Early 90's cds by 80's hair metal bands (Winger's Pull, Cinderella's Still Climbing, Poison's Native Tongue, etc)

I was done with hair metal by 1991/1992, so I missed out on some of the "last hurrahs" of the hair metal era, but now I am going back and checking some of them out.

This is what I have acquired digital copies of so far...and my first time hearing them.

Winger "Pull"  1993
Scorpions "Face The Heat"  1993
Poison "Native Tongue"  1991
Cinderella "Still Climbing" 1994
Damn Yankees "Don't Tread"  1992
Def Leppard "Adrenalize"  1992  (heard one song from it back when it came out)



This is what I am looking to acquire still...have never heard these.


Steelheart "Tangled In Reins"  1992
Slaughter "The Wild Life"  1992
Warrant "Dog Eat Dog"  1992
Europe "Prisoners In Paradise"  1991
Badlands "Voodoo Highway"  1991


So far, on a quick listen..Pull, Face The Heat, Don't Tread On Me and Still Climbing are actually pretty good...while Native Tongue sucks.

Any recommendations?

How about these.... (all from '92 to '95)

Babylon A.D. - Nothing Sacred
Banshee - Take 'Em By Storm
Bohnam - Mad Hatter
Firehouse - Hold Your Fire
FM - Aphrodisiac
Giant - Time to Burn
Hardline - Double Eclipse
Little Caesar - Influence
Lynch Mob - Lynch Mob
Def Leppard - Retroactive
Every Mother's Nightmare - Wake Up Screaming
Mr Big - Bump Ahead (I just recently got this...haven't hardly listened to it)
Tesla - Bust a Nut
Dokken - Dysfunctional
The Storm - Eye of the Storm

Pull is Winger's best album. Staybrite listed some good ones, and I'd add Slave to the Grind by Skid Row if you haven't really heard it. Also, Dokken's Erase the Slate is a good album with Reb Beach on guitar.

Black Rider wrote:Pull is Winger's best album. Staybrite listed some good ones, and I'd add Slave to the Grind by Skid Row if you haven't really heard it. Also, Dokken's Erase the Slate is a good album with Reb Beach on guitar.

I have had Slave To The Grind before...and I still have mp3 of 2 songs from it (Monkey Business and Slave To The Grind). Those are my 2 favorite Skid Row tunes

I will have to check out the Dokken album...I stopped after Beast From The East. 

Thanks

Staybrite wrote:How about these.... (all from '92 to '95)

Babylon A.D. - Nothing Sacred
Banshee - Take 'Em By Storm
Bohnam - Mad Hatter
Firehouse - Hold Your Fire
FM - Aphrodisiac
Giant - Time to Burn
Hardline - Double Eclipse
Little Caesar - Influence
Lynch Mob - Lynch Mob
Def Leppard - Retroactive
Every Mother's Nightmare - Wake Up Screaming
Mr Big - Bump Ahead (I just recently got this...haven't hardly listened to it)
Tesla - Bust a Nut
Dokken - Dysfunctional
The Storm - Eye of the Storm

I have the Mr Big album. Not a fan of Tesla, Bonham or Little Caesar. Never heard of The Storm, FM, or Banshee. Have heard OF but never heard their music for Giant and Hardline (well, one Hardline song I have).

Remaining on the list that piques my curiosity....

Babylon A.D. - Nothing Sacred - Loved their S/T album..one of my favs. Knew about this one, but never heard it.

Firehouse - Hold Your Fire - Same as above...Love the S/T album..a fav of mine. Knew about this one, but never heard it.

Lynch Mob - Lynch Mob - Never even knew about this one, loved Wicked Sensation

Def Leppard - Retroactive - I heard spatterings of this the other day for the first time, it didn't interest me. Initial thought was too commerical. But on your advice I will give it a go.

Every Mother's Nightmare - Wake Up Screaming - Liked one song off their debut, but I'll give it a whirl

Dokken - Dysfunctional - Love Dokken..will look for it.


Thanks for the list!!!

That's right, you have some kind of brain damage that prevents you from liking Tesla. 

Nice thread! I remember this time well. I was a student at UT in Knoxville and I never gave up on hair metal. Pearl Jam and Soundgarden were new bands and I liked all of those guys but it was just different. And I was a bit oblivious that the times were a changin'. 

I bought Slaughter's The Wild Life when it was new and I liked it better than the first album. it has some good songs, I haven't heard it in a long time but I went back and listened to some of the tracks and find it still to be pretty good:



It was also around this time I went back and picked up VVI cassettes CHEAP (probably a buck at the used record store, people were unloading their hair metal at this time) and I enjoyed those as well with Mark and Dana in that band. 

