| Track by Track Review
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Disc One
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Vices (1983)
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Love Loaded
The metal riff that gets us going here is really classic. The track works out from there with plenty of style and charm. This has some cool hooks on the chorus. |
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Women in Chains
This songs is mean, although it's mostly percussive. It's a driving hard-edged metal stomper. It's unusual, and I mean that in a good way. |
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Sleazy
More of a mainstream metal song, this is energetic and catchy. It's a solid rocker. |
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Night of the Wolf
I really love the intricate, balladic vibe that gets this thing underway. It really has a power ballad vibe to it as it builds. This is dramatic and a little mysterious. When it launches into driving metal zones it is positively on fire. The instrumental section on this is so strong. It features guitar soloing that has expressive, yet shredding, playing. |
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Toy with the Passion
I really love the guitar solo on this track so much. The whole tune has a straight-ahead rock and roll meets metal vibe to it. This is a powerhouse that works really well. |
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Right from the Start
An arena rock opening gives way to a drop to full ballad approach. This is more of a power-ballad with some hints of singer songwriter stuff on the mellower movements. It's a good tune, but not one of my favorites here. |
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Hot Love
I would say that this lands closer to a Rolling Stones styled blues rock sound than it does heavy metal. It's a great tune, though. |
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All Belongs to You
This one has a lot of that blues rock side to it, too. The choruses soar more like arena rock. The whole tune really works well, though, and there is some metal in the mix. |
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Somebody to Love
Yes, this is a cover of the Jefferson Airplane song. They bring more of a straight-ahead metal meets hard rock approach to the tune. I always say that if you are going to cover a song you should make it your own. Well, they did that. I just think it loses a little magic in the process. It still rocks, though. |
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Bonus Tracks:
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Maison Rouge Mixes
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Love Loaded
This feels a little rawer than the other version of the track. I think it works better in this configuration. The guitar soloing is positively on fire here. |
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Sleazy
Somehow I think I prefer this version of the track, too. It's not as stark a difference as the other version was, but it just seems a little stronger here. There are hints of UFO on the track as it appears here. |
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Night of the Wolf
I think I prefer the other version of this, but this one is more straight-ahead rocking, and that has its charms. It gets a lot more metallic. |
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Right from the Start
More of a soft rocker than ballad in this mix, I think this might work better. That said the other mix provided more variety. |
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All Belongs to You
This rocker is sort of lackluster in this mix. I definitely prefer the other one. |
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Somebody to Love
Rawer and fiercer, this is much more pure metal. I think it works better like this, too. |
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Disc Two
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Waysted (1984)
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Won't Get Out Alive
Driving metal guitar gets us going here. This grind works really well. |
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The Price You Pay
I dig this rocker a lot. It's perhaps a little less "in your face," but it has a lot of great rock sound in the mix. |
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Rock Steady
This is more of a straight-ahead rocker. It's another that has some UFO-like vibes. |
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Hurt So Good
Now, this track really leans in on the rock and roll side. I don't think I'd call this a ballad, but I wouldn't call it metal, either. It's a mainstream hard rocker with a good balance between dropped back and more rocking moments. |
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Cinderella Boys
Now, the metal is back in style on this track. That UFO element is still heard on this, but with a lot more dramatic heavy metal in the mix. This song is so cool. |
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You Won't Get Out Alive (1984)
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You Won't Get Out Alive
This screamer feels a little like AC/DC in this live telling. It really rocks. |
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Rock Steady
This sounds raw, and the recording doesn't do it any favors. Still, it's a solid rocker. |
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Love Loaded
The live version here does away with all the subtler touches of both studio versions of this. It's much more raw hard rock meets metal. |
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Only You Can Rock Me
A song from the UFO catalog, I really dig this live powerhouse. It has some killer guitar work, and the whole track entertains. It's one of the highlights of this live set. |
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The Price You Pay The Price You Pay
Much more of a blues rocker, I love the dropped back section on this thing. The guitar soloing is great, too. While this is not the most metal thing in this live performance, it might be my favorite track of the show. It does have some more metallic sections, too. |
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Toy with the Passion
