I came here for Slade
So. Much. Hair.
Oh man… when I was a kid I really wanted to like Quiet Riot but they only had like a couple good songs (this, Metal Health, Condition Critical. maybe “Don’t Wanna Let You Go”.) But those good songs were pretty good.
Yeah, they’re such a great band that can’t write songs for shit. Everyone in the band can play/sing very well, and that’s it.
You’d think that a band forming would figure out they need a serious songwriter in the mix to last.
Good point. I just read that Quiet Riot had a rivalry with Van Halen before they each got record deals. Funny to compare them: Eddie Van Halen was a great songwriter as well as an amazing guitar player, but Quiet Riot didn’t have the equivalent (especially after Randy Rhoads left pre-Metal Health.)
Man, if they’d had him, it would have been totally different. He never got a chance to really show his lyrical ability, but the rest was there for sure.
The compilation album Quiet Riot: The Rhandy Rhoads Years is supposed to be good, but I haven’t listened to it yet.
Sure… but to be honest, I rarely enjoy the entire output of most metal bands. Finding one which had consistently composed great songs is a bit of a challenge, despite the very talented interpreters and shredders from the genre. What you describe could be sort of a common disease.
Much of Black Sabbath I find hard to stomach, for instance. On the other hand, I really like a couple of their albums.
consistently composed great songs
Iron Maiden is the obvious example. But agreed that it is difficult to consistently write great songs.
I rather find that Iron Maiden is probably one of the more consistent bands with its output, actually. You either like them or you don’t, and that’s a good thing by itself because it shows that, regardless of musical taste, they know their trade. Its not an easy thing to be consistent.
With Black Sabbath, I have a lot more problems because they have entire albums which are, for me, quite terrible from a song writing perspective. I don’t mean a couple of songs, I mean from start to finish. If I pick one record I haven’t listened to yet, I just have no idea if I’m going to like it or not.
With Quiet Riot I agree. They have records which honestly kind of suck.
Never understood the love for Iron Maiden until I saw a live concert on late night community television once.
I honestly wouldn’t take a dump on any of their studio work; but live? it’s a totally different beast.
I personally think Iron Maiden peaked around Number of the Beast (1982) and Piece of Mind (1983). One of the reasons I liked them was because their lyrics were about interesting things. But even the albums after I stopped listening to them, I can appreciate that they involve some good songwriting. (ofc YMMV)
