Quiet Riot-Metal Health
Europe-The Final Countdown
Accept-Balls to the Wall
Portrait/Legacy
by David Chiu

Thanks to VH1 and a loyal and fervent following, hair metal is still thriving whether you like it or not. The emergence of alt-rock in the '90s rang the death knell of the pretty boy pop metal bands, but the coffin was left slightly ajar. Banking on that continued popularity are a couple of newly reissued metal "classics" as part of the Metal Masters series with new liner notes and bonus tracks, enough for a headbanger to wax nostalgic.

Quiet Riot's notoriety in metal history was the fact it was the band that featured the late great guitarist Randy Rhoads, but before that group's debut was recorded Rhoads left to join Ozzy Osbourne. That hadn't kept Quiet Riot's debut Metal Health to reach the top of the charts thanks to a banging cover of Slade's "Cum on Feel the Noize." Even after all of those years the song is still hooky, albeit dated. The rest of Metal Health is standard fare abetted by Kevin Dubrow's snarling vocals on the ominious title cut and the frenetic assault "Slick Black Cadillac" and "Breathless."

One thing about Swedish musicians crossing over to America is their ability to incorporate melody in a genre like pop. The same can be said for metal from the Swedish pop metal band Euroipe (Joey Tempest's vocals with the pronounced accent make him more tailored for pop than metal). The second album The Final Countdown proved to be the breakthrough thanks to its orchestral like keyboards and lick-heavy guitar solo (that song has since become a staple at sporting events). Of course, Europe also contributed to the power ballad trend with "Carrie," and even the bouncier tunes like "Rock the Night" make the rest somewhat listenable.

The best of the reissues has to be Accept's Balls to the Wall (gotta love that cover art by the way). Perhaps the reason this German outfit's second album strikes a high note because some of the songs were supposedly co- written by the group's female manager, thus challenging metal's usual macho aesthetic. That doesn't compromise the blistering assault nor the melodies on the rocking "More Than You Ever Had," "Fight It Back," the title track, and "London Leatherboys." Frontman Udo Dirkschneidder's commando-like screeching vocals is not a far departure from Judas Priest's Rob Halford and AC/DC's Brian Johnston, nor does the group's music is different from those aforementioned metal acts. If you had to rank the best metal albums of the '80s, Balls to the Wall has a place.