SCOTTS HIDDEN TREASURES #42 - Mid Life Crisis Part Deux

[Scott]

MID LIFE CRISIS - PART DEUX

 

Woe is me...  Will the 80's be able to shake Scott's mid-life issues?  Or will they just lead into the 90's and another round of misery? 

 

Lets pick up where we left off ...

 

WARNING:  You will not find any Guns N Roses or Bon Jovi in this playlist.  In fact, you will never find any Bon Jovi in my playlists, unless of course I do a Hidden Treasure - Sucks Edition.

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HERES YOUR LINK...
http://www.podsnack.com/playlists/22d40f05b68ccf17018cc7b17a514513

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1980
TITLE: Turn Me Loose
BAND: Loverboy
ALBUM: Loverboy
Wow, what a great year for music!  So many choices, so many classics.  I picked something that I thought shook up the rock scene at the time.  Now it doesn’t seem as radical as it did back then, now it just sounds like a cool bass line with a great riff.  But it was a New Wave movement that the tune came in with and a new fashion statement also.  I liked the new wave movement at its beginning, and just like everything else, it got to poppy.  But what great memories this music made at the start of it!

1981
TITLE: All Over Town
BAND: April Wine
ALBUM: Nature of the Beast
Another stellar year to choose from.  Journey had 2 releases this year, Rush and Foreigner released their biggest sellers. But I picked another band at its creative and rock peak!  Seen them live as a headliner during this tour and they didn't disappoint.  Watching a Lead Singer who is also the lead guitarist is an impressive thing.  Myles Goodwyn. Peter Frampton, and Dave Meneketti are the only ones that I can think of who are true masters of this.

1982
TITLE: Don't It Make You Feel Good
BAND: Chilliwack
ALBUM: Opus X
A true hidden treasure that got caught up in bad promotion and lost in the midst of dozens of great releases in 1982.  Too bad!  This album was so good, sorry, I mean IS so good.  It has everything, melodic and AOR friendly tunes on Side 1, and some of the best rock riffs of the 80's on side 2.  This is the opener to side 2.

1983
TITLE: It Can Happen
BAND: Yes
ALBUM: 90125
There were numerous selections I could have used for this year, it was great one!  But this album is special in so many ways.  Most of the reasons I can think of have to do with my friends and the great times we had during our Senior year of High School.  Also because it’s a really cool band getting their second chance at reaching a massive audience.

1984
TITLE: All Or Nothing
BAND: Whitesnake
ALBUM: Slide It In
Seen this band open for Quiet Riot when this first came out and one thing was clear, they were heading for Rock Super Stardom and Quiet Riot was fading faster than they appeared on the scene.  I could have left that concert after they left the stage and got more than my money’s worth.  This album is killer from top to bottom, their best IMO.  Oh yeah, and Coverdale’s vocals?  At their peak!

1985
TITLE: After The Fire
BAND: Roger Daltrey
ALBUM: Under A Raging Moon
My wife doesn’t like this song, and I think the reason is that I play a lot since the time it was released up to now.  I love it as much today as when it came out, it never gets old.  And I know the fine listeners here love it as well, since it was posted as an AOTW awhile back and got positive response.

1986
TITLE: Modern Day Cowboy
BAND: Tesla
ALBUM: Mechanical Resonance
I loved this debut album.  And this song still kills it!  1986 seen the rise of synth rock and hair metal was starting to show cracks, so it was that a band like this was a breath of fresh air.  The album seemed to be more of a straight ahead album with a great live in the studio feel not so compressed and over-produced as most everything else was at the time.  This is still one of my all-time favorites.

1987
TITLE: Ready Or Not
BAND: Lou Gramm
ALBUM: Ready Or Not
(Needs to be remastered)
The music scene at this time seems to have begun to transition into a weird phase, an ominous sign of the need for change?  With releases from artists such as Bruce Willis, Butthole Surfers, Debbie Gibson, and LL Cool J, the music scene was trending towards unbearable!  Thankfully Lou's first solo album was pretty darn good!  Cool bass line and nice riff's.  Not sure what happened with Foreigner because Inside Information came out the same year, but this is a much better album to get if you’re choosing!

