Better than you might think
Justin Gaines | Northern Virginia | 04/11/2008
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Ah, Winger. The poster boys for chick-friendly hair metal in the 80's. I think their fate was sealed when the wimpy neighbor kid Stuart - who always sported a Winger t-shirt - was introduced on MTV's Beavis and Butthead cartoon. I'll let you in on a little secret though: Winger was good, and I mean really good. Every member of the band was a highly skilled musician, and they had the perfect grasp of what made the late 80's melodic rock sound work.
1990's In the Heart of the Young was the band's sophomore album, and is a very solid melodic rock album. There's no "Seventeen" style hit single here (though I believe Miles Away charted at the time), but that's probably a good thing. I think that song ended up doing more harm than good to the band's reputation. Instead you've got an album with almost no filler, which is a rarity. Little Dirty Blonde and Loosen Up are probably my least favorite tracks, but just about everything else is very impressive melodic rock. It reminds me a lot of the first two Night Ranger albums, in that it's just one great melodic song after another.
If you're an 80's rock fan, you really need to get this album. Forget what you think you know about Winger (especially if it's primarily the video for Seventeen). They're a better band than anyone thinks.
NOTE: Wounded Bird reissued this album in 2005. The reissue does not include any bonus material, and it has not been remastered, so if you have an older copy of the album there's no need to replace it."