Retro Reviews - August 2026!

I have to admit that summer really is the worst season for me.  I know I struggled last year to put out articles, and this year has been awful!  I'm sorry that it's taking so long for me to pull these articles together, but I promise I'm chipping away at them slowly.  This time, I've got a rather curious group of melodic rock albums, mostly carrying on with bands I've reviewed before as I catch up on the year 1991!

Rush - Roll the Bones

Presto saw a reduction in 80s synths in favor of a more alt-rock, guitar-driven sound, and Roll the Bones is a continuation of those ideas.  While the keys are still around, they're very much in the background, as the band expand things with funk elements and a lyrical focus on things like luck and fortune.

The U2-meets-Rush vibe lingers from the past album, and I think it has a lot to do with the production, as Lifeson's guitars are given a lot of reverb to help fill out the sound now that the keyboards are taking a back seat.  When they bring in some funk, they shift into more of an INXS sound, and there are still plenty of new wave elements here and there, especially on "Bravado."  The rap section on the title track was a curious idea, and looking it up, the band wasn't quite show how they wanted to handle it.  It's fine, in its own way, shaking things up, but it doesn't really elevate the song.  Otherwise, it's a lot of anthemic, jangly guitars for 4-to-5 minute songs, though the instrumental "Where's My Thing" is probably the proggiest thing they've done since their 70s albums.

Once again, this is not a bad album.  There's good energy, the Lifeson seems into it, Peart does what he does best, and Geddy makes for a decent pop singer.  Unfortunately, there really aren't a whole lot that captures my attention.  "Dreamline" was a good opener, and I did like the catchy chorus on "Face Up."  There really isn't a bad song on the album (though "Ghost of a Chance" does feel a little weird at times).  Somehow, through the 80s, this band lost something.  I'm not sure what it is, whether it's a theatrical edge or just a shift in how they handle their dynamics.  Overall, this album is decent, but not much more.

Harem Scarem - Harem Scarem

While I've featured Harem Scarem a few times on the blog (as well as Harry Hess's side project First Signal), this is the first time I'm sitting down to review one of their albums!  Starting in Canada in the 80s, their debut album got some attention by having its songs show up in the teen drama TV show Degrassi (which I know little about).  As it turns out, their debut is some very strong melodic rock!

Clearly built on the foundation of bands like Journey, Survivor, and Night Ranger, this is the epitome of AOR with a dash of glam metal here and there.  So, with these kinds of albums, it comes down to the execution, and for what it's worth, this is pretty solid stuff.  The production is crystal clear, and Hess does a good job of selling these pretty basic lyrics.  The rest of the band is spot-on, and I liked the guitar harmonies that were sprinkled in throughout the album.  However, I think the biggest key is that the band is being sincere about what they're doing, which helps these songs feel like a cut above any standard 80s rock album.  The ballads do lean on the cheesy side, but they don't bring the album down at all.

As for stand-outs, the opener "Hard to Love" is AOR done right, "Slowly Slipping Away" has some good dynamics, going from softer verses to an anthemic chorus, "All Over Again" starts off soft as well, but then jumps into a good, driving beat, and the rest of the tracks stick to some very satisfying, mid-tempo rock 'n' roll.  While I don't know if this is quite good enough to squeeze into the Top 5 article I'm working on for this year, it has an outside chance, and remains a great debut album for a band that's been a staple of melodic rock for decades now.

Praying Mantis - Predator in Disguise

While their first album was a solid collection of melodic rock in a world of British metal, their label didn't really support them, and the band broke up right after.  However, when a nostalgia tour for NWOBHM came around in the late 90s, the Troy brothers grabbed Paul Di'Anno and Dennis Stratton (both former Iron Maiden members) and did very well for themselves.  While Di'Anno moved on, Stratton stuck around, and with Bruce Bisland on drums, they recorded this album, 10 years after their debut!

