Exile, Starship, Jerry Lee Lewis, lots of bands on this compilation, Fats Domino, Lynyrd Skynyrd, The Drifters, Stray Cats, Georgia Satellites, etc. When a band rerecords the song, they are the ones (along with the new label) that end up making most of the money from it. The label who owns the original version of a song doesn't make all the profits like they normally would from most greatest hits collections. Small labels like this love having 'greatest hits' compilations of 'name artists' to sell, regardless of when the recordings were done. Artists, meanwhile, love keeping in practice (doing the song again) and also the payday they get, in addition to the prospect of sticking it to a label they are likely no longer on (the label they did the original version for).



Given the label's budget, the rerecordings sound fairly good. Yes, I like the originals better, too. However, the songs sound almost the same and you can tell it is the band credited (well, their current lineup). One thing people obviously need to understand about rerecorded songs is that they are almost always done live in the studio (with the whole band) in ONE take. There is no going in and adding parts later or stopping to start the song again. I'm sure if they worked at it for six months (like the original), the remakes would sound closer to the originals, in sound quality.



And what is wrong with having a 14 track disc of some live material for the car? I didn't know live albums suddenly went out of vogue. That explains why Lita Ford sings 'Close my eyes forever' on her own. It is live. Obviously, it is her song, too, and she can't drag Ozzy around on the road with her all the time. So sooner or later, yes, she would sing it by herself. As for the Great White cover versions of Led Zeppelin, those are pulled from a live tribute album to Led Zeppelin that was recorded in California by Great White in the mid 90's (title: "Great Zeppelin").



By the way, Poison is represented by Bret Michaels and Michael Monroe from Hanoi Rocks does appear on the album. Iron Maiden's original singer, Paul Di'Anno is here, too.



Lastly, compilations featuring original versions of hit songs tend to mention this fact on the cd some place (usually the cover). These collections tend to come from bigger labels (Razor & Tie, Rhino, etc.) and usually are one or two cd sets (almost never three). And such compilations of the original recordings cost more. It takes more money to license studio versions from a big record company (if you can even get the rights) than it does to get rerecorded/live material from an indie label. That explains the budget price for rerecorded sets and higher prices for original recordings. If you want original recordings so bad, consider these points above.



Enough responding to previous reviewers, here are my thoughts on the album. This is a detailed rundown.



CD 1: Warrant, Bang Tango, Quiet Riot and Bulletboys make up the first four songs on this release with rerecorded hits from the studio. Dangerous Toys is next with an older song 'Pissed' and this is the original version of the track from 1994, NOT a rerecording. LA Guns, Pretty Boy Floyd and Faster Pussycat follow with rerecorded hits from the studio. Faster Pussycat's song sounds vastly different than the original. Jetboy is next with a hard to find song. Great White is next with a cover from their last studio release (an all-covers affair of various artists). Michael Monroe (from Hanoi Rocks) follows with a solo track. George Lynch (ex-Dokken) follows with his band, Lynch Mob. Lynch Mob rerecorded Dokken songs (weird, huh?) two years ago or so for a studio release on this label. That cd is where 'Tooth and Nail' comes from (originally done by Dokken when George was there). King Kobra follows with a track rerecorded in the studio. Hurricane is afterwards with a brand new song from their most recent studio album, making this an original recording of a new song (not a remake). Love/Hate follows with a rerecorded version of one of their early songs, that was taken off a "greatest hits" cd for this label (like virtually every other rerecorded studio track on this collection). As for the music, I think the songs are all fantastic. The sound quality on the rerecordings is good here. All the artists involved 'still have it'.



CD2: There are live tracks here, of course. The big problem I have is that if I remember right one song/track finishes up by using the intro to the next track. Point being, before the track ends on your cd player, the artist from the next song listed introduces the live cut THEN your player changes to the next track. This is awful weird, considering it is various artists on this live album, meaning it's not from the same recording. Essentially, these come from solo live releases (Paul Di'Anno), 'greatest hits live' albums (Cinderella), live tribute albums (Great White), etc. The only bum tracks on here are the LA Guns cover 'Aint talking about love' which came from a poor sounding import, to begin with. The Junkyard song doesn't have the greatest sound quality, but I can live with that. There isn't much more to say here. I am not a complete nut for live albums, but it's certainly good to have :) The Night Ranger, Paul Di'Anno and Cinderella recordings sound the best (from a sound quality standpoint).



