1989 - best albums

[DaHun72]

Glad you came around to Big Game a little. It's grown on me heaps over the years. Where we differ is that I don't mind the opener and think cry for freedom is an absolute cracker.

Agreed Main Attraction has an awesome production job and some excellent tracks but the ballads and blues track...IMO make it worse than Big Game.

The sad fact is that Vito should have released a heap more material. Huge loss to our scene!

[Geoff]

Glad you came around to Big Game a little. It's grown on me heaps over the years. Where we differ is that I don't mind the opener and think cry for freedom is an absolute cracker.

Agreed Main Attraction has an awesome production job and some excellent tracks but the ballads and blues track...IMO make it worse than Big Game.

The sad fact is that Vito should have released a heap more material. Huge loss to our scene!

 

Yeah, I was reading some rather complimentary words from Tramp about Bratta that he's said through the years. One was his believing Bratta would have been bigger than Vai if he had stayed in music, and that guitarists like Warren Demartini and and Paul Gilbert (?!) tried out for White Lion but weren't able to do do Bratta's work justice.

 

It does appear to be one of the real shames of our genre, that he wasn't able to keep creating music with Tramp. Because let's face it, Tramp has not released a good song outside of White Lion. And there is a fuckload of songs to chose from there...

 

As for 'Mane Attraction' vs 'Big Game,' it was obviously a no-brainer for me. There are weak songs on 'Mane Attraction,' but nothing is really bad. There are quite a few really bad songs on 'Big Game.' And also, there are a good bunch of truly killer songs on 'Mane Attraction' and only two killer tunes on 'Big Game.' It really has it covered across the park quite easily, imo.

[Nightrain]

Maybe I think you're trying too hard to hate that album mate. I don't understand why 'Goin Home Tonight' is a weak opener because I think that's a perfect opener and a very melodic track, and there's no way 'Let's Get Crazy' is a 1, well I can accept if you rated it 6.5 or 7 but 1 is definitely for unlistenable weak pop track haha anyway that's 8.75 from me. 'Radar Love' is a complete superb cover and I gladly rated 10 for that. 'Mane Attraction' is also a lovable album but I still stand by my opinion that it has too many ballads, I love most of the songs and also deserve a high rating, perhaps 90%.

 

Well 'Big Game' deserved a huge score and one of those albums I still listen to regularly and I agree their debut is the weakest but maybe rated it much better than you

[Geoff]

Maybe I think you're trying too hard to hate that album mate. I don't understand why 'Goin Home Tonight' is a weak opener because I think that's a perfect opener and a very melodic track, and there's no way 'Let's Get Crazy' is a 1, well I can accept if you rated it 6.5 or 7 but 1 is definitely for unlistenable weak pop track haha anyway that's 8.75 from me. 'Radar Love' is a complete superb cover and I gladly rated 10 for that. 'Mane Attraction' is also a lovable album but I still stand by my opinion that it has too many ballads, I love most of the songs and also deserve a high rating, perhaps 90%.

 

Well 'Big Game' deserved a huge score and one of those albums I still listen to regularly and I agree their debut is the weakest but maybe rated it much better than you

 

No, I definitely never try hard to hate an album. I only hate albums that completely warrant being hated. As I posted, all my recent thoughts on the album are actually positive compared to what I thought my opinion of the album was. If 'Let's Get Crazy' is worth a 6.5-7 then I hate my ears and will set them on fire tonight. 1 is for an unlistenable track that I would skip quicker than I can move my finger to the skip button... which is what the song is. It's just absolutely terrible. Even hard rock bands create absolutely dreadful songs.

 

'Goin' home tonight' is the most basic, straight forward and tame opener. It actually sounds like Tramp's solo stuff, which is not a compliment... at all.

