One of their BEST, regardless of what others say!
J. Lemas | San Jose, CA United States | 01/16/2007
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Having been a Y&T fan since 1981, like many of you, I saw the progression from the hard rock metal sound of the first 4 A&M releases to a more polished and commercial sound, as found on Contagious. Regardless of the stylistic change found on this cd, this is one seriously great disc! As good as the the first 4 Y&T releases are, I am glad they shifted gears a bit. Who wants a band to make the same album several times (not that ANY of their albums sound the same)? Not me!
There are some high class rock songs (Fight For Your Life, Armed & Dangerous, Eyes Of A Stranger....actually, I really like the entire cd, with the exception of 'The Kid Goes Crazy'). The production is really good, the band are tight, Dave's voice and guitar playing are in amazing form (check out the solos on 'Fight', 'A&D', 'Eyes' and the AMAZINGLY soulful instrumental 'I'll Cry'...it does not get much better than this!), Jimmy's drumming is great, the songs are excellent. What more can you ask for? Do yourself a favor and check this cd out.
"
Y &T sells out? Who cares, this album rocks!
Justin Gaines | Northern Virginia | 04/11/2008
(4 out of 5 stars)
"More than any other Y&T release, 1986's Contagious is the album that gets trashed the most. The conventional wisdom is that the band "sold out" and "went glam" with this album, trying to latch on to the success of the hair metal scene (that Y&T had a major role in creating in the first place. Maybe there's some truth to the accusations (though nobody complained when Whitesnake tried to reintroduce themselves to hair metal fans), but I could care less how much hairspray the guys used as long as the album rocks, and let me tell you something - Contagious rocks!
Now I have to admit that Contagious was the first Y&T album I ever heard, so it has a special place in my heart. Still, I've played (and played, and played) their entire catalog enough to know that the melodic hard rock on this album is not that far removed from the melodic hard rock on Black Tiger or Mean Streak. You old school Y&T guys are no doubt clutching your chests and sputtering with rage by now, but can you honestly tell me a song like Contagious or Fight for Your Life would have been out of place on either of the albums I just mentioned, or that the power ballad Temptation is much different from This Time? Closing instrumental I'll Cry For You is the perfect counterpart to Black Tiger's From the Moon.
There are some filler tracks, though reading the other reviews here it's apparent that one fan's filler is another fan's favorite, and there is an unmistakable hair metal production, but overall Contagious is just the kind of memorable melodic hard rock album Y&T is so well known for, and remains one of my absolute favorite Y&T releases.
PS - I'd love to have a remastered version of this album (and Ten too, while we're at it) to go along with the other great reissues the band has released lately.
"
Infectious as well
B. SUGGS | milpitas,CA | 08/20/2007
(5 out of 5 stars)
"This to me this was their last great album.Songs like rythym or not stand out
contagious as well as some of the others.Really worth having in your collection."