1989 - best albums

[Monzter]

Scratch and Bite has the nostalgia factor for me and might be higher rated than it deserves. It was the album they played on that concert in 1985 and We Are One was a huge hit back then. Maybe I am wrong about OC? Need to listen to it again, maybe tomorrow.

[Monzter]

 

 

 

And after relistening to the Treat album, I realize I remembered wrong. It aint that good, only 79,1 %. "Coup de Graze" is their best, followed by "The Pleasure Principle".

 

Treat - OC at 79.1% ? wow, what went wrong with that album considering you like the scandi-sound of Dalton ? as much as I love Dalton as well, i think Treat is definitely in a higher league

I do like Treat a lot, ever since I saw them live in my hometown back in the mid 80´s. And 79% is a very good rating, close to 4/5 (80 %) which in my book is "Very good". With my "It aint that good", I meant, it was not good enough to be in the top 10 in 1989 as I thought it would be. I would rate their albums in the follow order:

• Coup de Grace - 93 % (The best comeback album ever after such a long break?)
• The Pleasure Principle - 89 %
• Dreamhunter - 87 %
• Scratch and Bite - 81 %
• Organized Crime - 79 %
• S/T - Haven't given it enough spins to judge it fairly, but not their best in my opinion.

I was looking at your list thinking, wow, this dude actually thinks 'Pleasure Principle' is better than 'Organized Crime?' WTF? I'd love to see that breakdown. And then, to top it off, you have 'Scratch & Bite' higher also? Holy shit mate... I disagree hugely with that list, but to each their own.

 

I'm not sure how I'll rank everything, but I'd bet the entire mortgage on my house that 'Organized Crime,' 'Dreamhunter' and 'Coup De Grace' would be the top 3 by a large margin, possibly in that order.

 

 

Danger Danger - s/t ; 86%

Dalton - Injection ; 85%

 

Have not rated the other two yet...

 

Now you have gone mad.

Id deduct at least 10% alone just for the crap tinny sound on Dalton.

Let alone the songs.

Dalton album sounds fine to me.

 

I have to admit the closeness of ratings surprised me a bit, but when I look at why, it makes perfect sense. The best D2 songs are easily the better songs on the two albums. But, the weaker D2 songs ('Saturday night,' 'Live it Up' and to a degree 'Boys will be boys') are the weakest on the two albums. 'Heartbroken' is the weakest on the Dalton disc, but after that it'd be 'Like an angel,' which is still a great song.

The best D2 songs are incredible, favourite is Under the Gun, cant find a weak song on either of the two albums.

[kourosofsteel3]

 

1. Coup de Grace - 93 % (The best comeback album ever after such a long break?)
2. The Pleasure Principle - 89 %
3. Dreamhunter - 87 %
4. Scratch and Bite - 81 %
5. Organized Crime - 79 %
6. S/T - Haven't given it enough spins to judge it fairly, but not their best in my opinion.

 

I was looking at your list thinking, wow, this dude actually thinks 'Pleasure Principle' is better than 'Organized Crime?' WTF? I'd love to see that breakdown. And then, to top it off, you have 'Scratch & Bite' higher also? Holy shit mate... I disagree hugely with that list, but to each their own.

 

I'm not sure how I'll rank everything, but I'd bet the entire mortgage on my house that 'Organized Crime,' 'Dreamhunter' and 'Coup De Grace' would be the top 3 by a large margin, possibly in that order.

 

 

 

 

Actually this is not something strange. I know a lot of "true metal aficionados who only listen to scratch and bite.

[Jez]

The best Treat album.........easy, that would be 'The Pleasure Principle'

[lettard]

Organized Crime for me,like the others but they aint anywhere as good as that release

[Geoff]

The best Treat album.........easy, that would be 'The Pleasure Principle'

 

Really? I obviously love the band but to me that album, despite being nice, always had that kind of stale, cardboard by-the-numbers feel to it. It's nice but never really "rocks" or shows any true emotion... imo anyway. It's a good solid album but it kind of feels like something they had to make rather than something they were really passionate about.

 

Could be completely wrong, but it's how it sounds to me.

[Monzter]

Still a good sign of a quality band if we all have different favourite albums from this band.

[The Rocker]

Coup De Grace is by far my favorite from Treat, and it looks like a new one could be in the works or at least some new tracks for a best of or something like that.

[Glen]

it would be between OC and CDG for me - both v good albums but not quite reaching 90% i'd doubt.......OC was mid 80s, not rated CDG

[kourosofsteel3]

it would be between OC and CDG for me - both v good albums but not quite reaching 90% i'd doubt.......OC was mid 80s, not rated CDG

 

 

For me, CDG is 92%, something less for OC (I will reassess it, as I finish my 2013-2015 ratings).