[Nightrain]

haha well at least the thought of 'the album wasn't bad at all' a step up from your previous opinion so who knows it might be even better later

so can you post your updated list of 1989, I'm curious to see if there are couple of gems that I missed

[Geoff]

haha well at least the thought of 'the album wasn't bad at all' a step up from your previous opinion so who knows it might be even better later

so can you post your updated list of 1989, I'm curious to see if there are couple of gems that I missed

 

I'll be finished 'Z' in a couple of weeks, so I can post the list then in a pretty complete form. Ideally, I still want to look through CDRs and MP3s before a final list... but I think once I finish 'Z' all the albums that matter will be on the list.

[kourosofsteel3]

haha well at least the thought of 'the album wasn't bad at all' a step up from your previous opinion so who knows it might be even better later

so can you post your updated list of 1989, I'm curious to see if there are couple of gems that I missed

 

 

I'm thinking you're still missing some from the ones you already rated, buddy.

[Geoff]

 

haha well at least the thought of 'the album wasn't bad at all' a step up from your previous opinion so who knows it might be even better later

so can you post your updated list of 1989, I'm curious to see if there are couple of gems that I missed

 

 

I'm thinking you're still missing some from the ones you already rated, buddy.

 

 

I don't think I'll have any missing albums, but I'll probably have a pretty different order to those listed so far. Just had a sneaky peek then and even I am quite surprised by the order of things. Doing all these ratings I'm not really keeping tabs on how individual years are coming along, so it's weird to see it listed by year.

[kourosofsteel3]

 

 

haha well at least the thought of 'the album wasn't bad at all' a step up from your previous opinion so who knows it might be even better later

so can you post your updated list of 1989, I'm curious to see if there are couple of gems that I missed

 

 

I'm thinking you're still missing some from the ones you already rated, buddy.

 

 

I don't think I'll have any missing albums, but I'll probably have a pretty different order to those listed so far. Just had a sneaky peek then and even I am quite surprised by the order of things. Doing all these ratings I'm not really keeping tabs on how individual years are coming along, so it's weird to see it listed by year.

 

 

 

Buddy, my comment was directed to our Indonesian buddy and some of his '89 ratings.

[Nightrain]

 

haha well at least the thought of 'the album wasn't bad at all' a step up from your previous opinion so who knows it might be even better later

so can you post your updated list of 1989, I'm curious to see if there are couple of gems that I missed

 

 

I'm thinking you're still missing some from the ones you already rated, buddy.

 

 

haha and what are they ? need some idea here

[Geoff]

 

 

 

haha well at least the thought of 'the album wasn't bad at all' a step up from your previous opinion so who knows it might be even better later

so can you post your updated list of 1989, I'm curious to see if there are couple of gems that I missed

 

 

I'm thinking you're still missing some from the ones you already rated, buddy.

 

 

I don't think I'll have any missing albums, but I'll probably have a pretty different order to those listed so far. Just had a sneaky peek then and even I am quite surprised by the order of things. Doing all these ratings I'm not really keeping tabs on how individual years are coming along, so it's weird to see it listed by year.

 

 

 

Buddy, my comment was directed to our Indonesian buddy and some of his '89 ratings.

 

 

Yeah, no worries... I did mean my comment for Nightrain, suggesting that I don't think there will be anything on my list he missed, but yeah, kind of muddled up the direction of my comment. All the usual suspects on my lists.

[kourosofsteel3]

 

 

haha well at least the thought of 'the album wasn't bad at all' a step up from your previous opinion so who knows it might be even better later

so can you post your updated list of 1989, I'm curious to see if there are couple of gems that I missed

 

 

I'm thinking you're still missing some from the ones you already rated, buddy.

 

 

haha and what are they ? need some idea here

 

 

 

Buddy, you slayed F.Warning! And before going to write some more, I just realized that you didn't even rate Helstar's Nosferatu. Paint me dropping the microphone now.

