This is all I've ever heard from Quiet Riot. They've left a general good impression on me, but I can't really judge them solely by their Greatest Hits album. I just picked it up at HMV since it was the only Quiet Riot CD I could find, and I didn't want to go around on LimeWire for 2 hours searching for all the songs to transfer to my iPod.
I don't know much about QR, but when I was reading some of the short reviews on Amazon while getting a picture, I found out that none of the songs made with former guitarist Randy Rhoads (now with Ozzy Osbourne... I think) are on this album. There is a whole CD entitled "Quiet Riot: The Randy Rhoads Years" or something along the lines of that. What I also know about QR is that they only have two members left (currently) who are Kevin DuBrow and Frankie Banali. I have no idea who the original members are (besides these two).
Now...
on with the review!
The album starts out with the popular "Cum On Feel The Noize", and is popular for a good reason. It is a fast, motivational song. The vocals are great in the chorus, with the whole band joining in with the famous chorus. The verses are acceptable. The guitar work in this section of the song really boosts the overall strength of the song. Another thing that I noticed about QR from this album is that their guitar solos are unbelieveable. They're short, but sometimes there's more than one. "Cum On Feel The Noize" is no exception. The solo is incredible. Period. That's probably the strong point of the song.
Next is the (also) well-known "Bang Your Head (Metal Health)". This song is a little bit slower than the previous track, but still an exceptional song. It's in the same format as the last song as well, but the lyrics and guitar work are much more different. First of all, there's some well done clean guitar work in the first part of each verse. The whole band is in the chorus as well again, and the solo is pretty crazy (not as well done as the last solo). I do like this song better than the first track, however. I think it's heavier, and I like heavier song. The song ends quite uniquely, with a bunch of drumming and pick slides.
"Slick Black Cadillac" follows number two. It starts out with the chorus, which is the whole band singing the title. Another great song is here, and is really motivational. The song is the fastest by just a little so far, and has a "Cum On Feel The Noize"-like verse (palm-muted guitars), and the chorus sounds like something you'd play at the end of an action movie. Overall, "Slick Black Cadillac" is a good song, but does lack a solo.
The next song is a freakin' awesome. "The Wild and the Young" starts out with a jungle beat-like drum intro. Next is the simple yet superb opening guitar riff. The vocals are great, especially in the chorus (it's the whole band together again). The song's real strong point, once again, is the blazing guitar solo. It's short but mind-blowing. "The Wild and the Young" is one of the album's best. Suprisingly, this song is similar to Skid Row's "Youth Gone Wild".
This is where the album drops. I didn't enjoy "Mama Weer All Crazee Now" very much. It sounds somewhat like "Cum On Feel The Noize", which turned me off, since it's very repetitive. Also, the vocals are probably the worst on the album. The drum work is very good, but the guitars aren't that good, and the solo isn't that great compared to the rest of the album.
"Party All Night" bumps the standards back up. It's another highly motivational, and is very fast with incredibly effective guitar and drum work. the chorus is the same as every other chorus in the album so far, with the whole band joined in. The solo is alright (an improvement from the last song). Overall "Party All Night" is a really fun song to listen to if you're feeling depressed or tired.
Following "Party All Night" is something different. "The Joker" first of all is much slower. Second of all, it sounds like QR got a different vocalist, who sounds much better. The chorus in this song is absoultely brilliant. The whole band is in it again, but it sounds so much different, and is really fun to sing along to. There's another good solo in this song, which is short but really good. "The Joker" is also one of the album's best, with a brilliant chorus.
"Stay With Me Tonight" comes after "Party All Night". It's a dramatic change of pace from "Party All Night", and is a very emotional love song. The vocals are obviously the strong point of this song, especially in the wonderful chorus, with the whole band again singing all together. The guitar work is also very superb with one of the best solos in the album. The low point of this song is the closing, where it just drags on with the weird effect that was in the beginning, and it gets very annoying very fast. However, this song really stands out in this album because it's very different and pulled off extremely well.
Following the excellent "Stay With Me Tonight" is "Callin' the Shots". It starts out with what sounds like the Halo 2 choir singing one note that goes on. Cool. QR then flips the switch into a hard-hitting metal song. The verses are excellent in this song, not because of the vocals, but the guitars. They're heavy hitting and perfectly blended with the okay vocals. The solo in this song, however, is the best on the album, and is
incredible. It's also the longest solo. The drum work is also really good, and mixes in perfectly.
The live version of "Bang Your Head (Metal Health)" is terrible. The song sounds like it's on fast-forward, and the vocals are horrific (even in the chorus). Even the crowd blows. It honestly sounds like a crowd machine is being used. The only high points of this song are the solo, the bass (for a live song), and the drums (somewhat). I have absolutely no clue why this song made the Greatest Hits album. However, "Let's Go Crazy" is
much better. I've never heard the original, but I do know that this version is very good. The vocals are about twenty times better, and the guitars are the same case (even if they're still a bit sloppy). The background vocals aren't very good in this song. They don't have as much energy as the lead singer does (it almost sounds like the guy's bored). The song is fast paced and very, very well performed.
In conclusion, this album is a fantastic example of good arena rock. It's very fun to listen to, and will definately get you into QR. It is a little repetitive, but still very high quality. I highly recommend this album to any rock fan.
Recommended Tracks
Bang Your Head (Metal Health)
The Joker
Stay With Me Tonight
Callin' The Shots
Score: 4.5/5
This Message Edited On 04.12.06