Cinderella's Still Climbing is also excellent and I thought it was a big improvement over Heartbreak Station. I had Def Lef Adrenalize but it was pretty boring and the same ole same ole from them. 

Never picked up Winger Pull but heard it from another buddy who refused to give up on hair metal. 

I think I finally noticed the change with Motley's album with Corabi. I still like that album too but it was way different and a sign of the times. 

And I think Warrant's Dog Eat Dog was their best album.

After these releases it seems most of the hair metal bands got booted from their record labels and went on to smaller labels and were trying to search for a new sound. 

They were putting out stuff like this and it just didn't work:



What was Warrant trying here? Alice In Chains?



Even Iron Maiden went to a smaller label at the time and I think all of the stuff on CMC International Records suffered from production. The hair bands lost their identity and were trying to sound new and it didn't work (Kiss, Def Leppard and Ratt are some others). 

The mid 90's were a pretty bland time for me musically. There was nothing new that interested me at all and it was a realization that I was getting older. It was also around the time I got back into old school classic rock because that was tried and true.

MikeInFla wrote:Nice thread! I remember this time well. I was a student at UT in Knoxville and I never gave up on hair metal. Pearl Jam and Soundgarden were new bands and I liked all of those guys but it was just different. And I was a bit oblivious that the times were a changin'. 

I bought Slaughter's The Wild Life when it was new and I liked it better than the first album. it has some good songs, I haven't heard it in a long time but I went back and listened to some of the tracks and find it still to be pretty good:

It was also around this time I went back and picked up VVI cassettes CHEAP (probably a buck at the used record store, people were unloading their hair metal at this time) and I enjoyed those as well with Mark and Dana in that band. 

Cinderella's Still Climbing is also excellent and I thought it was a big improvement over Heartbreak Station. I had Def Lef Adrenalize but it was pretty boring and the same ole same ole from them. 

Never picked up Winger Pull but heard it from another buddy who refused to give up on hair metal. 

I think I finally noticed the change with Motley's album with Corabi. I still like that album too but it was way different and a sign of the times. 

And I think Warrant's Dog Eat Dog was their best album.

After these releases it seems most of the hair metal bands got booted from their record labels and went on to smaller labels and were trying to search for a new sound. 

They were putting out stuff like this and it just didn't work:

What was Warrant trying here? Alice In Chains?

Even Iron Maiden went to a smaller label at the time and I think all of the stuff on CMC International Records suffered from production. The hair bands lost their identity and were trying to sound new and it didn't work (Kiss, Def Leppard and Ratt are some others). 

The mid 90's were a pretty bland time for me musically. There was nothing new that interested me at all and it was a realization that I was getting older. It was also around the time I got back into old school classic rock because that was tried and true.

Yeah, those two tracks don't get me anxious to hear more..hahahaha

As for The Wild Life and Dog Eat Dog, I have heard good things about them from almost everyone..so anxious to give them a spin.

On initial listening, I agree that Still Climbing is an improvement over Heartbreak Station.

As for Crue, I hated that album with a passion (I used to own it) but I did LOVE the one track "Hooligan's Holiday". I haven't really listened to much of the Crue's later stuff once Vince came back. Though I did have The Saints of Los Angeles for a while and really liked the title track. I was thinking of giving Generation Swine a try too

Listening to Scorpions "Face The Heat" at work today.

I actually think I may like this better overall than the two before it (Crazy World and Savage Amusement), but it doesn't have any individual tracks that stand out like Rhythm of Love or Tease Me, Please Me

Face the Heat is good and I think the Scorps had the advantage of being popular before hair metal even though they got lumped in that mix. This song and Ship of Fools stand out to me.

Black Rider wrote:Face the Heat is good and I think the Scorps had the advantage of being popular before hair metal even though they got lumped in that mix. This song and Ship of Fools stand out to me.

Agreed, but they also drastically changed their sound in the 80's, just like Whitesnake did. Neither band started as hair metal, but they wound up being hair metal..lol

Heck, even KISS changed their sound to become more "hair metal" 

And yes, Ship of Fools is also excellent. I still don't think they are as good as Rhythm of Love or TMPM, but they are excellent songs

Bought4Life wrote:I was done with hair metal by 1991/1992, so I missed out on some of the "last hurrahs" of the hair metal era, but now I am going back and checking some of them out.

This is what I have acquired digital copies of so far...and my first time hearing them.