1988
TITLE: Gypsy Road
BAND: Cinderella
ALBUM: Long Cold Winter
The biggest hits of this year?  A Groovy Kind Of Love and Don’t Worry Be Happy.  Pure crap!  I thought Long Cold Winter was the Shiz!  Not sure the rest of the album holds up as well as Gypsy Road does, but I played the snot out it!  It was very nice to reconnect with it.  The riff is still a classic and very appealing.

1989
TITLE: Sowing The Seeds of Love
BAND: Tears for Fears
ALBUM: The Seeds of Love
A curve ball to end the list?  Depends on how you look at it.  I look at it this way...  This album is SOOOOOO good.  It’s not fair to judge this band by their earlier hits, the music they wrote is so much better than the hits.  I know, I'm posting a hit song, but check out Badman's Song (I’ve already used that one in another SHT list) and don’t stop there either, buy this album!

 

I am surprised at the way this turned out.  I was really thinking that the 80's would be a breeze, but when I got to 1987 I noticed a huge drop off in the quality of music being released.  Maybe it’s just me, but it was significant enough that the selections for 87 and 88 were tough.  And while 89 could have been in the same situation there was a couple albums that made it very easy for me.

I hope you enjoyed this brief but very normal phase in the life of this forum.  I’ve often spoke about the 90's as not being a favorable decade for classic rock fans such as us.  But I’ve changed my mind about that.  Bands like STP, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden and Live have really helped me appreciate what happened, and that changes needed to happen!  Now I listen to everything with as open of a mind as possible, but I am now picky about what I buy.  For me there is now a clear and definite generation gap between this music and the new sounds coming out now.  And while I may be annoyingly picky about I like, I don't want to miss out anymore.

Looks like this therapy worked real nicely!  No more mid-life crisis for me.

 

[Niels (Mod)]

I would LOVE to hear a "Hidden Treasure - Sucks edition"!!!!

I agree, that "The seeds of love" is a great album. I would have picked a different track, though, probably "Woman in chains".  

[Jon]

I DEMAND a Hidden Treasures-Sucks edition!

[RJhog (Admin)]

Okay bro, I liked the following for sure:

 

April Wine

Loverboy

Whitesnake

Roger Daltry

Tesla

Cinderella

 

The Chilliwack song surprised me.  I didn't realize they could be so heavy.  That's a good surprise, by the way.   That Yes song grates on me.  Always has.  The Tears For Fears was okay, but surprisingly, I didn't care for the Lou Gramm track.

 

As a side note, I just went over to Amazon and bought a used copy of Roger Daltry's CD from above.  I've needed to do it for a long time but it seems like the price was kinda high.  I got it for about 6 bucks total, which isn't bad at all.  Thanks for reminding me to do so.

 

 

 

 

[Jon]

It's funny reading some stuff about that Chilliwack album. People complain that the first side is mellow while the second side rocks out. Whatever.

[Scott]

Its areally great album.  Doing that soft side hard side is not new so why it threw people off was weird.  Rod Stewart did it back to back; Atlantic Crossing and ANight On The Town were labeled as SLOW SIDE and FAST SIDE

[Jon]

OK, this was my favorite SHT list ever!

 

And how come that blonde looks like Samantha Fox?

[Scott]

because it is Samantha Fox.  Im surprised nopbody else noticed so far.  And thanks for the compliments.  I am preparing a Sucks Edition as we speak...  Stay Tuned!

[Jon]

YEAH! SUCKS ROCKS!

[RJhog (Admin)]

I did notice it, just forgot to mention it.

[Jon]

You know, Rjhog is kind of on a high right now for guessing (correctly) the last two mystery songs. That shall end.

[RJhog (Admin)]

Would that mean you are on a low????