Damn Yankees

Patching together two albums' worth of highlights and calling it "essential" is a somewhat ludicrous concept, but given that the guilty party here is those Damn Yankees, you can bet your tree-hugging ass that Ted "the head get-down-gonzo" Nugent can rattle off a million reasons why it's certainly a lot better than voting democrat. Whatever you say, Ted, just point those arrows in another direction the dang record will be reviewed, OK? The problem with Damn Yankees wasn't that they were lousy musicians or sucked any harder than any other hair metal band of the day -- in fact, they were all stellar players and clearly stood over most of their hapless peers. The problem with Damn Yankees was that, given the bandmembers' impressive résumés -- besides the "Nuge," they boasted rock & roll veterans Tommy Shaw (Styx), Jack Blades (Night Ranger), and Michael Cartelone (Dixie Dregs) -- the final result was so often lackluster and, worse, safe as milk. (Actually, maybe this wasn't that surprising in retrospect, but let's just say this is hardly ideal hunting music). Anyway, both of the band's albums delivered solid if unspectacular rock radio-friendly singles such as "Coming of Age," "Don't Tread," and, of course, the group's über-power ballad "High Enough." Not only were these songs simply dripping with hooks, clichés, and corn (heaps and heaps of corn...on the cob...creamed, you name it), but they often foisted an exaggerated nationalism that was pretty much rendered null and void at the end of the Gulf War. Oh yeah, and by Nirvana. Still, this is the best place to start your Damn Yankees collection. ~ Ed Rivadavia, All Music Guide