bl5150's Top 50.........TOP TEN ...#1

[bl5150]

#23 Ten : The Name of the Rose
Released 1996
Tracks
1.     The Name of The Rose     8:31
2.     Wildest Dreams     5:33
3.     Don't Cry     5:00
4.     Turn Around     3:52
5.     Pharaos Prelude     3:54
6.     Wait For You     5:31
7.     The Rainbow     6:03
8.     Through The Fire     8:19
9.     Goodnight Saigon     7:02
10.     Wings of The Storm     5:02
11.     Standing In Your Light     7:16
12.     The Quest     4:52
13.     You're My Religion     6:48


 A couple of you guys know Andrew from Tassie and his mr.com website – well (I’m going to show my age here) back in the days before that website and before the internet was ubiquitous Andrew was running a little mail order CD shop.  He used to send out catalogues each month and we’d chat on the phone about new releases etc……..and every now and then he was kind enough to just ship me some CDs he was sure I’d like on a buy/return basis.  Well one day a parcel turned up with the debut albums from both Ten and Harem Scarem.  Needless to say he had my taste down pat. That would’ve been around 1995-96.

Anyway………from that point both bands became big favourites.  Ten do seem to be a bit of a love/hate proposition and I imagine that’s in large part due to Gary Hughes’ deep vocals and limited range.   It never really bothered me and in the end it just makes them stand out from everyone else.  I place a lot of value in a band having their own sound , which is one of the reasons I find so little to like among new releases in the melodic rock area these days.   The band behind Hughes was also very solid with Greg Morgan and Vinny Burns (ex-Dare) on guitar.

Ten have been around ever since (with the odd break)and , although they’ve produced plenty of great songs,  as albums I don’t think they ever matched the first few .  The debut is fantastic , and contains one of the most beautifully written ballads ever written (Loneliest Place In The World) but overall I think The Name of the Rose is a better ,more consistent  and heavier album.  It’s also the start of Hughes’ penchant for writing about grandiose topics of history/legend/fantasy – in this case stuff like Egyptian gods on my favourite track Wait For You.   It’s also one of the few albums they recorded where the production is half decent – in fact their third album The Robe may have been their best if it didn’t sound like it was recorded in an outdoor dunny.

Interestingly the debut and TNOTR were both recorded in the same sessions and were released only 6 months apart in 1996 - they certainly don't sound like two parts of the same album to me , so presumably there was a conscious decision made to keep the tunes for each album a bit different in style and sound.


Favourite Tracks: Name of the Rose, Wait For You, Goodnight Saigon, 



Honourable Mention:  Dare - Out of the Silence -    The first main gig for Ten guitarist Vinny Burns.  Celtic tinged chill out AOR and acknowledged widely as a classic of the genre.

[Lowdz]

Trail Of Murder is a great album - I do quite like Tad Morose but they do get same-y after a while. I went through a big power metal kick a couple of years ago but overdosed on the sameness. I really couldn't tell one band from another. Mr Breed has got a great voice. I agree about the production comments too.

Ten are a very hit and miss band for me. TNoTR is just a great album. I went with Spellbound in m top 50 but  this ran it close. Very epic album. Never had a problem with Gary Hughes voice, though it does operate in the same range the whole time. They lost me with a couple of albms in their mid career (Far Beyond The World and Babylon - that other fans seem to love) and they never quite got back up there. They are a bit Axel Rudi Pell in that they don't deviate from their sound at all - you know what you're going to get.

But when GH writes for Bob Catley great things happen! 

edit - The Ten albums often suffer in the production side of things too. It must be Gary's ears as all their albums sound muddy to me. Spellbound stands out to me as the guitars cut through a bit more than usual.

