Y & T

Earthshaker Y&T - Earthshaker (A&M) 1981

SIDE ONE
1. "For Rock"
2. "Dirty Girl"
3. "Shake It Loose"
4. "Squeeze"
5. "Rescue Me"
SIDE TWO
6. "Young and Tough"
7. "Hurricane"
8. "Let Me Go"
9. "Knock You Out"
10. "I Believe in You"

"Earthshaker" announced the coming of a new Y&T and brought the band into the glorious metal years. "Earthshaker" contained some of Y&T's heaviest metal to date. The band still had plenty of that 70's rock attitude, brought together with a new spirit, most likely inspired by the NWOBHM sound that was coming out of England. "Squeeze" was a fast, speed metal song, while "Hungry for Rock" had a ton of groove. Power ballads "Rescue Me" and "I Believe In You" were tasty, memorable numbers without coming off as forced for the radio. "Dirty Girl" is a Y&T classic. The band had everything going for them with this one. Hard rockin', memorable songs, big label backing, sing-along anthems and killer vocals. "Earthshaker" should have catapulted Y&T into the spot light, and indeed it did gain them some notoriety, but it didn't quite give them the popularity that some other California rockers like Van Halen were experiencing at the time.

Black Tiger Y&T - Black Tiger (A&M) 1982

SIDE ONE
1. From The Moon
2. Open Fire
3. Don't Wanna Lose
4. Hell Or High Water
5. Forever
SIDE TWO
6. Black Tiger
7. Barroom Boogie
8. My Way Or The Highway
9. Winds Of Change

Part of the band's brilliant trilogy, "Black Tiger" falls right in the middle of the three. After a short instrumental intro, the band bursts out with "From the Moon." Of course, "Open Fire" is one of the band's signature songs. Y&T offered a good variety of tempos and moods on this from the hard rockers to the soft ballads. In the early 80's, metal bands could be diverse and weren't looked down on because of ballads or melodic numbers. Everything about this one is superb from Joey Alves and Dave Meniketti guitar work, to the blazing solos, to the catchy song writing, to Meniketti's vocals. It's all there. This was what 80's metal was all about. "Black Tiger" also sports one cool album cover. Unfortunately for know I only own this one on vinyl. Hope to pick it up on CD someday.

Y&T - Mean Streak (A&M/Japan) 1983

1. "Mean Streak" (4:06)
2. "Straight Thru the Heart" (4:14)
3. "Lonely Side of Town " (4:48)
4. "Midnight in Tokyo" (5:40)
5. "Breaking Away" (4:42)
6. "Hang 'Em High" (5:29)
7. "Take You to the Limit" (4:57)
8. "Sentimental Fool" (3:11)
9. "Down and Dirty" (3:55)

Y&T, along with The Rods and Riot, get my vote as the most underrated bands to come out of the late 1970's. On "Mean Streak" Y&T had tightened up their craft and released on monster of a heavy metal record. They managed to mix a 1970's metal rawness with 1980's technique and ability. I can still remember listening to Metal Shop in the early 80's, hearing "Mean Streak" cranked through the radio. The opening riff is unmistakable. If I am not mistaken, this song was a minor hit for the band. Vocalist Dave Meniketti delivers the goods with is trademark vocals, reminding me of a mixture of Sammy Hagar and David Lee Roth. In typical Y&T fashion, "Mean Streak" is layed with vocals, heavy guitars and simplistic and straight forward rock and roll. Even if "Mean Streak" didn't break sales records in '83, it proved to be a fan favorite. It is part of what many fans call the band's trilogy of "Earthshaker", "Black Tiger" and "Mean Streak". Each and every song here is classic Y&T. Some of my standout favorites are "Hang `Em High and "Midnight in Tokyo", a song chronicling the band's first tour in Japan. Overall, "Mean Streak" ranks with "Black Tiger" as my two favorite Y&T albums. Great album cover art to boot. (Thanks Olaf)