Right off, this is much more an 80s album.  While their debut had some 80s elements, they also retained some the 70s in their songs.  Here, they contain all the cliches and tropes of the MTV generation.  Big production (which I think gets a little too thick at times), anthemic choruses, melodramatic power ballads, it's all here.  And for what it's worth, they do it pretty well.  The guitars and synths capture a lot of good melodies, and the vocal harmonies are spot on.  While there are a few glam metal moments (especially on "She's Hot" and "Only You"), the band still lean on the AOR side of things.  Honestly, if this album had come out just 2 years earlier, this would have been pretty massive.  However, 1991 was a rough time to be a melodic rock band as the landscape was changing so much at that time.

This is hard to compare to their debut because it really is a different animal.  I do think there are a few too many power ballads for my tastes, but I did like the synth-heavy songs, such as "Can't See the Angels" and "Time Slipping Away" as they made me think of Asia's poppier side.  "She's Hot" did have some interesting overlapping vocals on the chorus, and "The Horn" was a neat little instrumental track.  Overall, I liked most of it, and it's very clear to me that if had things gone differently, this band would have been huge.  Now, they're just one of the best hidden gems that is just sadly overlooked by so many rock fans.

Ozzy Osbourne - No More Tears

After Zakk Wylde revitalized the band on No Rest for the Wicked, the same lineup carried on into the early 90s, following up with this album, which would prove to be one of Ozzy's most successful.  While much of what worked last time sticks around, the album definitely pushes more into mainstream territory, with mixed results.

The first big difference is a bump in production.  It's not drastically different, but it is a little richer and bigger than before, really filling the space well.  However, this album has the band leaning closer to what glam metal was doing at this time.  With the synth orchestrations, the blend of acoustic and electric guitars, and rock-heavy vibe with shallow lyrics, this stuff feels very prepared for MTV audiences.  This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it does make the album feel kinda samey after a while.  The performances are solid, with Ozzy providing his iconic charm, and Zakk laying out some great riffs and solos, but there are moments that feel a little forced.  Despite winning a grammy, "I Don't Want to Change the World" is a lazy retread of "Crazy Train," "Time After Time" and "Road to Nowhere" are some lackluster ballads, and "Zombie Stomp" has a very long intro into a rather silly song.

This isn't a bad album, of course.  Zakk really is the highlight, just like how Jake E. Lee and Randy Rhoads were in the past.  The hits are still solid songs, with "Mama, I'm Coming Home" being a very anthemic ballad, and the title track having some neat ideas, starting with a bass groove and including a curious digression that made me think of Queen at their proggiest.  As for the more conventional rock songs, "Desire" stood out the most, I think, and the two bonus tracks weren't bad either.  Overall, the album is just a bit too long and too generic compared to what they've done before.  It's not bad while it's one, but Ozzy and company have done better.

Top 5 of 1986!!

Once again, I have fallen way behind in my Top 5 lists.  This one was supposed to be out at the end of May!  I guess the mid-80s has turned into a rough spot for me (though I do wonder if the heat of summer hasn't been a problem as well).  In any case, at this point, metal had pretty much taken over in a lot of ways, as I mentioned in my Anniversary Article.  While there was some decent rock music as well, I just think the metal stood out more to me when I reviewed this year.

As always, these are just my opinions, and I can't listen to everything, but there are a few albums I should probably mention first.  Ratt and Cinderella had an outside chance of getting in, and some might be puzzled by the lack of thrash metal (except for one).  While I've never been a fan of Slayer (and they're too extreme for this blog), I'm actually not that big on either Master of Puppets or Peace Sells.  I know this is considered a massive year for thrash metal (and for good reason), I don't really get into those specific albums very much.  As for what did make my Top 5, well, keep reading!

5. Candlemass - Epicus Doomicus Metallicus

Doom metal might have a murky start, with bands like Saint Vitus, Cirith Ungol, and Trouble dabbling in the style, but as far as I'm concerned, Candlemass came singing right out of the gate!  While I don't think it's their best album, it's still a very good one, taking the doomy Sabbath atmosphere and kicking it up to epic levels, they established the Epic Doom Metal template for many bands to follow.