[Nightrain]

I'm always stunned when I hear 'We Own The Night', how can a band make such a fine fine song

 

Coup De Grace maybe really deserve the 90% rating, haven't come back again after a while but I remember it's a top 5 finisher in 2010

[KarpetRydOFunk]

I'm always stunned when I hear 'We Own The Night', how can a band make such a fine fine song

Yeah, one of the greatest examples of the genre. I played that song so much, I thought I would grow tired of it, but I never did.

[Glen]

 

I'm always stunned when I hear 'We Own The Night', how can a band make such a fine fine song

Yeah, one of the greatest examples of the genre. I played that song so much, I thought I would grow tired of it, but I never did.

 

 

yeah, despite being dreadfully cliched, it is perfect melodic rock.

[KarpetRydOFunk]

 

 

I'm always stunned when I hear 'We Own The Night', how can a band make such a fine fine song

Yeah, one of the greatest examples of the genre. I played that song so much, I thought I would grow tired of it, but I never did.

 

 

yeah, despite being dreadfully cliched, it is perfect melodic rock.

 

 

Fuckin' hell! You are so critical. Do you critique your wife every time you finish having sex? Or does that even happen anymore?

[Glen]

 

 

 

I'm always stunned when I hear 'We Own The Night', how can a band make such a fine fine song

Yeah, one of the greatest examples of the genre. I played that song so much, I thought I would grow tired of it, but I never did.

 

 

yeah, despite being dreadfully cliched, it is perfect melodic rock.

 

 

Fuckin' hell! You are so critical. Do you critique your wife every time you finish having sex? Or does that even happen anymore?

 

 

Oh come on, after 35 years of listening to this music, I have to roll my eyes when I still see a song title like 'We Own The Night'..........

 

But I stand by my comment : it is a great melodic rock song.

[KarpetRydOFunk]

 

 

 

 

I'm always stunned when I hear 'We Own The Night', how can a band make such a fine fine song

Yeah, one of the greatest examples of the genre. I played that song so much, I thought I would grow tired of it, but I never did.

 

 

yeah, despite being dreadfully cliched, it is perfect melodic rock.

 

 

Fuckin' hell! You are so critical. Do you critique your wife every time you finish having sex? Or does that even happen anymore?

 

 

Oh come on, after 35 years of listening to this music, I have to roll my eyes when I still see a song title like 'We Own The Night'..........

 

But I stand by my comment : it is a great melodic rock song.

 

 

But after 35 years of listening to this music, do you still expect something that hasn't been done before?

I do understand where you're coming from, though. Shit, I haven't been alive that long. When "We Own the Night" came out it was amidst, for me, all the Rihanna, and Lady Gaga, and Kanye West, and Kesha, and etc. songs. So, while the subject matter might have been cliche, the delivery sure as hell wasn't.

[crazynights]

It's a very tough poll. Late 80s were the best time, in my opinion, for hard rock aor (this means best time for the music). Anyway............

 

1.Kiss-Hot in the shade

2-Skid row-s/t

3-Whitesnake-slip of the tongue

4-Silent rage- don't touch me there

5-Aerosmith-Pump

6-Treat-Organized crime

7-Tesla-The great radio controversy

8-Pretty boy floyd- leather boyz.........

9-Royal air force-leading the riot

10-Pink cream 69-s/t

11-Bonfire-point blank

12-Robin Beck-trpuble or nothing

13-Saraya-s/t

14-Motley crue-dr. feelgood

15-Enuff z'nuff

16-Lee AAron- bodyrock

17-Badlands

18-Kingdom come- in your face

19-Alice Cooper- trash

20-Tnt intuition

21-L.a guns-cocked and loaded

22-D.a.d- no fuel

23-Leather wolf- street ready

24-Michael Monroe-not fakin it

25-Msg-Save yourself

26-Swedish erotica (this one deserve much ,more than 26th position, but now is too late).

[Geoff]

Hey mate, cool list. Can you tell us more about Royal Air Force? I've never heard of them and the only track I can find on youtube from that disc seems pretty low in quality. The other tracks are all earlier and just throwaway metal. But I'd be curious to hear this album for sure. What's it like?

[crazynights]

Thanks Geoff. About Royal air force, They were from Milan (Italy). They made one ep and two long play. "Fasten your seat belts"(1998) is good, but my favorite is "Leading the riot"(1989).

In Italy and in French they were known by the metal heads.

Leading the riot was produced by Gene Allen (Lyzzy Borden). A few tracks are in the vein of Dokken (trun me on,Age of the rage,coming in) , some sound Heavier,

Sorry for my terrible English.

Those are the songs

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=royal+air+force+leading+the+riot

 

 

http://www.brutalmetal.com/cgi-bin/band.cgi?BandNum=10690

https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Air_Force_(gruppo_musicale)

[crazynights]

In my list I forgotten about Danger Danger, Mr.Big,XYZ and Blue murder, there were too many masterpieces in 1989

[Geoff]

Thanks Geoff. About Royal air force, They were from Milan (Italy). They made one ep and two long play. "Fasten your seat belts"(1998) is good, but my favorite is "Leading the riot"(1989).

