Metal Health | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | February 28, 1983 [1] | |||
Studio | Pasha Music House, North Hollywood, California | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 40:57 | |||
Label | Pasha | |||
Producer | Spencer Proffer | |||
Quiet Riot chronology | ||||
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Singles from Metal Health | ||||
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Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Sputnikmusic | 3.5/5 [4] |
Metal Health is the third studio album by the American heavy metal band Quiet Riot, released on February 28, 1983. [1] The album spawned the hit singles "Cum On Feel the Noize" and "Metal Health". It was the band's first album to receive a worldwide release, as the first two were released only in Japan.
Metal Health was the first heavy metal album to reach number one on the Billboard 200 chart, [5] replacing the Police's Synchronicity at number one in November 1983. Due to its commercial success, Metal Health is regarded by some as the catalyst that opened the door for hair metal's immense popularity throughout the next several years. [6] The album went on to sell more than ten million copies worldwide [7] and over six million in the U.S. alone, being certified six-times platinum by the RIAA.
The band parted ways with bassist Chuck Wright early in the recording process, and replacement Gary Van Dyke was not working out. Vocalist Kevin DuBrow asked the band's former bassist Rudy Sarzo to take part in the recording of "Thunderbird", a song written as a tribute to the band's founder Randy Rhoads, who died in a 1982 plane crash. While DuBrow began writing the song while Rhoads was still alive, it wasn't completed until after the guitarist's death. [8] The partnership was quite fruitful and Sarzo ended up recording several songs with the band, and he ultimately left his spot with Ozzy Osbourne to re-join Quiet Riot as a permanent member. [9]
In support of the album, Quiet Riot opened for Black Sabbath on their Born Again tour in the US. They also managed to secure a spot at the 1983 US Festival alongside established acts such as Ozzy Osbourne and Judas Priest. Prior to Quiet Riot's US Festival performance, Sarzo was punched in the face backstage by a drunken Osbourne, still bitter over the bassist leaving him to rejoin Quiet Riot several months prior. [9]
Due to the band's subsequent failure to match Metal Health's commercial success, Quiet Riot has at times been referred to as "one-hit wonders". [10] This is not correct, however, as the band had two songs reach the Billboard Top 40, in addition to a subsequent album being certified Platinum for over one million album sales. [11] The title track was ranked No. 35 on VH1's 40 Greatest Metal Songs. "Slick Black Cadillac" is a re-recording of a song that appeared on the band's 1978 album Quiet Riot II .
The album cover art was designed by Stan Watts, who had previously designed the covers for the Doobie Brothers' Best of The Doobies Volume II (1981), Black Sabbath's Live Evil (1982) and Martin Briley's One Night with a Stranger (1983), as well as the poster for the film The Howling (1981). Frankie Banali later stated that Quiet Riot had wanted to create an icon for the band, and that Sarzo had suggested something akin to Alexandre Dumas' "The Man in the Iron Mask" (1847). While many thought the masked cover model was DuBrow, it was actually Watts himself, whose wife took the photo of him, which he then airbrushed for a "dramatic, high-contrast look". The mask became so popular that DuBrow wore a similar one on the cover of the band's follow-up album, 1984's Condition Critical . [12]
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "Metal Health" | 5:17 | |
2. | "Cum On Feel the Noize" (Slade cover) | 4:51 | |
3. | "Don't Wanna Let You Go" |
| 4:43 |
4. | "Slick Black Cadillac" |
| 4:13 |
5. | "Love's a Bitch" | DuBrow | 4:11 |
6. | "Breathless" |
| 3:51 |
7. | "Run for Cover" |
| 3:38 |
8. | "Battle Axe" | Cavazo | 1:39 |
9. | "Let's Get Crazy" | DuBrow | 4:08 |
10. | "Thunderbird" | DuBrow | 4:43 |
Credits adapted from LP liner notes. [13]
Quiet Riot
Additional musicians
Technical
Weekly Charts (1983–1984) | Peak position |
---|---|
Australian Albums (Kent Music Report) [14] | 39 |
Canada Top Albums/CDs ( RPM ) [15] | 5 |
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ) [16] | 33 |
US Billboard 200 [17] | 1 |
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
Canada (Music Canada) [18] | 3× Platinum | 300,000^ |
United States (RIAA) [19] | 6× Platinum | 6,000,000^ |
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. |
Publication | Country | Accolade | Rank |
---|---|---|---|
Consequence of Sound | US | 10 Hair Metal Albums That Don't Suck [2] | 3 |
Rolling Stone | US | 50 Greatest Hair Metal Albums of All Time [20] | 15 |
Loudwire | US | Top 30 Hair Metal Albums [21] | 11 |
Quiet Riot is an American heavy metal band founded in Los Angeles in 1973 by guitarist Randy Rhoads and bassist Kelly Garni.
Kevin Mark DuBrow was an American singer, best known as the lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Quiet Riot from 1975 until 1987, and again from 1993 until his death in 2007.
Frankie Banali was an American rock drummer, most widely known for his work with heavy metal band Quiet Riot. His signature tone and iconic drum intros first became famous on their album Metal Health, which was the first metal album to hit number one on the Billboard charts and ushered in the 80's metal band era. He had been the band's manager since 1993. He played drums in the heavy metal band W.A.S.P., as well as with Billy Idol. Banali was briefly a touring drummer for Faster Pussycat and Steppenwolf. In the last few months of his life, he was also an abstract painter.