[Nightrain]

I've rated Fates Warning 79.5% bro, never heard of Helstar but I think I'm quite familiar with the band, let me check it out, meanwhile some small update that I got of 1989

 

XENTRIX Shattered Existence Thrash Metal Roadracer 84.8%
ACCEPT Eat The Heat Hard Rock Epic 78.2%
WHIPLASH Insult To Injury Thrash Metal Roadracer 76.9%
POWERMAD Absolute Power Thrash Metal Reprise 76.5%
WHITE HEART Freedom Hard Rock Sparrow Records 76.4%
D.A.D No Fuel Left For The Pilgrims Hard Rock Warner 72.7%
ATHEIST Piece of Time Thrash / Death Metal Active Records 67.5%
DARK ANGEL Leave Scars Thrash Metal Combat 63.8%
FAITH NO MORE The Real Thing Alt / Funk / Hard Rock Slash Records 61.8%
PESTILENCE Consuming Impulse Death Metal Roadracer 60.4%

[Nightrain]

THE YEAR OF 1989

Total 161 albums evaluated and the top 100 consists of :
>= 85% = 47 albums
76% - 84% = 53 albums
<= 75% = 0 albums

Average rating for the top 100 is 85.63%

RANK 1 - 20

SKID ROW s/t Hard Rock Warner 100.0%
ROBIN BECK Trouble or Nothin' Melodic Rock PolyGram 98.8%
DANGER DANGER s/t Melodic Rock CBS 97.6%
BONFIRE Point Blank Melodic Rock BMG 96.5%
MOTLEY CRUE Dr. Feelgood Sleaze / Hard Rock Warner 95.9%
WINTER ROSE s/t Melodic Rock Victor 94.4%
TESLA The Great Radio Controversy Hard Rock Geffen 93.6%
XYZ s/t Hard Rock EMI 93.2%
FAHRENHEIT (AUS) Talking About Love Lite AOR OK-Musica 92.8%
VAIN No Respect Sleaze / Hard Rock Polystar 92.3%

WHITE LION Big Game Hard Rock Atlantic 92.1%
PRETTY BOY FLOYD Leather Boyz With Electric Toyz Sleaze / Hard Rock Warner 91.9%
SEPULTURA Beneath The Remains Thrash Metal FEMS 91.8%
FM Tough It Out AOR CBS 91.7%
BAD ENGLISH s/t AOR Epic 91.5%
CHINA Sign In The Sky Melodic Rock Vertigo 91.2%
MR.BIG s/t Hard Rock East West 90.5%
ALICE COOPER Trash Hard Rock Epic 90.5%
SILENT RAGE Don't Touch Me There Melodic Rock RCA 90.3%
FIFTH ANGEL Time Will Tell Heavy Metal Epic 90.3%

RANK 21 - 100

DA VINCI Back In Business AOR MTM 90.1%
TREAT Organized Crime Melodic Rock PolyGram 89.3%
TNT Intuition Melodic Rock PolyGram 89.3%
AXEL RUDI PELL Wild Obsession Heavy Metal SPV 89.1%
LION Trouble In Angel City Hard Rock Grand Slamm 89.0%
LOUDNESS Soldier of Fortune Hard Rock Warner 88.6%
STRANGEWAYS Walk In The Fire AOR Hangdog 88.6%
X JAPAN Blue Blood Power / Heavy Metal Sony Music 88.4%
WHITESNAKE Slip of The Tongue Hard Rock Sony Music 88.0%
SIGNAL Loud And Clear AOR EMI 87.7%

GLORY Danger In This Game AOR BOZZ 87.3%
SWEDISH EROTICA s/t Sleaze / Hard Rock Virgin 87.1%
BAD HABIT After Hours Melodic Rock Virgin 86.9%
ONSLAUGHT In Search of Sanity Thrash Metal Polydor 86.8%
LILLIAN AXE Love and War Hard Rock MCA 86.7%
TESTAMENT Practice What You Preach Thrash Metal Atlantic 86.7%
EXTREME s/t Hard Rock Polydor 86.6%
ALIEN s/t AOR Virgin 86.5%
BABYLON A.D s/t Hard Rock Arista 86.1%
WARRANT Dirty Rotten Filthy Stinking Rich Sleaze / Hard Rock Sony Music 86.1%