In some ways this rocker isn't any kind of big revelation. On the other hand, the guitar solo is on fire. There is a bass showcase section, too. The movement that alternates between the mellower part and more rocking stuff is particularly strong. There is a parental advisory on the stage banter part of this. |
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Too Hot to Handle
The stage banter from the previous track continues here. They actually launch out into a Led Zeppelin riff for a short time. Then there is more banter. From there we get another UFO tune. They deliver a strong rocker rendition of this classic. There is some audience sing-along, and the track also includes band introductions. |
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Disc Three
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The Good The Bad The Waysted (1984)
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Hang 'Em High
Classic riffing gets things going here. They launch out into a song that feels pretty well tied to the glam metal school of sound. This is meaner than that, though. It has some old school rock music in the mix, too. The guitar solo is scorching hot. |
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Hi Ho My Baby
Raunch and roll merges with glam metal on this powerhouse rocker. The keyboards that show up at times bring a dated sound. The guitar solo is all class, though. |
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Heaven Tonight
Piano is the main instrumentation on the start of this balladic cut. The bass does make its presence known, though. It eventually works to more of a power ballad approach to continue. This has a healthy helping of arena rock in the mix. |
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Manuel
With mellower, more balladic motifs early, this works out into some killer metal jamming with a lot of arena rock in the mix later. It has a good helping of "hair metal" in the mix. This is a strong tune. In fact, it's one of my favorites on this third disc. There is a cool drop down to keyboards later that works out to a really dramatic arena rocking jam. |
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Dead on Your Legs
This rocker combines 70s style rock music with a more metal angle. I'm reminded a little of Rod Stewart for some reason. The Rolling Stones are definitely a valid reference point. This is heavily built on blues rock. |
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Rolling Out the Dice
That same mix of classic hard rock and metal is on display here. This is another track that's particularly effective. |
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Land That's Lost the Love
Starting with a rather artsy mellow opening, this fires out into some screaming hot metal from there. There are some intriguing twists and turns on this thing. It's very dramatic and creative. It also works so well. |
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Crazy 'Bout the Stuff
Percussion gets this going. It turns into a weird, artsy, punky kind of thing as it continues. That holds the first minute-and-a-half or so of the track. Then it works out to driving, rocking metal. The percussive, artsy mode returns later. |
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Around and Around
An acoustic blues jam starts this. After announcing that that's not the way to play it, they shift it to a full electric rock and roll approach. This has a lot of AC/DC like sound in it. It's a powerhouse stomper. |
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Disc Four
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Save Your Prayers (1986)
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Walls Fall Down
They bring this album in with some classy melodic metal. The tune has some great hooks and works well. |
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Black & Blue
More of a power ballad, this has a real 80s AOR sound to it. It even reminds me just a little of something like Journey. |
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Singing to the Night
Pop metal is the order of business here. The hooks are certainly accessible, but the song still has some meat on its bones. |
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Hell Comes Home
Now, this has a meaner metal sound at play. It still has some AOR things at play, too. This is one of my favorites on this final disc. It is a lot meatier than some of the rest. |
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Heroes Die Young
I love the intricate piano during the first part of this. This is dramatic and powerful with a balladic vibe. It shifts to driving metal after about a minute. It doesn't lose any of that power or drama, though. It does have a real AOR sound in place, though. |
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Heaven Tonight
This hook laden pop metal tune works reasonably well. It's not a standout, though and is pretty generic. |
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How the West Was Won
A pretty standard glam metal rocker, this is a solid tune, but not a standout. |
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Wild Night
Meatier metal is on the menu here. This has a lot of energy and rocks hard. It's another standout on this final disc. |
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Out of Control
Here we get another driving powerhouse. This lands in the ground between AOR rock and heavy metal. |
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So Long
This comes in with a mellower, almost proggy, intricate movement. It builds out as a balladic number. It eventually becomes more of a melodic power ballad. This is a little on the generic side and not the best choice to end the album proper. It's not a bad song. It's just not strong enough for that position. |
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Bonus Tracks:
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Fire Under the Wheels
Fierce and furious metal is on the menu here. This is stronger than anything else on this fourth CD. |
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Black & Blue (7' Edit)
This edit focuses more on the AOR pop rock sound. It's a classic single type piece for the time period. |
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Heaven Tonight (7' Edit)
Another that's well suited to be a single, this almost works better in this format than the album version. |
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