CD3- This is a mix of live and studio versions of power ballads. Some come from rerecorded greatest hits collections, others from live albums and a few from tribute albums. Bret Michaels begins with a studio rerecording (solo) of a Poison #1 hit. Mike Tramp follows with a rerecorded White Lion hit featuring his solo band. That is one mistake on the cd, it is not White Lion (as listed on the set), but Mike Tramp and his solo band in the studio. Kip Winger follows with a solo rerecording of a Winger hit in the studio, done acoustically. LA Guns is next with their original lineup rerecording their biggest hit in the studio. Faster Pussycat follows with a rerecorded dance remix of a hit, done in the studio. Great White follows with a Bad Company tune from their all covers cd, done in the studio. Warrant rerecorded a hit in the studio for track 7. Cinderella is next with a live cut. Ronnie James Dio and Yngwie Malmsteen are represented with a song from an Aerosmith tribute album. Night Ranger is represented again with another live recording, as is Lita Ford (doing a hit of hers, minus Ozzy who appeared on the studio version, lol). The last three tracks are as follows- Stevie Rachelle (Tuff) with a song from a Journey tribute album. George Lynch (ex-Dokken) and Steve Whiteman (ex-Kix) are represented with a song they performed together on a Scorpions tribute cd. Finally, a Whitesnake hit appears that was pulled from a Whitesnake tribute (feat. Bernie Marsden, who was in the early Whitesnake lineup). The recordings here are well done, also. Of course, some other readers might have their own opinion on the songs taken from tribute albums, none of which have the same punch, admittedly, as the originals (then again, you wouldn't expect them to).



I am a radio dj so having a large box set like this works great if I need to fill a little time on the rock/metal specialty show I do for my station. It's also great for a cd changer considering it runs three hours. Considering the price and if you can deal with these not being the original studio versions, then this is a great purchase. The album booklet talks about each and every artist, giving them a few lines telling you a brief history. The booklet is generally accurate on this stuff. There are also plenty of pictures (old & new) of the artists involved, which is nice as it lets you know who you are listening to (a face behind the song). A lot of care went into this collection.



For anyone who liked this set, I'd suggest trying the sequel "More 80's Hair Metal" which is the same setup, but different songs. That set actually features a few more original studio recordings of hits (this has only two). Additionally, you get more name artists (better known bands) on that set, such as WASP, Whitesnake and the Scorpions. Even if you did not like this, try that one out, since I find it to be slightly superior. Hence the four star rating here, as opposed to five.



Cons:

-Some tracks on cd 3 are live, but these are not specified.

-There is no mention of these being rerecorded songs.

-The label doesn't do much to let you know where a lot of these recordings originally came from.



There are not too many negatives on this compilation, to me. I enjoyed this one a lot. Keep up the good work, Deadline.





"

FALSE ADVERTISING - Buyer Beware

Amazon Shopper | PA, USA | 08/20/2005

(1 out of 5 stars)

"I definitely appreciate the positive comments of some of the previous reviewers, but I think that for most of us, this set is an absolute zero.



I imagine that why most people are buying this set is to hear the familiar hooks that will remind them of a time now twenty years in the rearview mirror. I'm not going to go into many specifics of the album--see the previous review--but I imagine that when most of us want "80's hair metal", we want the music from the 80's, recorded in the 80's. To me, Warrant covering their own songs years later, when Jani Lane's voice is noticeably lower and the guitar playing is not nearly as flashy is not "80's hair metal". Bret Michaels doing a one-man acoustic version of "Every Rose Has Its Thorn" is not "80's hair metal". Kip Winger's solo studio outtake of "Headed for a Heartbreak" is not "80's hair metal".



Deadline Records violated their corporate responsibility by publishing this album without a LARGE NOTICE that tells consumers that these are not the original recordings of the songs. I have little doubt that Deadline's lawyers would carefully craft a statement, saying "Nowhere on the record do we claim that these are original recordings." But I also have little doubt that they are only too pleased when people buy and open the discs thinking that the songs are originals, and then find themselves unable to return opened CD's.



If you want to dance at a rave to a techno version of Faster Pussycat's "House of Pain", then this is the set for you. If you want to actually hear 80's Hair Metal, then go to a bar and listen to cover bands--it's nowhere to be found on this set.

"