VARIOUS ARTISTS (GENERAL) — VH1 Classic Presents: Metal Mania - Stripped, Vol. 2: The Anthems (review)

VARIOUS ARTISTS (GENERAL) — VH1 Classic Presents: Metal Mania - Stripped, Vol. 2: The Anthems album cover Album · 2005 · Glam Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
3.5/5 ·
Vim Fuego
OK, let's get one thing straight - when it comes to metal, VH1 doesn't know it's ass from its elbow. Nothing here is metal, not in the slightest. Not one bit. Not at all. None of these bands would call themselves metal (except perhaps Dokken, but Don Dokken is a fucking idiot anyway) and the music they're playing isn't metal. It's acoustic, unplugged rock, which isn't metal either. Got it? Good.

Right, silly title aside, this is actually a great fun compilation. Glam rock of the late 80s and early 90s was the stuff of pure fantasy and escapism involving cars, women, big hair, drugs, booze, and the odd spot of rock. Then along came grunge and everyone stopped washing their hair and stopped having fun.

Some of these songs are definitive tracks of the era, while others delight in their second rate mediocrity. It simply doesn't matter how awful these songs were, and still are, because they made people happy. Some of the names here were huge in their time and Scorpions and Whitesnake still are. There are other big names of the glam era too, like Poison, Warrant, Ratt, Tesla, L.A. Guns, and Great White. There's also a good selection of second rate names, like the insipid Nelson, Beavis and Butthead's favourite target for ridicule Kip Winger, the mediocre Cinderella, and try-hards Bullet Boys.

Some of these songs work perfectly well acoustically, in that if you didn't know the original, you'd think this was the first version recorded. Scorpions' "Rock You Like A Hurricane" loses none of its power or sing along fun as an acoustic song. Whitesnake's "Here I Go Again" shows David Coverdale still has a great voice after all these years in the business and the reinterpretation of this song as a ballad is almost better than the original. Poison's "Talk Dirty To Me" is pure teen smut the way it always was and, even if this band is balding, aging and fat, they still have a great time playing music.

There are some surprises here too. Night Ranger's "Don't Tell Me You Love Me" has some very tight vocal melodies. Warrant's sleazy "Cherry Pie" also adapts well to the unplugged environment. Ratt's "Round And Round", L.A. Guns "Sex Action" and Great White's "Once Bitten, Twice Shy" also stand out.

Of course, there are a few failures as well. Cinderella's "Shake Me" sounds like a country ballad. The Bullet Boys "Smooth Up In Ya" pushes the sex thing too far and just sounds pervy.

This is an excellent party album for any rock fans who were teenagers in the 80s. Sure, it might be a little bit too laid back for some but it's not meant to be taken too seriously. Put your brain out of gear, drop all your inhibitions and rediscover the memories of a youth long passed.
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