In Rock We Trust Y&T - In Rock We Trust (A&M) 1984

SIDE ONE
1. "Rock and Roll's Gonna Save The World"
2. "Life, Life, Life"
3. "Masters And Slaves"
4. "I'll Keep On Believin' (Do You Know)"
5. "Break Out Tonight!"
SIDE TWO
6. "Lipstick And Leather"
7. "Don't Stop Runnin'"
8. "Your Love Is Drivin' Me Crazy"
9. "She's A Liar"
10. "This Time"

In Rock We Trust" takes a huge leap into more commercial territories. Whereas the last three albums were bright, heavy and filled with awesome songs, "In Rock We Trust" seems a bit more lackluster and over polished. Label it hair metal, California cock rock, radio-ready rock, or whatever, this wasn't the same mean heavy metal/hard rock machine that we were use to. I suppose with Y&T never reaching the heights of popularity they thought they deserved, they had to try something to gain a wider audience. Even the title of the album seems generic and formulaic compared to the past. "Don't Stop Runnin'" was a minor hit off this album, but even it doesn't compare to big songs like "Black Tiger", "Mean Streak", "Rescue Me", "Open Fire", etc.

Contagious Y&T - Contagious (Geffen) 1987

1. "Contagious" (3:21)
2. "L.A. Rocks" (4:41)
3. "Temptation" (4:26)
4. "The Kid Goes Crazy" (4:15)
5. "Fight for Your Life" (4:49)
6. "Armed and Dangerous " (4:20)
7. "Rhythm or Not" (5:06)
8. "Bodily Harm" (3:33)
9. "Eyes of a Stranger" (4:40)
10. "I'll Cry for You" [instrumental] (2:37)

Y&T had finally scored a hit with "Summertime Girls" in 1985. The song was slick, catchy, poppy and yet still rocked. It seems to me that the band may have been tying to recapture that sound on their 1987 release. "Contagious" is sleek, over-produced '80s pop-metal but unfortunately has very little that is as memorable as songs like "Summertime Girls" or even classic rockers like "Mean Streak". "Contagious" is chock full of mid-paced, melodic songs like "L.A. Rocks", "Eyes of A Stranger" and "The Kid Goes Crazy", while being decent rockers, just don't hold up to the bands classic back catalog. Part of the problem here is that Geffen just wasn't the right label for them and the production suffers from being to sterile and not having enough crunch. That is not to say that this CD sucks, however. It's just that it doesn't have the same charisma as the band's past outputs. One of my favorite tracks is actually the short guitar instrumental at the end.

Ten Y&T - Ten (Geffen) 1990

1. "Hard Times" (5:14)
2. "Lucy" (4:43)
3. "Don't Be Afraid of the Dark" (4:51)
4. "Girl Crazy " (4:01)
5. "City" (5:37)
6. "Come in from the Rain" (6:03)
7. "Red Hot and Ready" (4:18)
8. "She's Gone " (4:17)
9. "Let It Out" (4:46)
10. "Ten Lovers" (6:06)
11. "Goin' off the Deep End" (4:32)
12. "Surrender" (5:22)

Coming nearly three years after their commercial disappointment, "Contagious", "Ten" was to be the band's return, minus original guitarist Joey Alves. The sound here falls somewhere between "Contagious" and "Mean Streak". The songs here seem to be more thought out and contain more of that signature Y&T sound than "Contagious". Songs like "Hard Times", "Red Hot & Ready" and "Going off the Deep End" take me back to the classic Y&T sound of old. It is my opinion that Meniketti's raspy voice works better with the street level hard rock than with slick, overproduced pop. "City" and the phenomenal "Ten Lovers" bring in a bit of the band's bluesy influences and has a bit of a Whitesnake vibe. "She's Gone" is a more melodic number and has a sound not unlike their '85 hit "Summertime Girls". However, even this song rocks petty hard. ""Ten" could have been a hit for the band in 1990 when this sort of melodic heavy metal was still thriving. Why it didn't is a mystery although many fans blame Geffen for the failure of this record and "Contagious". Whatever there reason, "Ten" wasn't the mega-hit the band or their label was hoping it would be. However, record sales and radio hits are not what make a good album. "Ten" may not be the band's very best, but it's far from a dog either. Fans of classic Y&T would do themselves well to check give this album a fair shake.

