Hard Rock and Heavy Metal owe to “Metal Health” much more than what the average fan might suspect. People over 40, especially, may faintly bring to memory what surrounded the common opinion when the album replaced the mythical “Synchronicity” by the Police, declaring that the 80s Heavy Metal/Hard Rock was storming in to stay on top for many years to come. The news could not be spread immediately during the pre-internet era, but MTV and special editions and radio stations of the time, enveloped the magic of the hard sound. Loud guitars, roaring vocals and thundering drums where vibrating the universe and from the spot on the top. “Metal Health” is considered to be the first Metal (generally speaking) album to reach No 1 ever. And if you are a fan of the 7th art, you can’t help it but remember the same titled song rocking the intro of the recent movie “The Wrestler” (Mickey Rourke).

In the year 1982, Quiet Riot (whose name holds origin from the leader of the British boogie rockers Status Quo) where practically not existing. The legendary Randy Rhoads, who created the band in 1973, was not there after the air-crash that took his life, while the rest of the band, after Ozzy recruited the charismatic guitarist where thinking that the two albums hat the Quiet Riot recorded during the 70s (with a Japanese distribution only), would be the only ones for the band. The sreamer Kevin DuBrow, though, thought more. Finding new members (they all made history in the future), he convinced the brilliant manager Spencer Proffer to sign the new band to his new label Pasha (distributed by Epic/CBS). And…let there be “Metal Health”…

Bang Your Head: We all know the German festival, the always popular and refreshing headbanging is a product while even Metallica, in their debut “Kill’Em All” they mentioned “bang the head that doesn’t bang” in the back cover. Starting with a despairingly addictive same titled cut, Quite Riot declare out loud that they are Metal, even if they appear to be flirting with the straight forward American Hard Rock (let’s not forget that in 1983 not even Thrash was a specific idiom, while we still remember American debuts like Battle Hymnsor Virgin Steel and their rock’n’roll base structure). In a mid-tempo mood and with a noisy, blabbering chorus, “Metal Health” presents DuBrow, Carlos Carvazo (to join the Ratt later), Rudy Sarzo (Ozzy, M.A.R.S., Malmsteen, Dio, Whitesnake and Blue Oyster Cult) and Frankie Banali (W.A.S.P., Blackthorne and Steppenwolf among others), a concrete sound and a sound to talk about and recording to the limits. Imple stuff with a simple song (do it yourself if you can) that created a fuzz and marked the beginning of the Hard’n Heavy dominion in the USA.

The album tracklist (was rereleased remastered in 2009 with a couple of extras) is branded with the all-so-popular version of “Cum On Feel The Noise”, with the original credits going to the British Glam Rock Legends Slade back in 1973. Needless to say that this version is to be “blamed” for the trademark of the “LA Hair Metal” sub-idiom. Reaching the top in almost all the charts around the world, “Cum On Feel The Noise” refueled the “angry” rage of the new rockers, while it marked the way and the volume with which the choruses would present themselves in the future in similar songs (“We’re Not Gonna Take It”, “I Wanna Rock”,  ”Right To Rock” etc.) which had never happened again, after the KISS glory days. In short, when and if there is a book naming the most important (not the best necessarily) songs, “Cum On Feel The Noise” by Quiet Riot, should be right there.

Impressive tracks in “Metal Health” are abundant, “Breathless” on top, a galloping traveling opus with a heart-breaking solo and an acoustic guitar part that really moves. “Sick Black Cadillac” is the typical, nice rock’n’roll cut with a metal approach (present in the 1979’s “II”) while the “I Don’t Want To Let You Go” is a nice blues-rock Riot style little thing. A Special comment for the “Thunderbird”, a beautiful song, dedicated to the sorely missed Randy Rhoads.

In strict musical terms, “Metal Heatlh” is not the album that will shake your music foundations. Especially for the younger generation, it could sound silly. Be sure, though, that it put a giant step stone for the image the music world started to see as Heavy Metal and Hard Rock in the USA and Europe alike. With over 7 million in sales and a series of video clips that rocked the TV screens of the times (another big contribution), Quiet Riot marked their territory. They failed to follow up, continuously changing line-ups and officially broke up after DuBrow died in 2008, but the American rock heroes, verified that inspiration and timing have nothing to do with degrees in dexterity and technical expertise. “Metal Health” (whatever it is what you like to listen to), is an album that you should have in your CD collection. It’s somehow like the axioms in Geometry: You can’t prove them, but you know they are valid and that’s how the whole science unfolds.

Side A:

1. Metal Health

2. Cum On Feel The Noize

3. Don’t Wanna Let You Go

4. Slick Black Cadillac

5. Love's A Bitch

Side B:

1. Breathless

2. Run For Cover

3. Battle Axe

4. Let’s Get Crazy

5. Thunderbird