ZAR Live Your Life Forever Melodic Rock Hurricane 86.0%
STAGE DOLLS s/t AOR Chrysalis 85.6%
RAGE N ROX Rage N Rox AOR Retrospect 85.5%
MICHAEL BOLTON Soul Provider Pop / AOR Columbia 85.5%
MICHAEL MORALES s/t AOR Wing Records 85.1%
GREAT WHITE Twice Shy Hard Rock EMI 85.0%
EVENRUDE One Size Fits All Melodic Rock Mercury 85.0%
L.A.GUNS Cocked And Loaded Sleaze / Hard Rock PolyGram 84.8%
GIANT Last of The Runaways Hard Rock A & M 84.8%
XENTRIX Shattered Existence Thrash Metal Roadracer 84.8%

MELIDIAN Lost In The Wild Hard Rock CBS 84.5%
CATS IN BOOTS Kicked & Klawed Sleaze / Hard Rock EMI 84.4%
MSG Save Yourself Melodic Rock Capitol 84.4%
BENNY MARDONES s/t AOR Curb Records 84.4%
VICTORY Culture Killed The Native Hard Rock Rampage 84.3%
HARLOT Room With A View AOR KDC Records 84.3%
STEVE STEVENS Atomic Playboys Hard Rock Warner 83.9%
KINGDOM COME In Your Face Hard Rock Polydor 83.8%
AEROSMITH Pump Hard Rock Warner Music 83.8%
W.A.S.P The Headless Children Heavy Metal Capitol 83.7%

STEVE LUKATHER Lukather AOR Sony Music 83.7%
DIVING FOR PEARLS s/t AOR CBS 83.6%
WHITECROSS Triumphant Return Hard Rock Pure Metal Records 83.5%
ENUFF Z'NUFF s/t Hard Rock East West 83.4%
ICON Right Between The Eyes Melodic Rock Atlantic 83.2%
BLACK SABBATH Headless Cross Heavy Metal I.R.S 83.2%
MASS Voices In The Night Hard Rock Enigma 83.0%
BLUE BLUD The Big Noise Melodic Rock Music For Nations 83.0%
KREATOR Extreme Aggression Thrash Metal Noise 82.7%
BRITNY FOX Boys In Heat Sleaze / Hard Rock Sony Music 82.5%

RUNNING WILD Death or Glory Heavy Metal Noise Records 82.3%
HEAVY PETTIN' Big Bang AOR FM Revolver 82.0%
MICHAEL MONROE Not Fakin' It Sleaze / Hard Rock Mercury 81.7%
RICHARD MARX Repeat Offender AOR EMI 81.7%
SAVATAGE Gutter Ballet Prog / Heavy Metal East West 81.6%
SHARK ISLAND Law of The Order Hard Rock CBS 81.5%
FASTWAY On Target Melodic Rock Enigma 81.5%
TORA TORA Surprise Attack Sleaze / Hard Rock A & M 81.5%
PINK CREAM 69 s/t Hard Rock Sony Music 81.4%
STORMWITCH Eye of The Storm Heavy Metal Battle Cry 81.3%

BADLANDS s/t Blues / Hard Rock Atlantic 81.0%
BAM BAM BOYS s/t Melodic Rock Riverside Records 81.0%
MARCHELLO Destiny Heavy Metal CBS 80.7%
HEIST High Heel Heaven Sleaze / Hard Rock IRS Records 80.7%
MAXIMUM Just For Kicks Sleaze / Hard Rock Sunset Records 80.6%
KING DIAMOND Conspiracy Heavy Metal Roadrunner 80.6%
TRANSIT Dirty Pleasures Melodic Rock K-Tel 80.5%
AXXIS Kingdom of The Night Hard Rock EMI 80.5%
MARILLION Seasons End Prog Rock EMI Records 80.2%
DALTON Injection Melodic Rock EMI 80.0%

