In this thread, we list certain glam albums that we feel are overlooked, and thus underappeciated along wiht a brief description of each album. Here's my list.
Europe - Out of This World (1988 )
Most people know Europe for their hit song, The Final Countdown which you can either love or hate. However, while The Final Countdown is a classic in it's own right, it's certianly not the only Europe album worth owning. I truly think Out of This World is overlooked, and while it's not as awesome as The Final Countdown, it's certainly a classic.
This album is covered in sweet keyboard melodies which sound so 80s which are mixed with great guitar work, and plenty of emotion. Just about every song on this album is filled with so much emotion that I get sort of change of mood everytime I listen to it. Not to mention that this album has some of Europe's best songs including Sign of the Times, Open Your Heart, Superstitous, Just the Beginning, and last but certainly not least, More Than Meets the Eye. This is seriously, in my opinion Europe's best song. I even like it better than The Final Countdown. Everything about this song is just amazing, from the keyboards and guitar solos to Joey Tempest's emotional singing. It's so catchy and beautiful that you have to love it. Why this song did not become one of their hits is beyond me, it's just simply amazing.
Quiet Riot - QRIII (1986)
This is yet another overlooked album in terms of quality. Quiet Riot are remembered only by their #1 chart topping album, Metal Health, and hit songs Bang Your Head (Metal Health) and Cum On Feel he Noize. While Metal Health is heavier and less pop sounding than QRIII, it's simply just not as good as this album. Yes, I'm going as far as saying that QRIII is better than Metal Health. I'll get to my reason in just a minute, but first, I'll describe the overall sound of this album.
This album is very commercial sounding, for an 80s album anyway. Unlike Metal Health, keyboards are present on this album, and at times even dominate the sound of some of these songs, and the majority of songs are more melodic and light sounding. This may turn off some fans of Quiet Riot who loved Metal Health, but for those who are open to this style of hard rock (Europe, Bon Jovi, etc.)will surely find the brilliance on this album.
This album contains some of Quiet Riot's best songs such as Main Attraction, The Wild and the Young, Twilight Hotel, Still of the Night, and Slave to Love. The keyboards on Main Attraction and Slave to Love add to the quality of these songs and makes them that much more melodic and catchy. Still of the Night is actually the first time that Quiet Riot made a good ballad. They attempted it twice before in the form of Thunderbird and Winners Take All. However, both of those sings blew, and suffered from being too silly. However, on this ballad, the silliness is gone, and thus, Quiet Riot are able to make a pretty nice ballad as a result.
This gets to the main reason why I think QRII is better than Metal Helath. Metal Health as well as the follow up, Condition Critical suffered from being too silly and incoherent. Kevin Dubrow played the gimmick of the crazy escape madman with a mask pretty well, but at times his gimmick kind of gotten in the way of the songs. His need to sound crazy while singing just sounds a bit too silly for me. However, he for the most part cuts that out on this album. The other reason why I think thus album is better is because it's a lot more consistent than Metal Helath. While Metal Health was a good album, it had a lot of stupid filler (Thunderbird, Let's Get Crazy, etc.). Other than two less inspiring tracks (Down and Dirty and The Pump) this album is consistently great all the way through which is why it's such a great album. This album is so overlooked that it managed to go out of print which is ashamed, because this is probably Quiet Riot's best album.
Firehouse - Firehouse (1990)
Firehouse is another great band in the history of glam metal. This band tends to get unfairly overlooked by many. Perhaps the fact that they entered the glam scene so late is the reason why, but this band is one of the most underrated glam bands, and their self-titled debut album is an instant classic. There songs are every catchy, and thye certainly are one of the more talented bands. They can play heaiver more metal oriented songs, yet also can play bluesier songs quiet well. They kind of remind me of a less heavy yet more melodic Dokken.
The best songs on the album are All She Wrote, Don't Treat Me Bad, Overnight Sensation, Shake and Tumble, and the power ballad, Love of a Lifetime. The latter track is probably one the best hair ballads that I've heard in a while. If you like Dokken and Warrant, than you'll love this band and album since Firehouse sounds a little like both bands. However, if you already don't have this album or more to less have not even heard it before, then you're missing out on some quality glam metal.
