Y&T ~ Contagious (album review) ... Contagious, but vaccinated!

Style: hard rock
Label: Geffen
Year: 1987
Home: n/a

Members: Dave Meniketti ~ vocals/lead guitars
Joey Alves ~ guitars
Phil Kennemore ~ bass/b. vocals
Jimmy DeGrasso ~ drums

Additional: Kevin Beamish ~ b. vocals
Steffen Presley ~ keyboards

Rated their worst studio album by Allmusic.com ... it's not that bad, unless you don't like Def Leppard as that's who first came to mind when listening to this album for the first time. Y&T turn in by the book 80's hard rock arena metal with big backing choruses (for example, "Temptation"), i.e. the Def Leppard moments, that in hindsight might be one of the factors in why this doesn't rate higher. I do have to say that both my brother & I started talking about this album one afternoon & both agree it's not that bad for what it is which is a child of its era. Certainly, it keeps you interested enough to potentially check out more from Y&T, a band that should be better well-known than they are. Contagious is made for & is a product of the 80's & if you like the 80's you'll surely like this. Alongside Def Leppard one will also find Sammy Hagar-esque throwaway lyrics (for example, "The Kid Goes Crazy") about sex, partying & rock'n'roll with guitar licks being reminiscent of an unpolished Motley Crue. The fact that Y&T, formerly known as Yesterday & Today, predate two of these four references is the sad part. Y&T had a great reputation as a live band, but were never able to turn out that same energy in the studio, for whatever reason, thus their studio albums are like comparing the Doors or Grateful Dead live versus in the studio. The studio albums aren't bad but both bands can only be truly understood in a live context. Thus, the studio albums tend to sound like a band fitting a mold rather than expanding it. Contagious wears the 80's arena rock mold with perfection & thus drowns in the vat of imitation instead of originality. Contagious is an example of a band trying too hard. The fact that the follow-up live album would get rave reviews from Allmusic.com is just proof where their success lied. It's really a shame as Y&T had some top notch guitar playing & expressive singing by charismatic frontman Meniketti. It's a rare case where lead guitarist & lead vocalist are in the same shoes but without feeling like it's actually Meniketti with backing band. The thing that's in this album's favor is it doesn't rely on garbage sex lyrics such as Danger Danger's second album or countless other cock rock bands. Speaking of Danger Danger, a guitarist who would play with them during their demo days only to later join Alice Cooper, Asia & then Megadeth, Al Pitrelli, finds one of his earliest writing credits here in "Temptation" with bassist Bruno Ravel who'd form Danger Danger. Y&T's second drummer DeGrasso would later join Megadeth & be responsible for suggesting Pitrelli to join Megadeth. Contagious is DeGrasso's debut with Y&T, though don't blame it not being good on him. Melodic rock, powerful guitars, but unmemorable lyrics. Three things that more often then not describe the 80's. Get them all here in spades. But, if you really want a good starting album for a Y&T adventure check their two Unearthed albums featuring demos/outtakes that never made it to any official release but might be the album Y&T should have made.

Y&T ~ Unearthed, Vol. 1 (comp) (album review) ... Digging deep to find gold!

Style: hard rock
Label: Meanstreak Music Co.
Year: 2003
Home: n/a

Members: Dave Meniketti ~ vocals/guitars/bass/keyboards
Joey Alves ~ guitar
Phil Kennemore ~ bass/b. vocals
Jimmy DeGrasso ~ drums
Leonard Haze ~ drums/b. vocals