BEAU NASTY Dirty But Well Dressed Sleaze / Hard Rock CBS 79.8%
JUNKYARD s/t Sleaze / Hard Rock Geffen 79.8%
FATES WARNING Perfect Symmetry Prog Metal Metal Blade 79.5%
ANGELICA s/t Hard Rock Intense Records 79.5%
LOU GRAMM Long Hard Look AOR Atlantic 79.4%
ERIC CLAPTON Journeyman Blues Rock Reprise Records 79.3%
SARAYA s/t Hard Rock PolyGram 79.2%
WALK ON FIRE Blind Faith AOR Uni Records 79.2%
DREAM THEATER When Dream and Day Unite Prog Metal MCA Victor 78.8%
TINDRUM How Bout This AOR BMG 78.8%

RANK 101 - 161

MORTAL SIN Face of Despair Thrash Metal Phonogram 78.3%
ACCEPT Eat The Heat Hard Rock Epic 78.2%
LEATHERWOLF Street Ready Heavy Metal Island 78.0%
DRIVE SHE SAID s/t AOR CBS 78.0%
ANNIHILATOR Alice In Hell Thrash Metal Roadrunner 77.9%
NEAL SCHON Late Night Instrumental / Fusion Columbia 77.7%
SHOUT In Your Face Hard Rock Frontline 77.3%
OUTFIELD, THE Voice of Babylon AOR Columbia 77.3%
SHOTGUN MESSIAH s/t Sleaze / Hard Rock Relativity 77.0%
FASTER PUSSYCAT Wake Me When It's Over Sleaze / Hard Rock Elektra 77.0%

PHANTOM BLUE s/t Heavy Metal Shrapnel 77.0%
WHIPLASH Insult To Injury Thrash Metal Roadracer 76.9%
CRIMSON GLORY Transcendence Prog / Heavy Metal MCA 76.9%
ALANNAH MYLES s/t Melodic Rock Atlantic 76.9%
VOODOO X Vol 1 - The Awakening Melodic Rock AOR Heaven 76.7%
DANGEROUS TOYS s/t Sleaze / Hard Rock Columbia 76.7%
OVERKILL The Years of Decay Thrash Metal Megaforce 76.2%
EXODUS Fabulous Disaster Thrash Metal Combat 76.1%
KISS Hot In The Shade Hard Rock Mercury 76.6%
POWERMAD Absolute Power Thrash Metal Reprise 76.5%

WHITE HEART Freedom Hard Rock Sparrow Records 76.4%
BANSHEE Race Against Time Heavy Metal Atlantic 76.4%
STARSHIP Love Among The Cannibals AOR RCA 76.2%
AMERICAN ANGEL s/t Hard Rock Grudge 75.5%
AFTER HOURS s/t AOR indie 75.5%
DIRTY BLONDE Passion Sleaze / Hard Rock Outpost 75.1%
METAL CHURCH Blessing In Disguise Heavy Metal Warner 75.0%
LIAISON s/t Lite AOR Frontline 75.0%
RETURN Straight Down The Line AOR CBS 74.4%
EZO Fire Fire Hard Rock Geffen 74.3%

MORDRED Fool's Game Thrash Metal Noise 74.2%
RICHIE KOTZEN s/t Instrumental / Fusion Rock Shrapnel 74.1%
ROBERT HART Cries and Whispers Lite AOR Atlantic 73.9%
HEAVEN (NOR) Take Me Back AOR Tomato 73.8%
NATALIE COLE Good To Be Back Pop EMI 73.2%
MARSHALL LAW s/t Heavy Metal Heavy Metal 73.2%
MASTEDON It's A Jungle Out There AOR Regency Music 73.2%
GNP Safety Zone AOR Virgin 73.0%
LEE AARON Bodyrock Hard Rock Attic Records 72.8%
D.A.D No Fuel Left For The Pilgrims Hard Rock Warner 72.7%

