Metal Health – Quiet Riot

IN HONOR OF OUR FALLEN HERO, KEVIN DUBROW

Producer: Spencer Proffer

Released: March 11, 1983 

Rating: *****

If you were alive and aware of popular music in 1983, chances are you remember the first time you heard Cum On Feel The Noize and the band, Quiet Riot, who was responsible for the incredibly infectious and impossible to resist Slade cover song.

How important was this song, and more importantly the album it came from, Metal Health? It was the first heavy metal debut album (purists might argue that this was not QR’s debut album as, if I am correct, they had released an album or two over seas prior to Metal Health) to reach #1 on The Billboard Charts. If I am correct, it was the first heavy metal album to reach #1, period. In order to do so, it knocked The Police album Synchronicity from the #1 spot. Not bad. Not bad at all.

In 1983 there were several bands helping to lead the heavy metal/hair band charge including Twisted Sister, Motley Crue, Dokken and Ratt. In music timing is often everything and it was only a matter of time before one of these bands broke through to the mainstream with a smash hit. That hit was Cum On Feel The Noize. To this day if you utter those words in a social setting someone is bound to respond, “Girls rock your boys!” I can’t think of any other song more perfectly suited to ignite the sensation that would become hair metal.

More impressive than Cum On Feel The Noize is the album from which it came. Metal Health is truly one of a handful of metal albums that people who weren’t fans of the genre owned. This album was bigger than the genre and the band itself. This was one of those “must have” albums. Fueled by an interesting album cover that fed into the album titles play on words and one of MTV’s first truly memorable videos, Metal Health went on to sell more than 6 million albums.

The reason for all of this? It’s an awesome album from start to finish. Solid song writing and great musicianship coupled with slick production make this one of the genre’s top albums.

The albums opens with a battle cry, Metal Health, that truly foreshadowed a music phenomenon. Metal Health, the song, instructed a generation of kids hungry for something to sink their teeth in to BANG YOUR HEAD! Headbangers had finally been justified. The album doesn’t stop there. Metal Health was not a two hit wonder. It was solid from start to finish with help from songs such as

Slick Black Cadillac
Breathless
Run For Cover
Let’s Get Crazy

Quiet Riot never again achieved the succes they enjoyed with Metal Health. The band suffered the same fate that many of the hair bands did, including frequent line-up changes and misguided musical directions. I know that some of you may contend that they had several worthy albums, but this is without a doubt the bands best.

Metal Health aside, there is no doubt that Quiet Riot is often remembered for the bands mouthpiece, Kevin DuBrow. DubRow was both a mouthpiece on and off stage. In the early years, Kevin was known for being difficult to get along with and unruly in his dealings with the press. In later years a more humbled DuBrow became a mouthpiece for an entire genre of music. Frequently featured on VH1′s hair metal documentaries, Kevin DuBrow always appeared with an infectious smile and memorable insight to a genre of music many wanted to ignore, yet was impossible to forget. In telling his stories, Kevin adopted a surprisingly self deprecating sense of humor. He’d done something few musicians or celebrities had done before or since. He was truly humbled having lost his celebrity status and seemed to have a sincere appreciation for the fans of his music. In his later years he was prouder than ever, yet more importantly, respectful of the legacy he helped to create. Kevin DuBrow helped ignite the hair metal flame and continued carrying its torch until his untimely death. Some may label Quite Riot a one-hit-wonder, yet how many of us can claim to having a #1 album? While it may be hard to call him a hero in light of many of the worlds sobering events, those of us who are passionate about music know how important people like Kevin DuBrow are. May he Rest In Peace.