Winger "Pull"  1993
Scorpions "Face The Heat"  1993
Poison "Native Tongue"  1991
Cinderella "Still Climbing" 1994
Damn Yankees "Don't Tread"  1992
Def Leppard "Adrenalize"  1992  (heard one song from it back when it came out)



This is what I am looking to acquire still...have never heard these.


Steelheart "Tangled In Reins"  1992
Slaughter "The Wild Life"  1992
Warrant "Dog Eat Dog"  1992
Europe "Prisoners In Paradise"  1991
Badlands "Voodoo Highway"  1991


So far, on a quick listen..Pull, Face The Heat, Don't Tread On Me and Still Climbing are actually pretty good...while Native Tongue sucks.

Any recommendations?

Check out Badlands “Voodoo Highway”...it was one of my favorite cd’s when it came out...it really stood out from others at the time for me. By the way, this is a very cool topic...it’s making me go back to listen to all these long forgotten gems.

Ammocas wrote:

Bought4Life wrote:I was done with hair metal by 1991/1992, so I missed out on some of the "last hurrahs" of the hair metal era, but now I am going back and checking some of them out.

This is what I have acquired digital copies of so far...and my first time hearing them.

Winger "Pull"  1993
Scorpions "Face The Heat"  1993
Poison "Native Tongue"  1991
Cinderella "Still Climbing" 1994
Damn Yankees "Don't Tread"  1992
Def Leppard "Adrenalize"  1992  (heard one song from it back when it came out)



This is what I am looking to acquire still...have never heard these.


Steelheart "Tangled In Reins"  1992
Slaughter "The Wild Life"  1992
Warrant "Dog Eat Dog"  1992
Europe "Prisoners In Paradise"  1991
Badlands "Voodoo Highway"  1991


So far, on a quick listen..Pull, Face The Heat, Don't Tread On Me and Still Climbing are actually pretty good...while Native Tongue sucks.

Any recommendations?

Check out Badlands “Voodoo Highway”...it was one of my favorite cd’s when it came out...it really stood out from others at the time for me. By the way, this is a very cool topic...it’s making me go back to listen to all these long forgotten gems.

Glad you like the topic!

As for Voodoo Highway, it is next on my list to check out!

BTW...I just this week found out why the Badlands cds are so expensive.

It turns out the singer, Ray Gillen, was sleeping around with women even though he had AIDS, and never warned them. So I guess there are a lot of lawsuits from the women and the studios just washed their hands of it. Which is presumably why they don't bother reissuing them.

^Ha! I didn’t know that! I learned something new today! Jake E. Lee was incredible on that cd...some monster riffs!

Ammocas wrote:^Ha! I didn’t know that! I learned something new today! Jake E. Lee was incredible on that cd...some monster riffs!

Nice! Him and Vivian Campbell (when he was in Dio) are two of my favorite!

Ammocas wrote:

You're right..that was killer! Thanks...

Here is some stuff on Ray Gillen

"So why, as a fan favorite and cult status album put out of print? Wouldn’t a label like Rock Candy or Music for Nations be interested? Why are prices on the used market such as Amazon or eBay sky high?
It’s all because of the reprehensible behavior of singer Ray Gillen. Ray, it seems, at one point, got into some heavy-duty drugs, which is not an aberration for a rock star in the 1980s. (Or any other decade, it seems.) But luck wasn’t on his side, and he contracted HIV, most likely from an unclean needle. Again, not altogether uncommon; CCR’s Tom Fogerty contracted HIV via a tainted blood transfusion in the Bay area, mid-1980s, during back surgery.
But – Gillen, knowing he was infected, knowingly slept with multiple woman, passing the virus along and ruining the lives of those women and their families. Although details are sketchy about the number of women involved, the end result was that Atlantic discontinued production of both Badlands albums and locked up the master tapes. Although this was normal practice for a slow-selling catalog album, the band always maintained a solid fanbase and there were always requests for a reissue. Although some indy labels expressed interest, due to lawsuits brought by the infected women have forever prevented the album from being reissued."

http://albumsthattimeforgot.com/no-longer-available

Here's some that havent been mentioned yet:
David Lee Roth-A Little Aint Enough
Faster Pussycat-Whipped!
Slaughter-Fear No Evil
Trixter-Hear!
Saigon Kick-The Lizard
Bride-Snakes in the Playground
Guardian-Miracle Mile
Dangerous Toys-Hellacious Acres
TNT-Realized Fantasies
W.A.S.P.-The Crimson Idol
Danger Danger-Screw It! (wow, a lot of bands with exclamation points at the end of their album titles around this time)

I had Slaughter "Fear No Evil" for a short time. I thought the cover looked amateurish and almost hesitated to get it. The music was OK but the production was pretty bad. 