GUARDIAN First Watch Hard Rock Enigma 72.6%
TANGIER Four Winds Blues Hard Rock ATCO 72.3%
BLUE MURDER s/t Hard Rock Geffen 71.6%
CULT, THE Sonic Temple Hard Rock Reprise Records 70.8%
KIM MITCHELL Rockland Hard Rock Atlantic 70.4%
BANG TANGO Psycho Café Sleaze / Funk / Hard Rock MCA Records 70.3%
IT BITES Eat Me In St. Louis Prog / Melodic Rock Geffen 70.3%
DISTANCE Under The One Sky AOR Reprise Records 70.1%
ALEXA s/t AOR Savage 70.0%
WORK FORCE s/t AOR Scotti Brothers 68.4%

BLIND GUARDIAN Follow The Blind Power / Thrash Metal No Remorse 67.9%
NASTY IDOLS Gigolos On Parole AOR HSM 67.5%
ATHEIST Piece of Time Thrash / Death Metal Active Records 67.5%
ARMAGEDDON The Money Mask Heavy Metal Talkingtown Records 66.9%
LEATHER Shock Waves Heavy Metal Roadracer 66.8%
GORKY PARK s/t Hard Rock Mercury 66.7%
SABBAT Dreamweaver Thrash Metal Noise 65.5%
DARK ANGEL Leave Scars Thrash Metal Combat 63.8%
FAITH NO MORE The Real Thing Alt / Funk / Hard Rock Slash Records 61.8%
PESTILENCE Consuming Impulse Death Metal Roadracer 60.4%
XENON America's New Design Hard Rock Vision America 58.8%

[kourosofsteel3]

I've rated Fates Warning 79.5% bro, never heard of Helstar but I think I'm quite familiar with the band, let me check it out, meanwhile some small update that I got of 1989

 

 

 

 

Definitely you have rated it. Did you listen to it though?

[DaHun72]

Hey Nightrain, that Slip of the Tongue rating is soooo high. There's a lot of dud tracks on it and it was such a letdown after 87. It's not terrible but how did u get 88%? Also, how did u rate 1987?

 

Awesome list btw! Thanks for sharing.

 

Oh, and I the only one who doesn't really rate Mr Big - S/T? I don't do these types of ratings but I only like 3 or 4 songs from that one, truth said I probably don't like more than 3 songs off any one of their albums. Adore Green Tainted Sixty's Mind tho off the follow up!

[Geoff]

Hey Nightrain, that Slip of the Tongue rating is soooo high. There's a lot of dud tracks on it and it was such a letdown after 87. It's not terrible but how did u get 88%? Also, how did u rate 1987?

 

Awesome list btw! Thanks for sharing.

 

Oh, and I the only one who doesn't really rate Mr Big - S/T? I don't do these types of ratings but I only like 3 or 4 songs from that one, truth said I probably don't like more than 3 songs off any one of their albums. Adore Green Tainted Sixty's Mind tho off the follow up!

 

Not at all. Go back a few pages and witness me make a very big point of this. The Mr Big debut is, more or less, a pretty poor album, imo. I love Nightrain's lists and am very interested in them, but in general I find his ratings far higher than mine. Some huge scores in there...

[Glen]

 

Hey Nightrain, that Slip of the Tongue rating is soooo high. There's a lot of dud tracks on it and it was such a letdown after 87. It's not terrible but how did u get 88%? Also, how did u rate 1987?

 

Awesome list btw! Thanks for sharing.

 

Oh, and I the only one who doesn't really rate Mr Big - S/T? I don't do these types of ratings but I only like 3 or 4 songs from that one, truth said I probably don't like more than 3 songs off any one of their albums. Adore Green Tainted Sixty's Mind tho off the follow up!

Not at all. Go back a few pages and witness me make a very big point of this. The Mr Big debut is, more or less, a pretty poor album, imo. I love Nightrain's lists and am very interested in them, but in general I find his ratings far higher than mine. Some huge scores in there...