[jingle.boy]

I first got into Ten when a buddy of mine at the time (around 2003) burned a disc full of mp3s to help me expand my prog-metal horizons, as I really only knew DT.  Ten, Vanden Plas, Shadow Gallery were on that, along with a few other unknown bands I've never seen discussed around here.  X was the Ten album.  The earlier albums are stronger musically, but weaker production wise.  I think I agree with Paul's comments word for word.  Pretty consistent, and they don't stray too far from their formula.  Spellbound would get my nod as my favorite.

I like what I've heard from Tad Morose, and really need to dig into them a bit.  Liked the few rec's you gave me a while back, but I need to get them an album at a time.  Now I know which album to fire up.

[wolfking]

Love Ten, seriously underrated.  Name of the Rose I'd say is easily their best album, amazing melodic rock, and it's just song after song of great melodies and songwriting.

That Dare album too is awesome.

[bl5150]

Love Ten, seriously underrated.  Name of the Rose I'd say is easily their best album, amazing melodic rock, and it's just song after song of great melodies and songwriting.

That Dare album too is awesome.

 

Trail Of Murder is a great album

i might not be back for #22 for a few weeks now - I'm having the same experience I had when I first got Trail of Murder and cannot stop playing the thing.

 They lost me with a couple of albms in their mid career (Far Beyond The World and Babylon - that other fans seem to love) and they never quite got back up there.

 But when GH writes for Bob Catley great things happen! 

I think Far Beyond The World is a decent effort - Glimmer of Evil I really liked.  Babylon .......................well I thought I was the only one.   Every time I've seen a discussion re Ten a fair % of the fans tend to count Babylon as their masterpiece.  I came into that as a huge fan and it was a one play job for me - and I'm not sure I even managed one whole listen.  Totally not memorable......like most concept albums.

FTR Bob Catley's The Tower was extremely close to a place in this list.

[wolfking]

Babylon is probably my least fav Ten album, and Far Beyond the World would be my second fav behind Rose.  Never understood the negativity for Far Beyond, great rock.

The only really great song on Babylon was the opener, as you guys said the rest is totally forgettable.

[bl5150]

More artists I don't know.

I'll be very interested in your thoughts on Trail of Murder/Tad Morose/Bloodbound samples when you get around to it Kade - you were front and centre in my mind as "he most likely to be impressed".   I can't stop playing em all over again.

Anyway.............onward and upward.  Just as #24 was a love fest for Urban Breed , so #22 is for Mark Free.



#22 Unruly Child: s/t and Signal: Loud and Clear (TIE)
Released 1992/1989

Mark Free is undoubtedly one of the more versatile voices in rock– not to mention one of the most powerful.    He was one of the”  go to” men for singing on demos from big songwriters like Judithe Randall in the 80’s , he hooked up with Carmine Appice and became the lead vocalist in the classic lineup of metal band King Kobra for two albums - also LA Rocks which later became Eyes - and then left and recorded three classic melodic rock/AOR albums.......Signal, Unruly Child and Long Way From Love (see HM)   In fact he was so versatile that he had the snip , became a chick and is still putting out good albums as Marcie Free with a newly resurrected Unruly Child at the age of 60.    And no I’m not kidding .  Either way- Mark , Marcie- he/she had and has one of the most amazing voices in rock.

Signal was the first of his more melodic rock/AOR albums and at this moment in time it's probably a touch soft for my taste but in my mind it's an AOR classic and features some great vocal performances and some tasty guitar work.  Some may know of Jan Uvena (drums) who did stints with Alice Cooper and Alcatrazz.   There were plenty of great songwriters involved here too (Mark Baker, Bob Halligan Jnr - who was also a big part of Icon's Night of the Crime) -  those with a good ear will recognise the song "Go" as a reworked , and probably better, version of Triumph's Running In The Night.   I imagine those who don't mind the lighter side of Giant will like this .  I have linked below to songs which I think do a good job of highlighting Free's vocals.  The label did $#% all to promote this album and it faded into obscurity.