4. Iron Maiden - Somewhere in Time

Admittedly, this album is kinda stuck between two great albums, and the band was not as energized for this one due to extensive touring, but even a less-than-par Maiden album can still feature some great melodies and performances.  "Wasted Years" and "Heaven Can Wait" are certainly highlights, but they also brought out a number of epic songs, such as the historically driven "Alexander the Great."

3. Europe - The Final Countdown

Yes, the title track is great, but have you listened to the rest of this album?  I actually find some of the deeper cuts here to be quite strong as well, specifically, "Danger on the Track" and "Heart of Stone."  For slick, synth-driven glam metal, Europe rose above the rest with their theatricality and very catchy melodies that stay stuck in your head for a good while.

2. Sword - Metalized

Once again, this is not THE Sword, but a different Canadian band that plays some very gritty, straight-ahead heavy metal.  While I did review their second and third albums, I find their first one to be the strongest, full of fierce riffs and attitude.  It's just a shame they weren't able to find a big audience back in the day, because this album is great!  In fact, it nearly took the #1 spot.

1. Metal Church - The Dark

Like I mentioned, there was one thrash metal band that stood out to me during this year, and it's Metal Church.  Their debut is also a very good album, but they followed up with an excellent set of melodic thrash, maturing as songwriters and showing how to make some very fierce and powerful music without falling into weird digressions or overly complex structures.  I always feel like I should raising the horns whenever I listen to them!

Retro Reviews - July 2026 Part One!!

I have to concede that summer is the hardest time for me.  I was supposed to be through the year of 1986 at the end of May, but here we are, still reviewing stuff.  This time, I'm mainly wrapping up what I wanted to listen to for 1986 and moving on, as I do want to get through all these Top 5 lists I have planned!  It's a bit of a hodgepodge, mostly of glam metal, but it's what I've been listening to lately.

Ratt - Dancing Undercover

While their debut album Out of the Cellar was an excellent set of pop metal, and Invasion of Your Privacy was a solid follow up, the band decided to toughen up their image a little, dropping the attractive girl on the cover to black-and-white images of themselves.  However, the music is pretty much more of the same solid rockin' that they've rocked before.

There might be a few tweaks here and there in the production, but honestly, the differences are minimal at best.  This album is just straight-ahead 80s hard rock with that glam metal flair for the sensual.  Everyone performs their parts well, and there really isn't a weak track.  They also shake things up a little with a bluesy groove on a few songs, mostly on "7th Avenue" and "Take a Chance," but otherwise, this is peak MTV material.

There are a few standouts, like the singles "Dance" and "Body Talk," the latter of which had some interesting chord progressions in the chorus.  I also liked "One Good Lover" and "Looking for Love," mostly for being a little faster than the others.  I'm discovering that I really like this band, largely because they're so consistent, at least across their first three albums.  I read some reviews saying that this album was darker and heavier, like getting into thrash metal territory, but I don't really hear it.  I'll probably end up listening to all their albums eventually, so we'll see if they can stay strong as the years go on.

Cinderella - Nightsongs

Coming from Philadelphia, Cinderella was another glam metal band that was able to catch a quick road to success thanks to the 80s being the best time for this kind of music.  While they weren't the biggest of the decade, they were able to find decent success with this debut album, thanks to some strong singles.

While this is certainly a solid chunk of hard rock, I admit I was only familiar with the big songs.  Now that I'm digging into them, I'm hearing some interesting things.  First of all, singer Tom Keifer sounds a lot like AC/DC's Brian Johnson, and many of the songs feature bluesy riffs similar to the Australian band.  Combined with the glam metal, it gives the band this strong foundation to build on, making for some very catchy songs.  Another surprise was the little touches of Dio that I heard.  They would often show up in the chorus or in ways that Keifer would sing a line, and some of the lyrics had some 80s Dio attitude as well.  Overall, it's an interesting blend that takes the standard pop metal sound and elevates it a little.  The only real problem I had was that many of the songs' endings were very similar, often repeating the chorus into a fade-out.  It's not awful, but it did make some of the songs feel a little too formulaic at times.

