80s Ted Nugent

What are the opinions on 80s Nugent? I've only heard very little of his material from that decade (only wango tango, bound and gagged, and the little miss dangerous album). I've heard many fans claim they were horrible sellout albums, but were there any worthy tracks/albums (LMD to me sounded more like eliminator-era zz top, but thats not a bad thing IMO)?

I like "Nugent", "If You Can't Lick 'Em-Lick 'Em" and "Little Miss Dangerous" quite a bit. "Penetrator" has it's moments but is very slick and keyboard-y for a Nugent album. Great vocals and some good songs though.

Here's an 80s Ted tune I've always liked.

The Brian Howe songs on Penetrator were pretty good AOR era Bad Company, if you like that. Otherwise pass
I doubt many around here liked 80's Brian Howe stuff.

I really liked teds 80s album with Penetrator and little miss dangerous being my favorite...(I also dig the 80s Bad Company stuff with Howe)...

Quote :

"Penetrator" has it's moments but is very slick and keyboard-y for a Nugent album. Great vocals and some good songs though.

But after the 80s Ted gave us this....

I think Penetrator is a pretty underrated album, it's a shame that was vocalist Brian Howe's only album with the band, as he was a great singer.

Agree on Howe. I think it was really the slick production that keeps that record from being a favorite among Nugent fans. It's just so squeaky clean and keyboard driven, which of course isn't what you think of when you think of the Motor City Madman.

'Scream Dream' that kicked off the 80's was an excellent platter, he did not reinvent the wheel, but a solid Nugent album.

'Nugent'- Has OK tunes, but frankly was disappointed in it. For whatever reason he felt he needed to go for a more mainstream almost AOR sound. Also alot of tunes on the disc where OK but not as strong as his material in the 70's or previous album.

Penetrator- really liked the album at the time, but thanks to slick 80's production, over abundance of keyboard wackery, it does not hold too well. If you look at it as a time capsule of the 80's, then its enjoyable in its own right.

Little Miss Dangerous- A step in the right direction, still a few songs have that pop gloss on some tracks, the title track is an absolute classic. His cover of the Love tune, 'Little Red Book' was ill advised.

If You Can't Lick 'em...Lick 'em- Is a great album filled with Nugent gonzo rock blasting at you like an elephant gun. Even has a ballad, a rarity for the Motorcity Madman. There is one song that the Nug co-wrote with Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambore, that sounds just like Bon Jovi!. Not a bad tune but it sounds more like Bon Jovi tune, then anything Nugent would have come up with.

The Intensities in 10 Cities (1981) live album has always been one of my favorites, along with Scream Dream.
Penetrator also has some great songs, "Tied Up In Live", "Thunder Thighs", "No Man's Land", "Lean Mean R & R Machine", but is like the others I don't mention from the 80s, it's good, but is not 100% amazing

"Scream Dream" rules. I've always looked at it as the end of an era for Ted. Then he went to Sony/Atlantic Records and tried to keep up with the times. "Nugent" really does have some great songs. "Tailgunner" is great!

Sadly, I don't own any 80's Era Nugent. I got on a Nuge kick a few years back and started from the beginning, but got pulled away by other stuff. I have to get back to the collection.