Even Night Ranger struggled in the mid 90's and released an album without Jack Blades on vocals.




Gary Moon was their vocalist from 1991-1996 and they released one album with him on vocals.

That's a great WASP album, you could sense Blackie was really searching.

WildWorld wrote:Here's some that havent been mentioned yet:
David Lee Roth-A Little Aint Enough
Faster Pussycat-Whipped!
Slaughter-Fear No Evil
Trixter-Hear!
Saigon Kick-The Lizard
Bride-Snakes in the Playground
Guardian-Miracle Mile
Dangerous Toys-Hellacious Acres
TNT-Realized Fantasies
W.A.S.P.-The Crimson Idol
Danger Danger-Screw It! (wow, a lot of bands with exclamation points at the end of their album titles around this time)

I used to have the cds for Screw It! and A Little Ain't Enough..both had some excellent tracks but then also a lot of filler.

Bought4Life wrote:
Here is some stuff on Ray Gillen

"So why, as a fan favorite and cult status album put out of print? Wouldn’t a label like Rock Candy or Music for Nations be interested? Why are prices on the used market such as Amazon or eBay sky high?
It’s all because of the reprehensible behavior of singer Ray Gillen. Ray, it seems, at one point, got into some heavy-duty drugs, which is not an aberration for a rock star in the 1980s. (Or any other decade, it seems.) But luck wasn’t on his side, and he contracted HIV, most likely from an unclean needle. Again, not altogether uncommon; CCR’s Tom Fogerty contracted HIV via a tainted blood transfusion in the Bay area, mid-1980s, during back surgery.
But – Gillen, knowing he was infected, knowingly slept with multiple woman, passing the virus along and ruining the lives of those women and their families. Although details are sketchy about the number of women involved, the end result was that Atlantic discontinued production of both Badlands albums and locked up the master tapes. Although this was normal practice for a slow-selling catalog album, the band always maintained a solid fanbase and there were always requests for a reissue. Although some indy labels expressed interest, due to lawsuits brought by the infected women have forever prevented the album from being reissued."

http://albumsthattimeforgot.com/no-longer-available

So the rest of the band gets screwed over because none of the music they made with the band will ever get rereleased.  Maybe they should take Ray's portion of the proceeds for any album/cd sales and put it towards a good cause related to AIDS relief/research instead of holding the fans and the rest of the band members hostage because of the actions of one person.
Just a thought.

Staybrite wrote:

Bought4Life wrote:
Here is some stuff on Ray Gillen

"So why, as a fan favorite and cult status album put out of print? Wouldn’t a label like Rock Candy or Music for Nations be interested? Why are prices on the used market such as Amazon or eBay sky high?
It’s all because of the reprehensible behavior of singer Ray Gillen. Ray, it seems, at one point, got into some heavy-duty drugs, which is not an aberration for a rock star in the 1980s. (Or any other decade, it seems.) But luck wasn’t on his side, and he contracted HIV, most likely from an unclean needle. Again, not altogether uncommon; CCR’s Tom Fogerty contracted HIV via a tainted blood transfusion in the Bay area, mid-1980s, during back surgery.
But – Gillen, knowing he was infected, knowingly slept with multiple woman, passing the virus along and ruining the lives of those women and their families. Although details are sketchy about the number of women involved, the end result was that Atlantic discontinued production of both Badlands albums and locked up the master tapes. Although this was normal practice for a slow-selling catalog album, the band always maintained a solid fanbase and there were always requests for a reissue. Although some indy labels expressed interest, due to lawsuits brought by the infected women have forever prevented the album from being reissued."

http://albumsthattimeforgot.com/no-longer-available

So the rest of the band gets screwed over because none of the music they made with the band will ever get rereleased.  Maybe they should take Ray's portion of the proceeds for any album/cd sales and put it towards a good cause related to AIDS relief/research instead of holding the fans and the rest of the band members hostage because of the actions of one person.
Just a thought.

Yeah, it is definitely kinda whacked.

I'll add my voice to the chorus praising Cinderella's Still Climbing and Warrant's Dog Eat Dog. That Cinderella album is awesome. It's easily my 2nd favorite and depending on the day, it might be my favorite Cinderella album. As for the Warrant album, Dog Eat Dog is easily my favorite Warrant record.