As is typical for this era, the singles are the best songs.  "Nobody's Fool" is this slow-burning power ballad that put the band on the spot, "Somebody Save Me" gets a bit dramatic, and "Shake Me" has that AC/DC charm.  I also liked "Hell on Wheels" for its uptempo boogie style.  I understand it was hard for rock bands to stand out at this time, as glam metal and MTV were big business affairs, but I do think this debut showed a band that had a little more than just fashionable clothes to their name.

Victory - Don't Get Mad...Get Even

While I've enjoyed some of their later releases, I decided to dig back into their history and check out their earlier material.  Their debut album (which I didn't review) was a decent collection of 80s rock songs that featured some solid production but little originality.  However, the following year, they picked up Herman Frank on guitars.  He had left Accept and worked with a few other German bands, but in 1986, he joined Victory and stuck around for quite some time.

So to say that they sound a bit more like Accept is mostly true, however, they retain their pop metal sensibilities, especially with some very clean production.  Frank has brought some more metal-like chugging riffs, and his solos certainly add to his robust collection of excellent fret work.  The album starts with "The Check's in the Mail," featuring a rather AC/DC-like sardonic bite, and "Not Me" has this interesting, slower groove riff that tries to sound tough.  I don't think it quite succeeds, but it's a catchy song nonetheless.  "Arsonist of the Heart" is a very curious ballad, not really going for an anthemic height but something more subdued, "Hit and Run" picks up the double-kicking drums for a shred fest, "She's Back" is more more of a cinematic, AOR-style song, and the closer "Running Wild," while not a Judas Priest cover, definitely features a lot of their rockin' energy.  The album never feels like it's stuck in one idea without it feeling jarring or schizophrenic as it jams through its setlist.  

I do think this is quite the improvement over their first album, mostly with the songwriting having more meat to it.  However at the same time, I don't know if it really stands out from the rest of the year in terms of catchy, melodic metal.  This really won't blow anyone away, but at the same time, there really aren't any weaknesses, either.  Just solid, well-executed (and very shiny) heavy metal.

Ozzy Osbourne - No Rest for the Wicked

After the slump that was The Ulimate Sin, a duet with Lita Ford, and two years, it was time for another lineup change.  While bassist Bob Daisley rejoins as drummer Randy Castillo returns from the last album, this album would be the debut of Zakk Wylde.  He had gotten an audition tape to Ozzy who wasn't sure at first, but was later convinced to take him on board.  Helping to write every song, Wylde gave the band quite a strong shot in the arm, as this album has some very good energy.

Once again, Ozzy straddles the line between glam and traditional metal.  While the riffs and subject matter are often gritty, there are still plenty of poppy choruses and vocal harmonies to fit in with MTV and mainstream rock radio.  The production is a massive improvement over the last album, especially with Castillo's drumming which is powerful without being overwhelming.  Naturally, Wylde gets his moments to shine, playing some very electric solos (and his iconic pinch bends), and his riffs really push these songs forward.  John Sinclair's keyboards also provide some extra cinematic layers on the songs in a way that isn't  messy.  The album is not perfect, of course.  "Crazy Babies," which was one of the singles, has some strange riffs and this talk-style chorus, and "Fire in the Sky" is trying to be this somber ballad, but goes on for way too long.

Still, this is quite the improvement over The Ultimate Sin, largely because of how energized it feels.  They kick off with "Miracle Man" and "Devil's Daughter," starting the album with a lot of impact.  "Bloodbath in Paradise" is classic spooky Ozzy, talking about the Manson Family murders like they're a slasher film, and despite the subject matter, I can't deny that "Demon Alcohol" is a fun song.  Overall, I was surprised by how much of this I enjoyed.  Zakk Wylde's introduction to the world makes for a pretty entertaining Ozzy album!