Rehab - Quiet Riot

So we come to the latter half of 2006, and Quiet Riot is still around. This is not the original Quiet Riot, or even the Quiet Riot that was insanely successful in the mid 80's. This is a much different, and more mature Quiet Riot. Why do I mention this? Well, I was old enough to listen to QR in 1983 when they hit seriously large. Thing is, unlike the majority of the fans, I kept listening. Since Metal Health in 1983, they've had seven other studio albums (84, 86, 88, 93, 95, 99, 01) excluding 2006's Rehab. I bought almost all of them. I rather enjoyed them for what they were. Mindless light metal. Most people don't even know that QR is still around, let alone continuing to record albums all this time. 2001's "Guilty Pleasures" was the one I did not buy. It was "OK" - I borrowed a friend's copy, but I didn't buy that one - at that point I had pretty much burnt out on Quiet Riot.

Fast forward to 2006, and a couple of breakups, several lineup changes, and I got word the band was working on a new album. I admit to being curious given my past history in listening to Quiet Riot, but after Guilty Pleasures, it was NOT an automatic purchase. QR at this point is primarily Kevin DuBrow (vocals), Frankie Banali (drums), and a rotating group of guitarists and bassists. In mid 2006 I was reading interviews with DuBrow & Banali talking about how the new album was nothing like anything they had ever done before. They wanted to do something different, something "classic rock" sounding (I'm paraphrasing there). Again, I wasn't that enthused about it.

Why all this background info? Because I wanted to show that this is not a knee jerk reaction from someone who only casually likes the band.

So I decided to take a chance and roll the dice. Wow. I mean WOW! They were NOT kidding. This is NOT like Quiet Riot that has come before it. It's not like they're playing disco or country music or something - it's still hard rock. But it does not sound like any other Quiet Riot album before it. This is good, I like bands that take some sort of musical experiment, but don't stray too far that they're unrecognizable. I've been reading some negative reviews on the Internet about this album. I know a lot of "opinions" on the Internet are negative, I don't understand this. This is a good album - and unless you were expecting them to re-record Metal Health again, I can't understand why anyone wouldn't like it. Now I'm not going to say it's awesome on the order of Led Zeppelin IV, or Black Sabbath's Heaven & Hell or something like that, but it is a good, quality, solid album. One that makes me want to buy Quiet Riot again. I seriously hope they do another album in this same vein - it would be an automatic purchase for me. The album starts off well with "Free", and never lets up. The bassist on this album is Tony Franklin, who has been in Blue Murder, The Firm, & Ozzy's band. Former Deep Purple & Black Sabbath vocalist Glenn Hughes makes an appearance, too. I can't say it enough - a good, solid album.

Give it a shot, and open your mind. Don't have a prejudged opinion based on "Metal Health" for this album. You might find you'll like it.