JR Notes: I love my vinyl, but the cracks and pops are killers. So I decided to track all my favorite '80s metal down on CD. I was able to find virtually all of the best stuff, though some of it did not come cheap. I suppose there are better ways to spend your money, but once I had the CDs, I couldn't resist making mixes of the best stuff. This mix was for our webmaster Rachel to listen to. Her '80s metal days came along later than mine, and she also wasn't listening to all the British imports and rarities I was, given that I was already a self-styled teenage "metal critic" for a long-lost publication called The Crucible.So this mix represents some of the best music from that era, from the vantage point of songs I thought Rachel would most appreciate. If I were recording this mix for myself, I might have made a slightly different song selection, but the bands would have been pretty much the same.

The rules for the mix were pretty simple: the songs had to "flow" well and fit into the overall mix, and no band could have more than one song unless there was a damn good reason. I didn't hold myself strictly to the '80s - there were a couple of songs from other eras that fit in with where I felt the mix needed to go, but for the most part, we're dealing with the best hard rock from the best bands the average metal fan never heard of. There's not a lot of thrash or "death metal" on this mix, primarily because those genres are more album-driven than song-driven, and the classic thrash albums are a matter of record. Plus, Rachel knows her Anthrax and Slayer better than I do. For the case of really rare tracks, I have noted the name of the album they appear on, otherwise, if you want more details on an individual track, email me directly.

1. Hanoi Rocks - "Oriental Beat" (live) - A simple, undeniable groove. Hanoi Rocks kicks off the mix in a live frenzy.

2. Warrior Soul - "We are the Government" - The best antidote to the excesses of the '80s was the rabid urgency of Warrior Soul in its indignant '90s prime. This definitive version is from their Classics CD.

3. Heavy Pettin' - "Love on the Run" - The greatest of Britain's "coulda woulda shoulda" hair bands scores a prominent place in this mix with one of the best hard rock songs of the decade. From their debut Lettin' Loose. JR update: Recently, I heard from Heavy Pettin's former lead guitarist Punky Mendoza, who saw this entry. Hearing from him made me realize I had more to say about the band: Heavy Pettin' was from the same school of melodic hard rock that spawned Def Leppard. Their vocalist, Hamie was more of an acquired taste than Leppard's Joe Elliot, but otherwise, there was no reason Heavy Pettin' couldn't have risen to similar heights using Leppard's winning formula of hair and hooks, underscored by blue collar rock 'n roll credibility. Heavy Pettin's pre-stardom "buzz factor" in the British rock press was as high as any band from that period. Though some misguided folks swear by Heavy Pettin's second album, Rock is Dead, their real keeper was the rawer and tougher debut Lettin' Loose, from which "Love on the Run" is taken. Lettin' Loose was Heavy Pettin's Pyromania, the perfect combination of pop sensibilities and rock power. If Def Leppard was one of the few metal bands to evolve into a more commercial sound and not lose their identity, then Heavy Pettin' was not so fortunate. Perhaps Def Leppard was uniquely suited for mega-stardom, who knows - all I know is that if you made a list of '80s metal bands that pursued a more commercial sound and betrayed the promise of their debut records, that list would be enormous. Heavy Pettin' actually fared better than most, with a pretty strong follow up album (the aforementioned Rock is Dead). Anyhow, "Love on the Run" doesn't really forge new ground musically or lyrically, but the urgency of the track is exceptional - all these years later, it still astonishes. There are a few more all-time Heavy Pettin' songs, perhaps they will appear on my next volume of "unknown '80s metal." For those who want to hear more on how Pettin' fared musically after Lettin' Loose, I'll pick up their story when I do the liner notes for mix number two. Thanks to Punky for checking in.

4. Black 'N Blue - "I'm the King" - One of the best American metal "might have beens" offers their rebuttal in the form of "I'm the King," their finest moment. From their self-titled debut. (For more on Black 'N Blue, see the "Miss Mystery" listing further down).

5. Wrathchild - "Sweet Surrender" - When trashy glam rock bad boys Wrathchild stumbled into the recording studio and came out with Stack Attack, British rock critics feared the worst. To everyone's shock, Wrathchild had come up with a low budget masterpiece that stands as one of the best glam albums of the decade. The centerpiece was the irresistible "Sweet Surrender," one of the only metal songs I could ever get girls to listen to.

6. Adam Bomb - "You'll Never Know" - Adam Bomb's glam-tinted debut album, Fatal Attraction, was one of the great "hidden" rock records of the '80s. Adam made sure it stayed that way by issuing a series of seriously deficient follow-up releases. In the late '90s, he reinvented himself as Pink Gibson and has been a musical partner of one my personal idols, Michael Monroe of Hanoi Rocks. The biggest highlight on Fatal Attraction is "You'll Never Know," one of the most understated ballads of the hair band era. Most of these bands thought you had to go "over the top" to evoke emotion, Adam Bomb knew better and created an unknown classic.

7. Toad The Wet Sprocket - "Fall Down" (live acoustic) - When Toad was bad, they were just plain bland. But at their best, Toad the Wet Sprocket had a lyrical edge and an uncanny melodic feel. This acoustic version of "Fall Down" captures Toad in rare vocal form.

