Unorthodox Metal Opinions?

... And here is a clip of Larry Worley's band before Fear Not

https://youtu.be/HVWYJjhBl6M

Fear Not along with bands like Whitecross and Crystavox or even Barren Cross got unfairly lumped in with the pop-metal scene even though they had very little in common with them. I definitely hear a bit of the "Ratt" vibe in the riffage and music but beyond that they were pretty much their own entity.

Even though"Round and Round" makes me want to vomit, I still maintain that Ratt started out as a metal band.

Love Life was almost as good, same band right? Songwriting wasn't as tight but I guess that's where Team Elefante came in for Fear Not. The Fear Not album is freaking hard to get right now but the individual tracks are up on YouTube.

Ratt was metal until Dancing Undercover; that album was so slick and polished to the point of boredom. But I always say Lay it Down is the quintessential 80's LA metal song since it had everything that made that music kickass. And their best album was their debut EP.

corplhicks wrote:

...
Ratt was metal until Dancing Undercover; that album was so slick and polished to the point of boredom. But I always say Lay it Down is the quintessential 80's LA metal song since it had everything that made that music kickass. And their best album was their debut EP.

I also have mixed feelings about RATT after 'Invasion of Your Privacy'. Look, without a doubt RATT is my favorite hair/glam whatever you want to call them metal band. I listened to all their 80s albums a helluva lot so much that they are in my top 5 on last.fm

However, I feel that after 'Invasion...' the songwriting became less consistent and at times confused. Dancing Under Cover to my ears is an attempt at replicating the sound of the first 2 albums but with mixed results. I still think it has a greater amount of memorable songs to filler than later albums but the sound feels a bit watered down compared to Out of the Cellar or Invasion.. it is missing that sleaze-crunch in the guitar riffs like say, 'What You Give is What You Got' from Invasion or those driving riffs and bass lines that songs like Between Your Eyes have.

Dancing is an attempt at more of the same but just not with the sort of memorable feel that the earlier albums had.

Now, contrary to popular opinion I thought Reach for the Sky was a really awesome album. It is a different side of RATT and while I agree that it is not a very well rounded album, with more fillers than before the good songs are imo really good! City to City, Way Cool Junior, Chain Reaction, Bottom Line..

I just love Reach for the Sky.

Detonator ugghhh that is where RATT lost me. It is such a watered down album and it simply lacks any energy. The sound is like RATT are trying to be a different band - if I recall correctly they had outside songwriters, even Bon Jovi I believe? If that is the case, you can definitely hear it!

After Detonator - with the exception of Infestation which I thought was quite decent I don't care about the rest... however, I really like what I heard off Arcade which sounded way better than both Detonator and Reach for the Sky

Arcade...awesome project. I remember the first day I head Cry No More on the radio when the album first came out; I grabbed a blank tape and threw it in as fast as I could to hit the record button. Then I waited all night long to see if they'd play it again so I could get a decent copy (it worked). Great song, the whole album was pretty sweet for it being the last days of glam metal.

All in all, I feel the same way as Alex regarding their library.

I got off the RATT train after the mini LP

Boris2008 wrote:

I got off the RATT train after the mini LP

I wish they would re-release their debut mini LP on CD. I think they or some label did but it's now again out of print.

It had some really cool songs on there, and the production was more raw, less polished which they didn't have ever again from that point.

Alex Dee Rokket wrote:

Boris2008 wrote:

I got off the RATT train after the mini LP

I wish they would re-release their debut mini LP on CD. I think they or some label did but it's now again out of print.

It had some really cool songs on there, and the production was more raw, less polished which they didn't have ever again from that point.

Ratt is a little like Roth VH in one regard: only their studio albums and greatest hits have distribution. No live albums, live video, EPs, b-sides, and in this case no origin material (I can't quite understand why the Simmons demo for VH hasn't been made widely available). Ratt's debut (I always call it an EP) was groundbreaking, really, and needs to be heard.

I'm a rare duck as I quite enjoy Detonator. It had some great, very catchy songs. Even if was a highly polished album.

DallasBlack wrote:

I'm a rare duck as I quite enjoy Detonator. It had some great, very catchy songs. Even if was a highly polished album.

Detonator was the first Ratt album that I heard and the sound really clicked. I don't think it's watered down at all, but rather they added a bit of the groove that they were playing with on Way Cool Jr. To this day it is the only Ratt album that I own or want to own besides maybe 81-91. Definitely my favorite Ratt album.

jettafiend wrote:

DallasBlack wrote:

I'm a rare duck as I quite enjoy Detonator. It had some great, very catchy songs. Even if was a highly polished album.

Detonator was the first Ratt album that I heard and the sound really clicked. I don't think it's watered down at all, but rather they added a bit of the groove that they were playing with on Way Cool Jr. To this day it is the only Ratt album that I own or want to own besides maybe 81-91. Definitely my favorite Ratt album.

I prefer Detonator over Reach For The Sky

I've got one..

Steve Tucker Morbid Angel > Vincent Morbid Angel. 'Formulas..' is probably their best record.

Orion Crystal Ice wrote:

I've got one..

Steve Tucker Morbid Angel > Vincent Morbid Angel. 'Formulas..' is probably their best record.