 

my (correct ) rating -

 

1. Addicted - 7.0

2. Wind Me Up - 8.0

3. Merciless - 6.75

4. Had Enough - 9.25

5. Blame - 8.50

6. Take a Walk - 7.5

7. Big Love - 8.50

8. How Can - 8.25

9. Anything - 9.00

10. R&R - 8.50

11. 30 Days - 7.50

 

Overall : 80.5%

 

Decent album, but generally a tad overrated. Martin shines though as always, and the musicianship is second to none.

[Geoff]

Oh, you were after the correct rating? Here it is;

 

1 - Addicted to That Rush - 4

2 - Wind Me Up - 3

3 - Merciless - 6

4 - Had Enough - 9.25

5 - Blame it on my Youth - 6.5

6 - Take a Walk - 6.5

7 - Big Love - 7.5

8 - How Can You Do What You Do - 8

9 - Anything for You - 9.5

10 - Rock and Roll Over - 8.5

11 - Thirty Days in the Hole - 3

Total - 65%

Technically, I can see how people are attracted to the musicianship of this album... but not me. I don't like Torpey's drum sound on the album at all (very "cymbally") and although I can see the technical brilliance in Sheehan's bass playing, it is in no way, shape or form my type of preferred bass action. That's what guitarists are for. Martin and Gilbert are excellent, as always.

Anyway, musical competence aside, this is just a really poor collection of badly written songs, bar a couple of really strong highlights... especially (drumroll!!!) the ballads. Overall, though, a massively over-rated album.

[Nightrain]

Hey Nightrain, that Slip of the Tongue rating is soooo high. There's a lot of dud tracks on it and it was such a letdown after 87. It's not terrible but how did u get 88%? Also, how did u rate 1987?

 

Awesome list btw! Thanks for sharing.

 

Oh, and I the only one who doesn't really rate Mr Big - S/T? I don't do these types of ratings but I only like 3 or 4 songs from that one, truth said I probably don't like more than 3 songs off any one of their albums. Adore Green Tainted Sixty's Mind tho off the follow up!

 

The reason I got 'Slip' at 88% because most of the track works fine with me. The s/t is of course higher (around 92% but I'll post the year 1987 later). Two weaker tracks is the title track and 'Slow Poke Music'. I used to dislike 'Judgement Day' and 'Sailing Ships' but then it slowly grows on me over the years.

 

well I think Mr.Big - s/t might spark some controversy, some might think it's average but definitely not me. Glen's rating is quite fine and for me is quite higher because the first three albums of Mr.Big played a big role during my teenage years (and also White Lion). Two weaker tracks here are 'Merciless' and 'Take A Walk' but both I can still enjoy.

 

If you take a look at the main site, Mr.Big's debut got an average rating of 84% from 25 people so maybe it's worth to revisit to see maybe you forgot how great it is

 

and another reference for 'Slip of The Tongue', it got 89% out of 57 people on the main site

[Glen]

Yeah some silly scores being thrown about like 3 or 4 for decent (not amazing) hard rock songs. I mean 3 in my book is for a terrible song and Wind Me Up is pretty damned good to me.

 

To each their own but i think most people would rate the Mr Big debut around 75-80%.

 

Granted the 2 ballads are the best songs.

[KarpetRydOFunk]

Yeah some silly scores being thrown about like 3 or 4 for decent (not amazing) hard rock songs. I mean 3 in my book is for a terrible song and Wind Me Up is pretty damned good to me.

 

To each their own but i think most people would rate the Mr Big debut around 75-80%.

 

Granted the 2 ballads are the best songs.

You always love the ballads, don't you?

 

;}

[Glen]

 

Yeah some silly scores being thrown about like 3 or 4 for decent (not amazing) hard rock songs. I mean 3 in my book is for a terrible song and Wind Me Up is pretty damned good to me.

 

To each their own but i think most people would rate the Mr Big debut around 75-80%.

 

Granted the 2 ballads are the best songs.