8. Blue Oyster Cult - "Veteran of the Psychic Wars" - With the exception of "Don't Fear the Reaper," Blue Oyster Cult's best moments were usually NOT their radio staples. The bitter moodiness of "Veteran of the Psychic Wars" shows what I'm talking about.

9. Michael Monroe - "Relationshipwrecked" (live) - Michael Monroe headed into the '90s with a major hangover. But that happens when your drummer dies, your band breaks up and breaks your heart, not one, not two, but three legitimate chances at stardom fall flat, and a fourth gets ruined by an image-conscious major label and the histrionics of Steve Stevens. Pretty well pissed, Michael kept on going, and his punk-inspired collaborations with his now-deceased wife Jude Wilder were amongst the highlights of his '90s solo work. The definitive song from this period was "Relationshipwrecked," and the definitive version is this live recording from Take Them and Break Them , which captures Michael in a raw state, railing against those who have betrayed him and dropping the f-bomb with frequency ("I'm not going to wait for my fuckingship to come in anymore.") And you can't miss the "whoo whoo" train vocals right after the line: "The light at the end of the tunnel's just a train." "Do me a favor," Michael hollers, "and don't do no more favors for me."

10. Rush - "Analog Kid" - Rush die-hards will hate this statement, but I primarily see Rush as a singles band. When they felt like it, Rush pushed the limits of rock lyricism, and they recorded a handful of songs ("Limelight," "Spirit of Radio,""Subdivisions") that I consider to be the best "thinking person's" hard rock ever set to vinyl. Indeed, these are three of the greatest rocks songs of all time. I'd put the overplayed "Tom Sawyer" (barely) in that same category, but after that, there is a major drop-off. Many tiers below, there are a number of "very good" Rush songs that are nice to hear, but you can also go years without hearing them either. The one wild card is the underplayed "Analog Kid" - by far the most underrated Rush song in the catalog. Kind of a companion piece to "Subdivisions," "Analog Kid" is ten times the song the overrated "New World Man" is. If "Subdivisions" is an image of teenage alienation and the force of conformity, then "Analog Kid" picks up with the story of a kid who wants to break the mold but doesn't know how. The "You move me" breaks in this song are a thing of beauty, and when the song ends, an era of classic Rush songs ends with it. Since then, Rush has done some very good work, but the pantheon of classics was complete.

11. Y & T - "Rescue Me" - Anchored by guitar hero Dave Meniketti, Y & T were a band with serious buzz that never converted it. At their worst, Y & T were a poor man's Whitesnake. But at their best, Y & T managed a very distinctive marriage of romantic lyrical themes and thrash-tinged melodies. Not really ballads, the greatest Y & T songs were more like "romantic anthems," and they stand with the best that hair bands had to offer. "Forever" sounded like a bizarre cross between Metallica and Journey; the live performance of that song I saw in 1984 still stands as my favorite live rock moment of all time. For this mix, we have "Rescue Me," which was the first of the great love "anthems" and heralded Y & T's strong three album eighties run (from Earthshakerto Mean Streak), before their lack of success got to them and they went in a soulless pop direction with a desperate cover of "Summertime Girls." From Earthshaker.

12. Elton John - "Love Lies Bleeding" - This song isn't from the '80s, but I discovered it around that time. Along with "Saturday Night's All Right For Fightin," "Love Lies Bleeding" is the song that solidifies Elton John's rock (as opposed to pop) credentials. For this mix, I deleted the six minute "Funeral for a Friend" intro so we could dive right into the meat of the song. Another reason I put this in the song is so I could show Rachel, who is a big Guns 'N Roses fan, what I realized about Guns recently. While Hanoi Rocks was the Gunners' biggest early influence, in the Use the Illusion era, old Elton John was Axel's turntable. When you listen to "Love Lies Bleeding," you realize that some of the best latter-era Guns songs, like "Estranged" and "November Rain," prove that Axel wasn't joking about his early Elton John infatuation.

13. Black 'N Blue - "Miss Mystery" - Black 'N Blue's debut album flirted with masterpiece status, falling short only due to the band's lyrical shortcomings (and that's saying a lot when you consider the lyrical state of hair metal in general, but Black 'N Blue still won that particular prize). Still, there was no reason that Black 'N Blue couldn't have approached Ratt's level of fame (though Ratt was probably the better band over the long haul). At the least, Black 'N Blue should have reached and exceeded the status of the one and two-hit wonders like Bulletboys and Excite and Steelheart that dominated the airwaves for 24 hours and were promptly (and rightfully) forgotten. Perhaps Black 'N Blue sensed as much. When Ratt's debut took off and their debut fell flat, Black 'N Blue made the typical (and typically fatal) move of going in a poppier direction on their second release, Without Love. But while this record was not in the same class as their debut, it was still a heck of an effort, redeemed by the band's ear for melody and a knack for a good hook. The classic on the second album was "Miss Mystery." Another ballad from that rare understated category, "Miss Mystery" was a beautiful piece of work that should have climbed the charts. But in the end, the breakthrough didn't come. The band then submitted to the will of Gene Simmons, who turned them into a mockery of themselves with two of the most soulless and disappointing records of the decade. It's hard to know why something flies and something else dies, but the enduring lesson of Black 'N Blue's failure is clear: always stick to your guns, and don't trust anyone with an enormous tongue.