In Italy and in French they were known by the metal heads.

Leading the riot was produced by Gene Allen (Lyzzy Borden). A few tracks are in the vein of Dokken (trun me on,Age of the rage,coming in) , some sound Heavier,

Sorry for my terrible English.

Those are the songs

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=royal+air+force+leading+the+riot

 

 

http://www.brutalmetal.com/cgi-bin/band.cgi?BandNum=10690

https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Air_Force_(gruppo_musicale)

 

Oh cool, thanks for that. I will check out those links asap. Looks like you found heaps more songs on youtube than I could, lol. I will check them out to fulfil my curiosity. Haha, don't apologise for your English, mate. It's fine. I can follow it no worries. Thanks again.

[crazynights]

You are welcome mate.

[Glen]

 

@ 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.

 

As for Cats In Boots, I only gave that one 61% so I can't stand in Nightrain's corner on that one. Very average CD which I sold/traded every time I got my hands on it (it was good trade fodder).

 

 

Was just wondering Geoff, now you are past the X's - what was your score for this one??

Cheers

[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.

 

As for Cats In Boots, I only gave that one 61% so I can't stand in Nightrain's corner on that one. Very average CD which I sold/traded every time I got my hands on it (it was good trade fodder).

 

 

Was just wondering Geoff, now you are past the X's - what was your score for this one??

Cheers

 

 

Past the X's? Not yet, mate. I'll probably get to this towards the end of next week and I'll let you know how it fares.

[Geoff]

 

@ Nightrain - some crazy thoughts on White Lion, lol, but to each their own. I guess there's got to be someone with some crazy opinion somewhere in the world. 'Big Game' better than 'Mane Attraction' and only "slightly better" than 'Pride' - I can honestly say that's an opinion I have never heard, nor did I think I would ever hear. We speak of "vibes" on albums. I think that's the main thing I dislike about 'Big Game.' Aside from the bad songs and bad production, it just has a really bad vibe, imo. Just don't like it at all.

 

Well if you never heard of that fact before and you only hear it today then praise Jesus you finally learn the truth here, i'm happy for you man, I don't even realize I've been used by God above to open some eyes

 

now seriously, talking about bad songs and bad production, I assume you got rid of this album years ago and haven't spun it since and maybe you play couple of songs out of youtube which is maybe a badly-encoded MP3s. In my opinion, the production is very good but I got a Japanese copy so i'm not sure if it's different than US album, and not too polished like 'Mane' and I suggest you try pickin' up a copy and spin it again, and who knows you can scrap the old note and put a big score on this Big Game mate

 

The three 'famous' fillers here still packed with great verses, and I agree the choruses are patchy but after a while, it got stuck in your head and don't mind em at all oh and love the riffs and solos so that should boost the score a bit, but let's forget those three fillers and say you rate them 6 (which I think should deserve at least 7 or 7.5 for the great verse and riffs), I think the rest are easily a 9 or 10, so I don't see a low rating with this one. Consensus on the main page is 8.3 (35 people) and I'm a fan of Vito so a 9 is reasonable but way below that means you need to explore it further

 

 

Okay mate, well I finally got there. Listened to all the White Lion albums today and here are my thoughts. Firstly, here's how they rated;

 

Pride - 88%

Mane Attraction - 85%

Big Game - 68%

Fight To Survive - 67%

I do need to admit a few things about 'Big Game.' It actually wasn't quite as bad as I thought. In fact, it only rated that poorly because of the fucking despicable 'Let's get crazy,' which I gave a 1/10, though it probably deserves a 0/10. Horrific track, but without that the album would have probably been in the early 70% range.

I must confess, the production is actually a lot better than I remember. I still agree with what I said about the overall vibe of the album, but the production job is actually quite a bit better than 'Pride.' It sounds good. And a couple of songs I've never really acknowledged before, but I thought were quite good, are 'Broken Home' which is actually a pretty powerful tune. I liked it. 'If my mind is evil' is pretty cool too. Kind of reminds me of Lynch Mob - a cool hard rocker. And also 'Don't say it's over' and 'Cry for freedom' are both unspectacular, but really pretty decent tunes.

Like I said, it's a shame that 'Let's get crazy' is so intensely shit. 'Radar love,' 'Dirty woman,' and 'Baby be mine' are all really bad too. And 'Goin home tonight' is a super weak opener. It's a heavily flawed album, but admittedly not the complete trainwreck I thought it was.

Elsewhere, how brilliant is Vito Bratta on 'Pride?' Brilliant. Great album. And how good does 'Mane Attraction' sound?! Such an amazing sounding CD. A couple more killer tunes on there and it'd be sublime. The debut... well that's just a really weak album. They get a few of the choruses right, but the songs are generally so weak and take so long to get to a hook. I can see why the album was dropped, even in the hair metal prime, and only picked up for release almost 2 years later.