Not as good as you remember...

[Dark]

I really really want to like them, honestly, and it's not that i dislike them either. Detonator is playing now and Can't Wait On Love is good track but along with Round and Round that's about it. I think it's because Stephen Pearcy sounds exactly the same on all the other tracks. There is no variation at all. The guitars are great but not good enough to outweigh the vocals.

[JC_AOR]

I really really want to like them, honestly, and it's not that i dislike them either. Detonator is playing now and Can't Wait On Love is good track but along with Round and Round that's about it. I think it's because Stephen Pearcy sounds exactly the same on all the other tracks. There is no variation at all. The guitars are great but not good enough to outweigh the vocals.

What about 'One Step Away' and 'Giving Yourself Away'? - two of my fav Ratt songs come from Detonator.

[Geoff]

Yeah, Ratt is Ratt and those albums are what they are and they always have been. Love them for that.

 

I got one real baffler from this week:

 

Hard Spirit - 'Walk the wild' ; what the hell did I ever see in this album? Holy shit, it is bland as hell. I always said they sounded like Falcon Scream, which they do, but I rated that album pretty average too. This Hard Spirit album is just really average without a standout track at all.

 

Hardcore Superstar - going to have to throw these guys in the mix too. It's not that I dislike them or that their albums are bad at all, but in listening to their discography the last couple of days, it just doesn't ever really exceed that 7.5 range, aside from literally two or three songs. And the main thing is, they're just not quite as good as I thought they were. For the record, here's how I rated their solid but unspectacular discography (missing 'No regrets' which I am not sure I ever heard as I'd given up on them by then only to be drawn back in in 2005):

 

C'Mon Take On Me - 2013 - 82

Split Your Lip - 2010 - 77

Dreamin' In A Casket - 2007 - 76

Beg For It - 2009 - 76

Hardcore Superstar - 2005 - 75

Hardcore Superstar - HCSS - 2015 - 68

Thank You For Letting Us Be Ourselves - 2001 - 55

Bad Sneakers & Pina Colada - 2000 - 52

[DaHun72]

Agree on hardcore superstar. I really dig cmon take on me but struggle getting through anything else or even the best of. Looks like your flying through your ratings.

[Dark]

 

I really really want to like them, honestly, and it's not that i dislike them either. Detonator is playing now and Can't Wait On Love is good track but along with Round and Round that's about it. I think it's because Stephen Pearcy sounds exactly the same on all the other tracks. There is no variation at all. The guitars are great but not good enough to outweigh the vocals.

What about 'One Step Away' and 'Giving Yourself Away'? - two of my fav Ratt songs come from Detonator.

 

 

I remember i listened to them a lot back in the day, Detonator got regular playtime in general because it's the only one i had on CD back then. I've just gone off Pearcy's voice i think

[Dark]

Hardcore Superstar - going to have to throw these guys in the mix too. It's not that I dislike them or that their albums are bad at all, but in listening to their discography the last couple of days, it just doesn't ever really exceed that 7.5 range, aside from literally two or three songs. And the main thing is, they're just not quite as good as I thought they were. For the record, here's how I rated their solid but unspectacular discography (missing 'No regrets' which I am not sure I ever heard as I'd given up on them by then only to be drawn back in in 2005):

 

C'Mon Take On Me - 2013 - 82

Split Your Lip - 2010 - 77

Dreamin' In A Casket - 2007 - 76

Beg For It - 2009 - 76

Hardcore Superstar - 2005 - 75

Hardcore Superstar - HCSS - 2015 - 68

Thank You For Letting Us Be Ourselves - 2001 - 55

Bad Sneakers & Pina Colada - 2000 - 52

 

 

I've got a few favourites by HCSS:

 

1. Hardcore Superstar – Liberation – Bad Sneakers and a Pina Colada – 2000

2. Hardcore Superstar – We Don’t Celebrate Sundays – Hardcore Superstar – 2005

3. Hardcore Superstar – Don’t Care ‘Bout Your Bad Behaviour – Beg For It – 2009

4. Hardcore Superstar – Illegal Fun – Beg For It – 2009

5. Hardcore Superstar – Sadistic Girls – Split Your Lip – 2010

6. Hardcore Superstar – Last Call For Alcohol – Split Your Lip – 2010

 

So that's 6 tracks from the 9 albums i've listened to so far. Yeah pretty average

[Guest theczar]

Contentious perhaps, but for me Whitesnake's 1987 is my candidate - opener Still Of The Night is still breathtaking, but it casts a long shadow over the rest of a pretty average record. Here I Go Again is a flash rehash, while only Bad Boys and Give Me All Your Love (despite the truly clunky painful way the solo is bolted into the latter) are of an acceptable standard.