Juan Croucier is a Cuban-born American musician. He is best known as the bassist for the hard rock/glam metal band Ratt.
QR III is the fifth studio album released by American Hard rock/heavy metal band Quiet Riot. It was released in 1986 on Pasha / CBS. It is the last album to feature lead singer Kevin DuBrow until the 1993 album Terrified.
Rodolfo Maximiliano Sarzo Lavieille Grande Ruiz Payret y Chaumont is a Cuban American hard rock/heavy metal bassist. He remains best known for his work with Quiet Riot, Ozzy Osbourne, and Whitesnake, and has also played with several well known heavy metal and hard rock acts including Manic Eden, Dio, Blue Öyster Cult, Geoff Tate's Queensrÿche, Devil City Angels, and the Guess Who. He re-joined Quiet Riot in 2021. He is the sole remaining member from the band’s “Metal Health” lineup.
Condition Critical is the fourth studio album by American heavy metal band Quiet Riot. Released in 1984, it was not nearly as successful as its predecessor in either fan reaction or sales. However, it did sell over one million copies, peaking at No. 15 on the US Billboard album chart. Like the band's previous album, Condition Critical features a Slade cover song as the second track.
Down to the Bone is the eighth studio album by American heavy metal band Quiet Riot, released by Kamikaze in 1995. It was recorded at Ocean Studios, Burbank Calif., The Track House, Van Nuys, Calif., and Paramount Studios, Hollywood, California.
"Metal Health", sometimes listed as "Metal Health (Bang Your Head)", "Bang Your Head" or, as it was listed on the Billboard Hot 100, "Bang Your Head (Metal Health)", is a song by the American heavy metal band Quiet Riot on their breakthrough album, Metal Health. One of their best known hits and receiving heavy MTV music video and radio play, "Metal Health" was the band's second and final top 40 hit, peaking at #31 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Quiet Riot II is the second studio album by the American Heavy metal band Quiet Riot, released on December 2, 1978.
Hurricane is an American heavy metal band formed in 1985. Original line-up featuring singer Kelly Hansen, guitarist Robert Sarzo, bassist Tony Cavazo (ex-SNOW) and drummer Jay Schellen. Tony and Robert are the brothers of Quiet Riot's Carlos Cavazo and Rudy Sarzo.
QR is the sixth studio album by American heavy metal band Quiet Riot, released on October 21, 1988. The album featured a major line-up change. Singer and founding member Kevin DuBrow had been fired before the recording sessions began, and replaced by Rough Cutt vocalist Paul Shortino. The band had fired DuBrow mainly because of comments he was making to the metal press about Quiet Riot's supposed superiority over other bands, which strained friendships that members of Quiet Riot had with those bands. Shortino's hiring was not the only line-up change, as Chuck Wright had quit the band and was replaced by Sean McNabb. This left the album with the distinction of being the only Quiet Riot release without DuBrow on vocals, or any other original members.
Terrified is the seventh album by American heavy metal band Quiet Riot. It is the band's first album in five years, and marks the return of singer Kevin DuBrow after his firing in 1987. It is bassist Kenny Hillery's only studio album with the band, and drummer Bobby Rondinelli plays on several songs. Many of the album's songs were featured in Charles Band's movie Dollman vs. Demonic Toys, with the album itself being released on Moonstone Records, the soundtrack offshoot of Band's film company Full Moon Entertainment.
Alive and Well is the ninth studio album by heavy metal band Quiet Riot. It was recorded following a reunion of the classic 1980s Quiet Riot lineup of Kevin DuBrow, Rudy Sarzo, Carlos Cavazo, and Frankie Banali. It featured eight new songs alongside updated versions of six of their classics, including "Cum On Feel The Noize", "Metal Health" and "Mama Weer All Crazee Now", as well as a cover of "Highway to Hell" by AC/DC. This track had previously been released on the AC/DC tribute album Thunderbolt: A Tribute To AC/DC.
Guilty Pleasures is the tenth studio album by Quiet Riot released in 2001. It was produced jointly by John Rollo and Quiet Riot. It is the last to feature guitarist Carlos Cavazo and bassist Rudy Sarzo as official members, though Sarzo later appeared as a guest performer on the band's 2014 studio album Quiet Riot 10 and he eventually rejoined the band in 2021.
Live & Rare Volume 1 is a live album released by heavy metal band Quiet Riot.
Rehab is the eleventh studio album released from the heavy metal band Quiet Riot in 2006. It is their first studio release since 2001's Guilty Pleasures, and is their final studio album to feature lead singer Kevin DuBrow before his death in November 2007. The album has received mixed reviews from fans.
"The Wild and the Young" is a song by American heavy metal band Quiet Riot, released in 1986 as the lead single from their fifth studio album QR III. The song was written by Spencer Proffer, Frankie Banali, Carlos Cavazo, Kevin DuBrow and Chuck Wright, and was produced by Proffer.
Quiet Riot 10 is the twelfth studio album by the Rock band Quiet Riot, which was released on June 27, 2014. It is their first studio album since 1988's QR not to feature longtime and founding vocalist Kevin DuBrow in any newly recorded material, due to his death in November 2007. It is also the band's first album since reuniting in 2010. Although a studio album, the final four tracks on Quiet Riot 10 are live performances taken from some of the band's final shows with DuBrow in 2007. Love/Hate vocalist Jizzy Pearl joined the band in November 2013 and performs lead vocals on the six studio tracks.
Metal Health' is immortalized in music history as the first heavy metal album to reach the No. 1 spot on the Billboard 200 chart