Metal Health

Metal Health is a historic masterpiece of Quiet Riot, pulling rough guitar, Kevin DuBrow’s powerful, belting singing and huge, hand-clap-inducing choruses into one straight line. Reaching number one on the US album chart, it is also a monumental work — the first heavy-metal album to stand at that peak. The simpler the songs, the more they strengthen their force, and sharp riffs and powerful rhythm immediately draw the listener in. The overwhelming openness of the smash “Cum on Feel the Noize,” a Slade cover, and the weight of the fist-raising title track “Metal Health (Bang Your Head)” well convey the album’s two sides, while cuts like “Slick Black Cadillac,” “Don’t Wanna Let You Go” and “Thunderbird” convey the work’s fullness. Carlos Cavazo’s guitar is also in sharp form. Its immense value lies in bringing the heat cultivated in the LA club scene directly into huge arenas and vividly showing the world the popular appeal of heavy metal. A record that was the very spark of the 1980s LA-metal boom. Symbolizing the era and full of party anthems, it is a powerful, bright, enduring metal masterpiece.