 

Slide It In meanwhile has groove and atmosphere aplenty (I love the way the mix features Coverdale's breath intakes), and sounds even better than on its release - plus, Whitesnake needs lashings of Hammond organ to sound their best IMO.

[Dark]

I have fond memories of Whitesnake '87. My best mate at the time had it on Cassette and it got played on repeat along with Iron Maiden's Live After Death for a whole summer. Whenever i hear either of them it brings back great memories. I love both of those albums.

[Geoff]

Agree on hardcore superstar. I really dig cmon take on me but struggle getting through anything else or even the best of. Looks like your flying through your ratings.

 

Yeah, 'C'mon take on me' is a really cool disc and definitely the best of the bunch.

 

And indeed, getting through the ratings at a pace I'm pretty comfortable with. Problem is, I'll get through all these albums, and then I'll have to start back at A for all my modern discs! Kind of regretting doing them separate, but really enjoying going through my entire collection as I am. Stuff there I have actually not heard in a decade.

[Glen]

Sorry but all the comments on Hardcore Superstar are bollocks. With all due respect ;-)

 

Yeah for sure the early albums were weak, but Dreamin, Beg and split are 3 very awesome albums chock full of killer rocking stuff.

 

So there

[Nightrain]

my ratings on their 4 albums I like and have

 

C'Mon Take On Me - 2013 - (83)

Split Your Lip - 2010 - (84)

Dreamin' In A Casket - 2007 - (80)

Beg For It - 2009 - (85)

but I haven't heard Beg For It and Dreamin for a while, so I'll assume probably swing a bit but not far, need to revisit it again later

I guess they're much better in their later years but then a sudden drop in the last album is a shock, that's just too bad, however I kinda agree that with those 80% score, the replay value is not really high, means that I like to spin it again after 6 months or so

[Geoff]

Yeah, defo want to make it clear that I don't think they're shit or anything. Just as the title of the thread says, they're just not as good as I thought they were. I was just really missing standout songs. There are one or two per album, but they're quite infrequent, and a lot of the other stuff is quite similar. And another minor issue was that I also have a little bit of trouble understanding some of the dude's lyrics. But anyway, good band; just not quite as good as I thought. Not like a Crazy Lixx or Crashdiet, imo.

[Glen]

Better than both live....by a long way.

[Dark]

Ugly Kid Joe. Oh dear.

[Gibbo]

Contentious perhaps, but for me Whitesnake's 1987 is my candidate - opener Still Of The Night is still breathtaking, but it casts a long shadow over the rest of a pretty average record. Here I Go Again is a flash rehash, while only Bad Boys and Give Me All Your Love (despite the truly clunky painful way the solo is bolted into the latter) are of an acceptable standard.

 

Slide It In meanwhile has groove and atmosphere aplenty (I love the way the mix features Coverdale's breath intakes), and sounds even better than on its release - plus, Whitesnake needs lashings of Hammond organ to sound their best IMO.

 

At last! Thank you!

[Gibbo]

Here's one for the oldies ... Spider! Back in the early 80s, I LOVED their 'Rough Justice' album ... I picked up the CD re-issue recently, hoping for a wave of nostalgia ... and it proved to be VERY disappointing! Only two 'good' songs on the whole album ... somewhere, my 13 year-old self is sobbing gently ...

[JamesEagle]

 

I'm adding Ratt to this subject. I'm listening to them now and the first four albums are bland apart from Round and Round. Really samey and a bit flat.

RATT is awesome, sorry dude!

 

 

Absolutely. "Out Of The Cellar" and "Invasion Of Your Privacy" are amazing and "Dancing Undercover" and "Detonator" are almost as good.

 

Also, "1987" is a fantastic album. It was then, it is now and it will be in the future. The 1987 version of "Crying In The Rain" is one of my favourite songs ever, with a jaw-droppingly wonderful guitar solo. "Still Of The Night" and "Children Of The Night" are also bloody marvellous.

 

Oh, and just to complete the verdict of the rural Kent jury, I don't like Hardcore Superstar. At all. Just find their tunes really average.

[DaHun72]

What James said about 1987, classic. Slide it in is a good album but nowhere near 1987. It's like they wrote one really good song and reworked it like 6 it 7 times on that album...as David says, from a whisper to a scream!