Geoff always love the ballads, doesn't he?

 

;}

 

 

Edited for truth

[Nightrain]

Yeah some silly scores being thrown about like 3 or 4 for decent (not amazing) hard rock songs. I mean 3 in my book is for a terrible song and Wind Me Up is pretty damned good to me.

 

To each their own but i think most people would rate the Mr Big debut around 75-80%.

 

Granted the 2 ballads are the best songs.

 

In my opinion, 'Addicted To That Rush' ain't decent at all, it's a classic, a great song, and a proof of it is that it's a constant song in their concert setlist and still included until their last gig last year, and sometimes even put near the end of the concert which constitutues an essential song compared to their other songs.

 

Majority of hard rock fans do really like it, for example a simple statistic, check out the main site, search for 'addicted to that rush' and you'll find around 7 people love it and only 1 guy think it's average so based on that small samples, 87% dig it.

 

Love the 2 ballads too and I think they're awesome but aside from 'Addicted', I think 'How Can You Do' and 'Rock And Roll Over' are damn perfect 10/10 as well

[Geoff]

 

@ Geoff. Just realised that I didn't update my rating for XYZ after the third listen so this is what it really was and would elevate the disc to 43rd spot.

 

XYZ rating -

 

1. Maggy - 7.5 - good riff. average chorus and pretty basic vox ala Dokken. Solid

2. Inside Out - 7.5 - nice guitars in verse but again just an OK chorus. Good solid rocker but no more

3. What Keeps Me Lovin You - 9 - smooth. good vocal here. Cool atmospheric tune. nice solo. (did Tango Down rip this off?)

4. Take What You Can - 8 - another solid hard rocker with nice riff, good verse...chorus again quite basic

5. Follow The Night - 6.25 - musicianship is great but song does little for me

6. Come on 'n Love me - 6.75 - pretty average rocker - nice solo but trying too hard to sound like Whitesnake

7. Souvenirs - 8 - not overly keen on the chorus or the lyrics to be honest, but its a good ballad

8. Tied Up - 9 - first real chorus hook dare I say???? v good rocker

9. Nice Day To Die - 8 - decent rocker with a little hook in the chorus which saves it from another Dokken clone

10 After The Rain - 6 - if a ballad closes it needs to be memorable. this isnt.

 

 

Overall : 76%

 

I guess I could consider that a fair rating. I personally would rate 'Maggy' a lot higher, 'Inside Out' lower, 'Come on n' love me' quite a bit higher and 'After the rain' much higher too. For me, the only weak song on it is 'Follow the night' (and 'Inside Out'). But yeah, maybe my rating won't even be that far off. I know I'll crack 80% at least, but we'll see how we go with this one.

 

Well, I finally got around to this one... finally. As predicted, my score did crack the 80% mark, but also isn't too far from yours;

 

1 - Maggy - killer opener with some nice guitar… a few Dokken-isms in this one too - 9

2 - Inside Out - Can't believe for a second that this was "the" single from this album. Such a plodding track with a bland chorus… but the catchy riff has some mild appeal - 7

3 - What Keeps Me Loving You - perfect, sultry mid-tempo melodic rock… and the solo is absolutely divine - 10

4 - Take What You Can - great riffage… very cool hard rocker - 8.25

5 - Follow the Night - really disappointing song on a great album - just a big clunker - 6

6 - Come On N' Love Me - another really cool hard rocker with great riffage - 8

7 - Souvenirs - the chorus is a little cheesy, but everything else is brilliant. The vocal melodies throughout the whole song are just delicious - 9

8 - Tied Up - easily the best of the harder rocking songs on the CD. The chorus is huge - massive hook - 9.5

9 - Nice Day to Die - a bit "gallopy," but I've always loved this song - great hard rocker - 8.25

10 - After the Rain - always loved this one too - awesome vocals and a I love the lyrics and honest delivery of the tune. Hooks from the opening line too… beautiful tune - 9

Total - 84%