Quiet Riot ~ Metal Health (album review) ... The album that brought the noize to the masses!

Style: hard rock
Label: Sony
Year: 1983
Home: Los Angeles

Members: Kevin DuBrow ~ vocals
Carlos Cavazo ~ guitars/b. vocals
Rudy Sarzo ~ bass/keyboard
Frankie Banali ~ drums/b. vocals

Additional: Chuck Wright ~ bass/b. vocals
Pat Regan ~ keyboards
Riot Squad, Tuesday Knight, Spencer Proffer, Donna Slattery ~ b. vocals

QR will eternally be known for the first two tracks on the album: "Cum On Feel The Noize" & "Metal Health". No one will remember the fact that the other 8 tunes are equally powerful, even if they don't have the memorable "bang your head" choruses. But, the epitome of 80's excess hard rock & teenage frustration has been instilled nearly perfectly in these two hits, so how could they not become classics? Though, how these songs don't fall into cliché rock is a near miracle. The rest of the album features, without variation, Sex (i.e. "Cum On Feel The Noize", "Run For Cover", "Let's Get Crazy")teenage frustration (i.e. "Metal Health"), cars ("Slick Black Cadillac"), love ("Love's A Bitch", "Don't Wanna Let You Go", "Breathless"), guitar solos good for young air guitarists ("Battle Axe") & even a tribute to past musicians, here being Ozzy guitarist & former QR member Randy Rhoads ("Thunderbird"). Metal Health hands down features everything of concern to the average teenager. If they'd covered Alice Cooper's "School's Out" all variables would have been accounted for. There's nothing particularly great about the late Kevin DuBrow's singing but that might be the secret to how good this album is. It's not flying. It's just grooving. We can all relate whatever the mood or rock genre we typically prefer. Not a single week track, though there are a few slow pre-'power ballad' ballads (i.e. "Love's A Bitch") that owe more to the 70's than the 80's and the one-minute instrumental "Battle Axe" is far from on par with some of the other guitarists at the time, but is the only unnecessary track on the album. It's not reflective of this hit album that Quiet Riot's career quickly peaked and collapsed, the band finally folding after 25 upon DeBrow's death in 2007.