[Geoff]

Controversially, to me the only Whitesnake albums worth owning are in fact '1987' and 'Slip Of The Tongue.'

 

Anyway, not as good as I remembered:

 

Hugo - the first solo disc has some great tunes, but also as many bad ones, and the 2nd album is really quite poor.

 

House Of Shakira - I always acknowledged that there was a massive difference between their best and their worst songs, but it's really quite an issue. To many very weak songs, even if the good songs are very good. Their best are amazing, in fact.

[Gibbo]

 

 

I'm adding Ratt to this subject. I'm listening to them now and the first four albums are bland apart from Round and Round. Really samey and a bit flat.

RATT is awesome, sorry dude!

 

 

Absolutely. "Out Of The Cellar" and "Invasion Of Your Privacy" are amazing and "Dancing Undercover" and "Detonator" are almost as good.

 

Also, "1987" is a fantastic album. It was then, it is now and it will be in the future. The 1987 version of "Crying In The Rain" is one of my favourite songs ever, with a jaw-droppingly wonderful guitar solo. "Still Of The Night" and "Children Of The Night" are also bloody marvellous.

 

Oh, and just to complete the verdict of the rural Kent jury, I don't like Hardcore Superstar. At all. Just find their tunes really average.

 

 

I will never understand the hard-on you have for '1987'. Never. Not in a million years.

 

You're right about Hardcore Superstar, though.

[Glen]

 

 

 

I'm adding Ratt to this subject. I'm listening to them now and the first four albums are bland apart from Round and Round. Really samey and a bit flat.

RATT is awesome, sorry dude!

 

 

Absolutely. "Out Of The Cellar" and "Invasion Of Your Privacy" are amazing and "Dancing Undercover" and "Detonator" are almost as good.

 

Also, "1987" is a fantastic album. It was then, it is now and it will be in the future. The 1987 version of "Crying In The Rain" is one of my favourite songs ever, with a jaw-droppingly wonderful guitar solo. "Still Of The Night" and "Children Of The Night" are also bloody marvellous.

 

Oh, and just to complete the verdict of the rural Kent jury, I don't like Hardcore Superstar. At all. Just find their tunes really average.

 

 

I will never understand the hard-on you have for '1987'. Never. Not in a million years.

 

You're right about Hardcore Superstar, though.

 

 

I do about 1987.

 

And he's wrong about HS - and so are you

[Gibbo]

 

 

 

 

I'm adding Ratt to this subject. I'm listening to them now and the first four albums are bland apart from Round and Round. Really samey and a bit flat.

RATT is awesome, sorry dude!

 

 

Absolutely. "Out Of The Cellar" and "Invasion Of Your Privacy" are amazing and "Dancing Undercover" and "Detonator" are almost as good.

 

Also, "1987" is a fantastic album. It was then, it is now and it will be in the future. The 1987 version of "Crying In The Rain" is one of my favourite songs ever, with a jaw-droppingly wonderful guitar solo. "Still Of The Night" and "Children Of The Night" are also bloody marvellous.

 

Oh, and just to complete the verdict of the rural Kent jury, I don't like Hardcore Superstar. At all. Just find their tunes really average.

 

 

I will never understand the hard-on you have for '1987'. Never. Not in a million years.

 

You're right about Hardcore Superstar, though.

 

 

I do about 1987.

 

And he's wrong about HS - and so are you

 

 

 

I'm not getting dragged into ANOTHER debate about Whitesnake

 

I saw HS at Chinnery's many years ago ... they were underwhelming, to say the least ...

[Glen]

yeah that's probably because they were playing all the old crap that they have reverted back to on the new album.

 

I saw them about 3 years ago playing all stuff from the more recent albums and they were awesome.

 

Blew Crashdiet away for starters.

[JamesEagle]

yeah that's probably because they were playing all the old crap that they have reverted back to on the new album.

 

I saw them about 3 years ago playing all stuff from the more recent albums and they were awesome.

 

Blew Crashdiet away for starters.

 

The debate is fun and what the forum is all about, but we're never going to convert each other, are we? It's all about the songs and I've only heard one song by HS that I liked. A bit. I don't mind their sound, but I don't rate their songs, whereas you do. Fair enough.

 

Could be an idea for a new thread though ... has HH ever converted you to like a band you previously weren't a fan of? Hmm...

[Glen]

Yes - Pretty Maids.