I can see this. Tucker had a scary scary vocal, truly menacing low end. I like MA either way. Vincent's vocals have this awesome sickening/violent current that I enjoy a bit more. Musically speaking, I prefer the constant speed of the Vincent albums. Later albums got a little muckier. Either way, best death metal ever created (perhaps that's my unorthodox opinion). Covenant's my favorite album; I still get goosebumps listening to Angel of Disease.

corplhicks wrote:

Orion Crystal Ice wrote:

I've got one..

Steve Tucker Morbid Angel > Vincent Morbid Angel. 'Formulas..' is probably their best record.

I can see this. Tucker had a scary scary vocal, truly menacing low end. I like MA either way. Vincent's vocals have this awesome sickening/violent current that I enjoy a bit more. Musically speaking, I prefer the constant speed of the Vincent albums. Later albums got a little muckier. Either way, best death metal ever created (perhaps that's my unorthodox opinion). Covenant's my favorite album; I still get goosebumps listening to Angel of Disease.

I can agree with this. I like the Tucker era better. I must admit that my favorite Morbid Angel album is Gateways to Annihilation which I hold as one of their best if not their best album. It is imo also a death metal gem that is far too underappreciated.

Alex Dee Rokket wrote:

corplhicks wrote:

Orion Crystal Ice wrote:

I've got one..

Steve Tucker Morbid Angel > Vincent Morbid Angel. 'Formulas..' is probably their best record.

I can see this. Tucker had a scary scary vocal, truly menacing low end. I like MA either way. Vincent's vocals have this awesome sickening/violent current that I enjoy a bit more. Musically speaking, I prefer the constant speed of the Vincent albums. Later albums got a little muckier. Either way, best death metal ever created (perhaps that's my unorthodox opinion). Covenant's my favorite album; I still get goosebumps listening to Angel of Disease.

I can agree with this. I like the Tucker era better. I must admit that my favorite Morbid Angel album is Gateways to Annihilation which I hold as one of their best if not their best album. It is imo also a death metal gem that is far too underappreciated.

A lot of hate went down when GTA came out; still have no idea why. Great album. Hell, they all are.

Check out Nader Sadek which features Steve Tucker:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2r6Pa_Hm_4&sns=em

Orion Crystal Ice wrote:

I've got one..

Steve Tucker Morbid Angel > Vincent Morbid Angel. 'Formulas..' is probably their best record.

I agree with the first part of this statement, but I prefer Gateways.

'Gateways' is fantastic as well. I really feel the band reached a certain potential with those records.


I have one:

Symphony X is mostly boring crap. I like a song, two songs, here and there, but yuck.

Orion Crystal Ice wrote:

'Gateways' is fantastic as well. I really feel the band reached a certain potential with those records.


I have one:

Symphony X is mostly boring crap. I like a song, two songs, here and there, but yuck.

I know of only one other person who feels this way and who says they have no songwriting abilities.

I couldn't disagree more - I've always loved what these guys do. The Odyssey is imo their best but overall all their albums have some good to offer.

Alex Dee Rokket wrote:

Orion Crystal Ice wrote:

'Gateways' is fantastic as well. I really feel the band reached a certain potential with those records.


I have one:

Symphony X is mostly boring crap. I like a song, two songs, here and there, but yuck.

I know of only one other person who feels this way and who says they have no songwriting abilities.

Sorry; now you know three.

Alex Dee Rokket wrote:

Orion Crystal Ice wrote:

'Gateways' is fantastic as well. I really feel the band reached a certain potential with those records.


I have one:

Symphony X is mostly boring crap. I like a song, two songs, here and there, but yuck.

I know of only one other person who feels this way and who says they have no songwriting abilities.

I couldn't disagree more - I've always loved what these guys do. The Odyssey is imo their best but overall all their albums have some good to offer.

I only have Iconoclast, but I like it quite a bit.

corplhicks wrote:

Alex Dee Rokket wrote:

Orion Crystal Ice wrote:

'Gateways' is fantastic as well. I really feel the band reached a certain potential with those records.


I have one:

Symphony X is mostly boring crap. I like a song, two songs, here and there, but yuck.

I know of only one other person who feels this way and who says they have no songwriting abilities.

Sorry; now you know three.

Now 4! Our numbers swell by the minute

1984 & 5150 are great albums.

Instrumental albums are cool. Blow by blow, wired, funk me tender, school days, etc. etc. most of the shrapnel catalog.

Rock/metal musicians should love to play/practice/jam far more than anything else.

journeyman wrote:

1984 & 5150 are great albums.

Instrumental albums are cool. Blow by blow, wired, funk me tender, sckool daze, etc. etc. most of the shrapnel catalog.

Rock/metal musicians should love to play/practice/jam far more than anything else.

Blow by Blow is the one vinyl record every man woman and child must invest in before their time has come. That is the BEST instrumental album ever released.

But 1984 and 5150...dude, c'mon...

journeyman wrote:

1984 & 5150 are great albums.

Instrumental albums are cool. Blow by blow, wired, funk me tender, school days, etc. etc. most of the shrapnel catalog.

Rock/metal musicians should love to play/practice/jam far more than anything else.

Good to see some love for 5150. Still my favorite VH album.

[quote="corplhicks"]

journeyman wrote:

1984 & 5150 are great albums.


But 1984 and 5150...dude, c'mon...

Summer nights, 5150, top jimmy, panama, girl gone bad. The albums get so much hate and I don't know why. Popularity, maybe, but it sure isn't because they mailed it in. Some top notch fretwork.