Best of '81 to '85 Y&T - Best of '81 to '85 (A&M) 1990

1. "From the Moon" (:42)
2. "Open Fire" (4:10)
3. "Hurricane" (3:24)
4. "Mean Streak" (4:07)
5. "Rescue Me" (4:44)
6. "Black Tiger" (4:19)
7. "Dirty Girl" (5:06)
8. "Forever" (5:48)
9. "Midnight in Tokyo" (5:41)
10. "Hang 'em High" (5:31)
11. "Lipstick and Leather" (3:27)
12. "Summertime Girls" (3:29)
13. "Beautiful Dreamer" (4:06)
14. "Twenty-Five Hours a Day" [live] (4:09)
15. "Barroom Boogie" [live] " (4:33)
16. "I Believe in You" (7:14)

Y&T in their prime were a great band. Before the puffy poodle makeover of later albums, Y&T were a meat and potatoes, hard rockin', heavy metal band. This compilation pulls from classic albums like "Earthshaker", "Black Tiger" and "Meanstreak", as well as a few tracks from "In rock We Trust", "Open Fire" and "Down for the Count". As with any fan, there are songs that I think should have been included here that were not. However, overall this is a decent single disc collection. Dave Meniketti was the voice and sound of Y&T. Here the band's sound has similarities to Montrose, with Meniketti having some similarities to Sammy Hagar. The band had several hits during this time including "Mean Streak" and "Summertime Girls", the band's first hugely successful single and video.

Live Y&T - Yesterday & Today: Live (Metal Blade) 1991

1. "Mean Streak" (4:45)
2. "Hurricane" (3:42)
3. "Don't Stop Runnin'" (5:26)
4. "Struck Down" (4:55)
5. "Winds Of Change" (6:55)
6. "Black Tiger" (5:18)
7. "Midnight In Tokyo" (6:38)
8. "Beautiful Dreamer" (5:15)
9. "Hard Times" (7:13)
10. "I'll Cry For You" (4:48)
11. "I Believe In You" (7:36)
12. "Squeeze" (4:28)
13. "Forever" (7:10)

A solid, live, career retrospective from one of America's most under appreciated hard rock/heavy metal bands. "Yesterday & Today: Live" was to be the band's farewell recording and was recorded at the tail end of their "Ten" tour. The song selection is excellent with songs being chosen from nearly all of the band's 80's releases. The live recording really adds a lot to the songs as well. It's hard to capture that raw energy in a studio, but that energy is certainly captured here. I also always enjoy the extended jams that a lot of the bands that came out of the 70's have. Y&T are no exception. Dave's vocals are outstanding here. I'm not sure how much overdubs were done, if any, but the recording is near perfect. "Yesterday & Today: Live" is simply an outstanding live album. This is the perfect CD to give to someone to introduce them to Y&T.

BBC Live Y&T - BBC Live in Concert (Varese Sarabande) 2000

1. "Hungry For Rock" (4:00)
2. "Black Tiger" (4:18)
3. "I Believe In You" (8:29)
4. "Open Fire" (3:56)
5. "Forever " (5:33)
6. "Rescue Me" (5:12)
7. "Mean Streak" (4:19)
8. "Barroom Boogie" (4:05)
9. "Lipstick And Leather" (3:15)
10. "Rescue Me" (5:05)
11. "Rock 'N' Roll's Gonna Save The World" (5:20)
12. "Masters And Slaves" (5:07)

This BBC recorded live album captures Y&T in their prime and features the original line-up with Dave Meniketti, Joey Alves, Phil Kennemore and Leonard Haze. Tracks 1-6 were recorded live a the Reading Festival, Aug. 29, 1982. Tracks 7-12 were recorded live at Donnington Monsters of Rock Festival, Sept. 9, 1984. For some odd reason the producers decided to include two different versions on "Rescue Me". This isn't really that unusual for a BBC disc, but usually there are most songs, or discs included when songs are repeated, such as the case of the Led Zeppelin BBC discs. One of the nice thing about these BBC discs is that they truly are live and feature the bands without overdubs to fix the rubs and mistakes. In the case of Y&T, they were tight and sounded great. The live atmosphere gave them a bit more grit to their sound.

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