Additional: John Nymann, Bill Costa ~ b. vocals
Taylor Rhodes ~ keyboards

Y&T, previously known as Yesterday & Today, are a band that deserves a re-evaluation. In 2001 the band reunited for the second time & released Unearthed Vol. 1 featuring seventeen unreleased demos spanning from 1974 to 2003. This is the perfect starting point for that re-evaluation. Known more for their 70's studio albums than later ones, the Yesterday & Today era, & ultimately stronger on stage than in the studio, if this collection had been released as a normal album in the early 80's instead of the less than stellar albums they did put out, their reputation would be far different. It's a shame that only fans will probably grab this & Vol. 2 as it might be the best album they released in over a decade. Though, note, only one song is from 1974, with all the rest is 80's/90's material, so this is clearly an 80's album, not a true compilation as it advertises itself. Some nugget seekers will be surely be disappointed. But, outside of that one inclusion at the end, being that the music is from the same time period gives the album an evenness not always found in demo collections. Great remastering & original high quality recordings also help, with only a few songs pulled from cassette tape showing any glimmer of something less, giving the songs all a polish sound. One would be hard pressed to know how any of the songs are in demo form. But, demo here being simply the fact they weren't released until now, not necessarily representing incompleteness. Though, according to the linear notes the music is “rough, with all the warts (& magic) expected from a demo” culled from “nearly 100 tunes locked away in the Y&T vaults”. You could have fooled me. As to why this is such a stellar album, & the first recommendation I would give to anyone who wants to know Y&T's music, is the diverse range of music. Seventeen tracks, versus the typical dozen of an album, span a range of approaches lyrically & musically, not falling into the trap of all sounding alike as they were all written for the same album, nor was this album released under label pressure to have a hit. The only odd track is 1974's "Rockazoid Rolleroid" at the end. A strange psychedelic multi-vocal space-rock song reminiscent of the first Alice Cooper Band album meets David Bowie & nothing like the Y&T this album is unearthing. It's not bad, but out of place. The one attraction is that it is a true nugget from their first demo tape. All the tracks are unheard demos that were never finalized for formal release, but almost all of them have hit potential, check out "In The Name Of Love" for proof. The only exceptions is the inclusion of the original version of "Hard Times" from Ten & "Wild If I Wanna" of which 38 seconds was used in the film Out Of Bounds. "I Make Believe" & "Give Me Rock", both written in 1982 for Black Tiger, are the only two songs given a second chance with new lyrics & solos in 2003. Also of note is that the album is split between line-ups fairly evenly with eight tracks with the Meniketti, Kennemore & DeGrasso line-up & six with the Meniketti, Kennemore, Alves & Haze line-up. Casual fans will probably not notice as the focus is all on the Meniketti most of the time, as it is, as frontman & songwriter. Sadly no recordings from Stef Burns few years as rhythm guitarist. A super feature of the album, making it worth buying not downloading, is extensive linear notes including quotes about every song from every band member, plus co-writer John Nymann. They're funny & as interesting to read as the album is to listen to. In 2011 Kennemore passed away from cancer, but Y&T continues.

Lizzy Borden ~ Appointment With Death (album review) ... Their deathly masterpiece!

Style: hard rock, glam, shock rock
Label: Metal Blade
Year: 2007
Home: Los Angeles

Members: Lizzy Borden ~ vocals
Marten Andersson ~ bass
Joey Scott ~ drums
Ira Black ~ guitar

Guests: George Lynch, Dave Meniketti, Corey Beaulieu, Jonas Hansson, Erik Rutan ~ guitars
Michael T. Ross ~ keyboards

Having heard every album by glam & shock rock’s great under-recognized singer-songwriter Lizzy Borden, I proudly declare this to be one of best in the discography! This latest release, after about half a decade working on other projects, is a more mature sounding Lizzy where the excess of glam is put away for a firm grip on the shock rock now of Lordi & Alice Cooper while retaining a continued emphasis on powerful lyrics. This is album features love songs laced with the theme of death, from love of self to love of others. Under a sheen of headbanging rhythms these are truly emotional songs & that emotion shines through. Lizzy’s vocals are no longer the typical 80’s falsetto but either due to age or changing music, or a little of both, are now a dynamic mix of highs & lows that at times sound like an ethereal being come to earth bringing great wisdom, particularly when he harkens "I’m on the outside breaking free." Musically this is the same L.A. hard rock onslaught that has always been the trademark Borden sound but if this isn’t their hardest album it feels like it, where every song has a distinct drive. Two tracks have already been released as videos & I hope that is just a beginning because I can’t stop listening to this album & have already shared it with friends. Highly recommended & make sure to look for them on tour where they costume themselves as death. Features the guitar work of vegan guitarist Ira Black, whose since left the band, along with a guest roster of members from Dokken, Lynch Mob, Y&T, Trivium & Morbid Angel.

(originally written for the Roman Midnight Music newsletter: Issue 1, Summer 2009, expanded for blog)