14. Highway Chile - "Jesse James" - Highway Chile was kind of a low budget response to Motley Crue from Holland, and while they never had Crue's life-on-the-edge image, they came out with an impressive debut album called Storybook Heroes that will cost you a pretty penny on eBay even today. Highway Chile knew they didn't have a "party to the death" image going for them, so they tried to make up for it by excelling in their songwriting. The "English as a second language" lyrics had its ups and downs, but the band's ear for melody was sound and their song structures innovative. "Jesse James" is one of the staple tracks off their first CD, and somehow this crunchy track captures a bit of American swagger from a distant European location. Of course, there's a familiar storyline: after the underwhelming response to Storybook Heroes, Highway Chile went into brief seclusion and retooled their image. In the midst of this, they released a very odd EP called For the Wild and Lonely which contained six elusive, raw songs that were somehow very bad and very good at the same time. It remains one of the most intriguing (and rare) releases of the era. But then, band members started falling out left and right, their great vocalist was replaced by a tool, and Highway Chile, as expected, went pop. But Highway Chile couldn't do pop; it didn't suit their rebel image or philosophy. The result was a truly wretched, career-ending record. But the legend of Storybook Heroes lives on.

15. Anvil - "Free as the Wind" - I see now that this song marked my official break with the rest of the world. Walking around high school blaring this on my Walkman, I swore a solemn vow: someday I'd be as cool and free and Anvil. The guys in Anvil would never put up with the shit I did. Someday...Well, I don't know if Anvil really were all that cool, but they were an '80s original, a strange cross between Kiss and Maiden with some early Metallica thrown in. Anvil would sing about your typical "death and glory" thrash themes, but then they'd work in a cheesy sex anthem filled with silly double entendres (song titles like "Butterball" or "Jackhammer" speak for themselves). At any rate, there are still some Anvil loyalists out there, but I never had much time for the band, since they owed their originality to mixing several derivative sounds together. It was better to play a Maiden tune and then a Kiss track than to listen to Anvil try to morph the two. But give Anvil props for "Free as the Wind," a colossal moment - a full-throttle, fist-in-the-air declaration of independence. Outside of a few Warrior Soul songs, I can't think of a band that sounds freer and bolder than Anvil does on this standout track, with the drummer playing like a man possessed..."lot of people got a lot to say, but I'm doing things my own way, cause I'm free as the wind." One rule for this song: either play it loud, or don't play it. From Forged in Fire.

16. Warlock - "All We Are" - Warlock was a female-fronted German original. In the '80s, Doro Pesch posters lined the walls of lots of pimple-faced metalheads in Eastern Europe. Doro was a rock goddess with a serious set of pipes. Unfortunately, the band never really gelled; they flirted with a bunch of styles and approaches without ever truly finding their sound or audience. All the same, they had their moments. "All We Are" was one of them, perhaps their most likely shot at a hit single...but it was not to be. Warlock wasn't the best "English as a second language" band out there, but what they lacked in subtetly Doro usually made up for in feeling. From Triumph and Agony.

17. Ratt - "Dangerous But Worth the Risk" - Most '80s metal bands were "singles bands." Since the best songs were already getting radio airplay, the albums were subsequently disappointing. There were exceptions, though. Believe it or not, Ratt was one of them. Ratt had some of the best pop instincts of any metal band, and they never made the mistake of taking themselves too seriously. "Dangerous" is not really a rare track, but it is buried in their third release, Invasion of Your Privacy, which is one of the better sounding rock albums (from a production standpoint) you could ever hope to hear. "Dangerous" makes the cut as a reminder that sometimes you sound the best when you're playing loose with nothing to prove.

18. Lita Ford - "Playin' With Fire" - In the pantheon of all-time metal classics, there's only one Lita Ford track, and it's not this one. The real keeper is "Kiss Me Deadly," a song that somehow captures the romance and vulnerability of adolescence from a female perspective - something we had never heard in the metal world and never heard again. "Kiss Me Deadly" was "career-ending good." Once you record a track that special, it's hard to make your career work, and Lita's had a hard career ever since. But she did stick to her guns, and there were a couple more notable moments. The least known of these is "Playin' With Fire," another tribute to adolescent passion that doesn't cut as deeply but still has a great hook.

19. White Sister - "Promises" - Speaking of great hooks, look no further that "Promises," one of the prettiest pop metal songs of the decade. Think Rick Springfield with balls, and you have in image of White Sister at their best. Of course, there wasn't a lot of demand for that kind of artist, even in the '80s, and so, after a solid debut effort, White Sister went the way of the spotted owl. They couldn't put out the obligatory pop follow up because they already went pop on their debut. They had nothing to do but turn the volume down, so their second album was a neutered and bland version of the first. Perhaps they were trying to please their record label; they surely didn't please themselves. But it's too bad White Sister didn't have the good fortune of watching "Promises" shoot up the charts before they went down. From their self-titled debut.
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