Category Archives: Compilations
VH1: The Big 80′s Power Ballads
VH1: The Big 80′s Power Ballads (1999, Rhino Records)
Track Listing:
1. “Fly to the Angels” – Slaughter … (5:08)
2. “Something to Believe In” – Poison … (5:30)
3. “Amanda” – Boston … (4:17)
4. “I Want to Know What Love Is” – Foreigner 5:01
5. “Alone Again” – Dokken … (4:22)
6. “House of Pain” – Faster Pussycat … (5:47)
7. “The Search Is Over” – Survivor … (4:13)
8. “Is This Love” – Whitesnake … (4:43)
9. “We Belong” – Pat Benatar … (3:39)
10. “Don’t Close Your Eyes” – Kix … (4:19)
11. “What Does It Take” – Honeymoon Suite … (4:16)
12. “Missing You” – John Waite … (4:29)
13. “Miles Away” – Winger … (4:12)
14. “When the Children Cry” – White Lion … (4:07)
15. “Goodbye” – Night Ranger … (4:21)
16. “Fly High Michelle” – Enuff Z’nuff … (4:17)
The late 1990s and early 2000s were a time of 80s nostalgia. Clothes, movies, music. One of the biggest flagwavers of 80s retro was VH1, who scored with the popular Behind The Music show, Pop Up Videos, and tons of 1980s-centric specials.
Not surprisingly, they also released their own compilations of 80′s tunes in a series called The Big 80′s. The Monster series of hair metal compilations from Razor & Tie Records proved popular and one of their most popular entries was Monster Ballads, so it only made sense for VH1 to release their own CD of hair ballads and tie it all in with the Big 80′s series.
There are TONS of other power ballad comps out there on the market, but this one and Monster Ballads are the absolute best and the bonus is that the people at Rhino & VH1 must’ve been paying attention because there’s only three songs that appear on both compilations (“Something to Believe In”, “Is This Love” and “Don’t Close Your Eyes”).
WELCOME TO THE NIGHTMARE: An All-Star Tribute to Alice Cooper
Welcome to the Nightmare: An All-Star Tribute to Alice Cooper (2005, Magik Records)
Track Listing:
1. “Welcome to My Nightmare” (5:13) Performed by: Ronnie James Dio, Phil Soussen, Randy Castillo
2. “Dead Babies” (5:42) Performed by: Iced Earth
3. “School’s Out” (4:00) Performed by: Dave Mustaine, Marty Friedman, Bob Daisley
4. “Black Widow” (4:49) Performed by: Bruce Dickinson, Adrian Smith, Tommy Aldridge
5. “Bed of Nails” (3:58) Performed by: Children Of Bodom
6. “Go to Hell” (4:37) Performed by: Dee Snider, Zakk Wylde, Rudy Sarzo, Frankie Banali
7. “Roses on White Lace” (4:25) Performed by: Icarus Witch
8. “Cold Ethyl” (4:04) Performed by: Vince Neil, Mick Mars, Billy Sheehan
9. “Under My Wheels” (3:21) Performed by: Joe Elliott, Phil Collen, Bob Kulick
10. “Elected” (4:00) Performed by: Duff McKagan, Buffy Duffy, Matt Sorum
11. “No More Mr. Nice Guy” (3:41) Performed by: Roger Daltrey, Slash, Bob Kulick
12. “Billion Dollar Babies” (3:59) Performed by: Phil Lewis, George Lynch, Stu Namm
13. “Eighteen” (5:11) Performed by: Don Dokken, John Norum, Tim Bogert
14. “Only Women Bleed” (5:43) Performed by: Glenn Hughes, Paul Gilbert, Bob Kulick
Pretty much a re-release of 1999′s Humanary Stew: A Tribute to Alice Cooper from Dead Line Music (both Dead Line & Magik are under the larger Cleopatra Records label), although it includes 3 additional tracks.
Of the three new additions Iced Earth’s cover of “Dead Babies” can be found on their Tribute to the Gods cover album and “Bed of Nails” by Children of Bodom can be found on their Trashed, Lost & Strung Out EP. Only Icarus Witch’s version of “Roses on White Lace” appears to be the sole “new” track here, although given the way Cleopatra Records works their compilations, I wouldn’t be surprised if this was already released another compilation, EP, or was a B-side somewhere else.
