Quiet Riot: Kevin DuBrow (vocals); Carlos Cavazo (guitar, background vocals); Rudy Sarzo (bass, background vocals); Frankie Banali (drums, percussion, background vocals). Additional personnel includes: Pat Regan (keyboards); Chuck Wright (bass, background vocals). Producer: Spencer Proffer. Reissue producer: Jeff Magrid. Recorded at The Pasha Music House, Hollywood, California. Originally released on Pasha (38443). Includes liner notes by Don Kaye. Digitally remastered by Dave Donnelly (DNA Mastering). In the late 1970s, bands such as Van Halen and Cheap Trick tempered hard rock riffs with pop melodies and pin-up boy good looks, resulting in big time success. With the advent of MTV in the early 1980s, groups such as Loverboy, Def Leppard, and especially Quiet Riot softened the sound even more, taking 'pop metal' straight to the top of the charts. Both metalheads and popsters latched onto QR's sticky sweet hard rock, as its debut, METAL HEALTH, became one of the biggest rock releases of 1983. Although its success was based largely on the strength of two shout-along anthems (a cover of Slade's "Cum on Feel the Noize" and its own riff-heavy title track), METAL HEALTH turned out to be their most consistent album. There were several other winning numbers, such as the love song "Don't Want to Let You Go" and the charging "Slick Black Cadillac." The lesser known party hearty ditties "Breathless," "Run for Cover," and "Let's Get Crazy" are solid fist wavers as well. METAL HEALTH remains one of the better hard rock/metal albums to come out of the early-mid 1980s Los Angeles rock scene.

• Format: Vinyl
• Released: 11/16/2018