Still, you’re getting quite a lot of bang for you buck with this tribute album. There was quite a fad (mainly perpetrated by Cleopatra/Dead Line) of hair metalers getting together to produce low budget tribute compilations for any and every band, but there’s quite a few big names to be found here: Dave Mustaine, Ronnie James Dio, Vince Neil, Mick Mars, Dee Snider, Bruce Dickinson, Roger Daltrey, Slash, Glenn Hughes, and Joe Elliott just to name a few.
Children of Bodom (a band I know nothing about) really stand out here on “Bed of Nails”, I love the 80s pop-metal era of Alice Cooper and they did a great version of this song, just a little bit heavier, especially with the vocals. Icarus Witch really blew me away with their cover of “Roses on White Lace” (one of my favorite Alice songs and it’s pretty disturbing at that), and I even went and bought their album because of it.
Highlights: “School’s Out”, “Bed of Nails”, “Roses on White Lace”, “Under My Wheels”, “Billon Dollar Babies”, “Only Women Bleed”
Lowlights: “Black Widow”. I’m not a fan of the original version either.
YOUTH GONE WILD: Heavy Metal Hits of the 80′s, Volume 4
YOUTH GONE WILD: HEAVY METAL HITS OF THE 80s, VOLUME 4 (1998, Rhino Records)
Track Listing:
1. “Up All Night” – Slaughter (4:20)
2. “New Thing” – Enuff Z’Nuff (4:23)
3. “10,000 Lovers (In One)” -TNT (2:57)
4. “Walkin’ Shoes” -Tora Tora (4:04)
5. “Walls Come Down” – Every Mother’s Nightmare (5:17)
6. “Naughty Naughty” – Danger Danger (4:54)
7. “Down Boys” – Warrant (4:04)
8. “D’Stroll” – D’Molls (5:53)
9. “Hollywood” – Junkyard (3:01)
10. “Heartbreak Blvd” – Shotgun Messiah (4:20)
11. “Future World” – Pretty Maids (5:21)
12. “Set Me Free” – Heathen (3:48)
13. “The Calling” – Leatherwolf (4:04)
14. “Turn up the Radio” – Autograph (4:37)
15. “Badlands” – Metal Church (7:23)
16. “To Hell With the Devil” – Stryper (4:05)
Rhino’s 80s rock/metal compilation series comes to a close with this fourth volume that was released two years after the first three. 1998 was also the year that the wave of interest in the so-called “80s bands” was starting to rise again and many of the bands documented in this series have since gone on to have reunions, new albums, new tours to varying levels of success (not to mention the new breakups!).
At this point in the series, outside of really big name acts such as Bon Jovi, Def Leppard, KISS, Alice Cooper, Motley Crue, and Guns N Roses a lot of bands had already been covered and it seems Rhino tried to pick up the rest of scraps for Volume 4, giving many bands that were second or even third-tier acts (even at their peak of popularity) a track. So what we have here are bands like D’Molls, Junkyard, Heathen, Pretty Maids, Shotgun Messiah, and Every Mother’s Nightmare that were never very big and what small buzz they did build up was only just as the era was coming to a close.
While this volume may not pack a lot of star power outside of Warrant, Stryper, and Slaughter, that by no means affects the quality here. But I have to admit, I would rank this volume as the weakest of the series.
Overall, I’d say Rhino did a great job with the series, but had some questionable inclusions (Metal Church? King’s X? Sam Kinison?) and exclusions which I have previously stated I think mostly came down to not being able to afford the larger acts. I do believe there were quite a few bands that they still could have afforded to add on such as Kix, XYZ, Black ‘N’ Blue, Sleaze Beez, Trixter, Tuff, Nitro, W.A.S.P., Keel, Dirty Looks, and Babylon A.D. (just to name a few). And not in the least, Rhino certainly should have secured Skid Row a place here if they were going to name the series YOUTH GONE WILD. That’d be a no-brainer to me.
Highlights: “Up All Night”, “New Thing”, “Naughty Naughty”, “Down Boys”, “Hollywood”, “Turn Up the Radio”, “To Hell with the Devil”
Lowlights: “Badlands” by Metal Church. Not because it’s a bad song, but because it just doesn’t belong here.
YOUTH GONE WILD: Heavy Metal Hits of the 80′s, Volume 3
YOUTH GONE WILD: HEAVY METAL HITS OF THE 80′s, VOLUME 3 (1996, Rhino Records)
Track Listing:
1. “Still of the Night” – Whitesnake (6:39)
2. “Gypsy Road” – Cinderella (3:56)
3. “Sleeping My Day Away” – D.A.D. (4:24)
4. “Wait” – White Lion (4:02)
5. “Someone Like You” – Bang Tango (4:24)
6. “Say What You Will” – Fastway (3:22)
7. “Don’t Dog Me” – Raging Slab (3:52)
8. “Get It On” – Kingdom Come (4:23)
9. “Heavy Metal Love” – Helix (3:01)
10. “Rock Queen” – Love/Hate (2:22)
11. “Scared” – Dangerous Toys (4:04)
12. “Smooth up in Ya” – Bulletboys (4:26)
13. “Girlschool” – Britny Fox (4:40)
14. “Addicted to That Rush” – Mister Big (4:46)
Of all the the Youth Gone Wild albums, this is probably the sleaziest. Volume 1 brought the big names and big hits, Volume 2 was more pop/metal-oriented, and now comes something a little more sleazy and a little more dirty sounding than the two previous albums.
The album kicks off with two killer tracks (which also happen to be my favorite from the album) — Whitesnake’s “Still of the Night” (you can really hear the Led Zeppelin influence here) and Cinderella’s rousing “Gypsy Road”. And yes, I just used the word “rousing”. White Lion’s “Wait” is an essential hair metal ballad, and “Get It On” by Kingdom Come outdoes Whitesnake by bringing another strong Zeppelin influence to this compilation.
The sleazy moments here are represented by the tracks from D.A.D., Bang Tango, Fastway, Raging Slab, Love/Hate, and Britny Fox. I’m not familiar with Raging Slab (horrible band name, btw), but their track “Don’t Dog Me” gives off a mostly southern hard rock vibe and in that sense, it stands out from the rest of the album.
I wasn’t into Love/Hate’s “Rock Queen” at first, but it has started to grow on me and is quite fun & silly especially when you pay attention to the lyrics.
Highlights: “Still of the Night”, “Gypsy Road”, “Wait”, “Someone Like You”, “Say What You Will”, “Get It On”, Smooth Up in Ya”, “Girlschool”
Lowlights: Not one to be found.
YOUTH GONE WILD: Heavy Metal Hits of the 80′s, Volume 2
YOUTH GONE WILD: HEAVY METAL HITS OF THE 80′S, VOLUME 2 (1996, Rhino Records)
Track Listing:
1. “Rock Me” – Great White (7:18)
2. “Heaven Tonight” – Yngwie Malmsteen’s Rising Force (4:07)
3. “The Final Countdown” – Europe (5:10)
4. “Over My Head” – King’s X (4:49)
5. “Goin’ Crazy!” – David Lee Roth (3:09)
6. “It’s Not Love” – Dokken (5:01)
7. “Seventeen” – Winger (4:06)
8. “Poison Ivy” – Faster Pussycat (4:27)
9. “Gotta Let Go” – Lita Ford (4:40)
10. “I Want Out” – Helloween (4:41)
11. “I’m On to You” – Hurricane (3:59)
12. “Edge of a Broken Heart” – Vixen (4:24)
13. “Dreams in the Dark” – Badlands (3:30)
14. “Wild Thing” – Sam Kinison (4:29)
Rhino’s Youth Gone Wild compilation series essentially peaked with Volume 1, which was loaded with big names and big hits. It’s curious as to how they decided the track placement for the first three volumes because they were all released on the same day, yet Vol. 2 & 3 suffer with a lack of names & hits. Perhaps they figured since people would probably start with Volume 1 they should load the deck for that particular album?
That’s not to say this is a bad album, in fact, it’s very good and it’s the Youth Gone Wild album that I’m most familiar with. A friend of mine owned this and I borrowed it for many months playing it nonstop back in ’97 or so.
The album gets off to a great start with the hair metal classic “Rock Me” by Great White. The song is a slow burn rocker which then explodes about halfway through. Diamond Dave makes an appearance with the infectious “Goin’ Crazy!”, and Vixen, Winger and Europe bring their biggest hits to the table. “Poison Ivy” by Faster Pussycat is just pure sleaze rock ‘n’ roll fun and turned me into a huge FP fan.
Here, the artist selection starts to get a bit weird and that theme continues for the following albums. King’s X & Helloween seem somewhat out of place here (although both turn in decent rockers). Sam Kinison’s “Wild Thing” also feels strangely out of place. It may have the metal cred (many 80s rock/metal superstars appeared on the track and/or in the video), but I can’t help but think that’s one more track that could’ve been devoted to an actual band.
Volume 2 doesn’t compare to Volume 1, but it’s certainly worth a listen.
Highlights: “Rock Me”, “The Final Countdown”, “Goin’ Crazy!”, “It’s Not Love”, “Seventeen”, “Poison Ivy”, “I Want Out”, “I’m On to You”, “Edge of a Broken Heart”, “Dreams in the Dark”
Lowlights: “Wild Thing”
YOUTH GONE WILD: Heavy Metal Hits of the 80′s, Volume 1
YOUTH GONE WILD: HEAVY METAL HITS OF THE 80′S, VOLUME 1 (1996, Rhino Records)
Track Listing:
1. “Rock You Like a Hurricane” – Scorpions (4:12)
2. “Talk Dirty to Me” – Poison (3:45)
3. “The Last in Line” – Dio (5:47)
4. “Lay It Down” – Ratt (3:27)
5. “Never Enough” – L.A. Guns (4:14)
6. “Parental Guidance” – Judas Priest (3:26)
7. “Blind in Texas” – W.A.S.P. (4:22)
8. “Ace of Spades” - Motorhead (2:49)
9. “Balls to the Wall” – Accept (5:43)
10. “Street of Dreams” – Rainbow (4:28)
11. “Screaming in the Night” – Krokus (6:40)
12. “Summertime Girls [Studio Version]” – Y&T (3:28)
13. “We’re Not Gonna Take It” -Twisted Sister (3:40)
14. “Cum on Feel the Noize” – Quiet Riot (4:50)
Rhino was ahead of the curve by a few years when they started releasing 80s metal compilations as the hair metal renaissance really didn’t start picking up until around ’98 and ’99 with the arrival of sites like Metal Sludge, VH1 Behind the Music specials on bands like Poison & Def Leppard, and the countless hair band reunion and summer tours that sprung up. The first three volumes of this series were all released on the same day and there was a fourth volume released in ’98 (don’t worry, I’ll be getting to all of them).
Of all the YGW releases, this is the most star-studded, with Krokus and Y&T being the only lesser-known bands (but any fan of the genre knows who those bands are). There are some glaring omissions from the whole series (Bon Jovi, Motley Crue, Guns N Roses, Def Leppard, Alice Cooper, etc.), but I’ll just assume they probably couldn’t afford to license any of those songs because with the exception of Cinderella, most of those acts remained big names even as the 90s rolled on.
Every song here is a classic with the exception of Priest’s “Parental Guidance”, which enters the Cheese Zone somewhat. There’s so many better Priest songs they could’ve chosen to represent them outside of the standard Priest “classics” (I’m assuming they were trying to avoid the obvious inclusions like “You Got Another Thing Comin’” and “Breaking the Law”).
This is the best volume of the series and probably one of the better 80s metal compilations you’re going to find as virtually every band is represented by their signature song. Even if you already own the albums these songs originally appeared on, this compilation makes for a great “mix” CD to go cruising around with.
Highlights: The whole freakin’ album. Even the weakest song (“Parental Guidance”) has some charm to it, as long as you take it in the context of “it was the 80s”. Bonafide classic tracks here.
Lowlights: None. A near perfect compilation.