Next Free got together with Bruce Gowdy (ex Stone Fury/World Trade) and Guy Allison (World Trade) – two of the best writers in the biz – and Unruly Child was the result.   Top notch rockers and soaring ballads throughout with a huge production from Beau Hill.   Mark’s voice is a touch low in the mix but when it matters he has the power to overcome that.  Another amazing debut and another band that was dropped like a hot potato even before the album was released - virtually to the day that grunge hit the scene like a hurricane.  Talking of hurricanes they returned  6 years later with Hurricane (and now Foreigner) vocalist Kelly Hansen – very good album but not quite the same without Free.

There seems to be plenty that think one or the other of Signal/Unruly Child is far better than the other but I think they're equally classic in their own way. These days I would favour the Unruly Child.

Once again – they don’t make ‘em like this any more. I can’t really think of a better album released in 1992 either – or can I ?

Favourites (Unruly Child): Who Cries Now, Wind Me Up,  When Love Is Gone, On The Rise

Note to Chad - Grooveshark's listing of the Unruly Child is missing Track 2 - Take Me Down Nasty


Favourites (Signal): You Won't See Me Cry , Go , This Love This Time, Does It Feel Like Love,


Honourable Mention: Mark Free : Long Way From Love-     I don't think any of these 3 albums do the perfect job of capturing Free at his best - the production on Signal needs a little more punch and he's too low in the mix on Unruly Child -but vocally this album might just be the best sounding.  Basically a bunch of reworked melodic rock demos from "the Randall's" but if you can forgive the drum machine there's some great (wimpy) songs and vocals.

[wolfking]

Checkin' out some of those Trail of Murder samples right now man.

I only have the latest one from Unruly Child (forget the name) which is pretty nice melodic rock.  I need to check out their older stuff.

I heard some of Mark Free's older stuff which is quality, but again so hard to find.  I gotta say Free's voice suffered after his sex change operation IMO.

[jingle.boy]

Totally dug that Trail of Murder album.  Purchase-worthy for sure.  Brent, clean out your inbox mate, and send me a list of the 'killer' Tad Morose Songs that are essential.  Might make a little 'best-of' list so that I don't bog myself down with unworthy music.

*le sigh* ... two/three more new albums to check out.

[wolfking]

Totally dug that Trail of Murder album.  Purchase-worthy for sure.  Brent, clean out your inbox mate, and send me a list of the 'killer' Tad Morose Songs that are essential.  Might make a little 'best-of' list so that I don't bog myself down with unworthy music.

*le sigh* ... two/three more new albums to check out.

Yeah, fuck me hey, some quality amazing music coming from this list so far, and I haven't even checked every album here I don't know.

I fucking loved that Trail of Murder, you've nailed my taste Brent, killer stuff.  That Tad Morose song was great, but yeah, that production is pretty horrid.

[Big Hath]

Unruly Child: s/t

Signal: Loud and Clear

Mark Free : Long Way From Love

I got all three of these recently after Unruly Child was suggested in the AOR thread.  Great albums!

[bl5150]

#21 XYZ: s/t
Released 1989
Tracks
1.     Maggy     
2.     Inside Out     
3.     What Keeps Me Loving You     
4.     Take What You Can     
5.     Follow the Night     
6.     Come On N' Love Me     
7.     Souvenirs     
8.     Tied Up     
9.     Nice Day to Die     
10.     After the Rain 

This album seems to suffer from a reputation that it’s some sort of Dokken ripoff and the only apparent reason is that Don Dokken produced it.  Aside from that and a nice crunchy rhythm guitar sound I’m not sure what the fuss is – the singer and guitarist both have their own unique (fantastic) sound.  In my opinion, XYZ were much better and have a lot more variety in their music than most of the big names that made it in hair metal , including plenty of Dokken material.  I’d have trouble splitting them if you asked me who was my favourite , so that’s an indication of how highly I thought of them , given they only had two genuine albums.

Even before this album XYZ were pretty well known about the US rock scene and were the house band at The Whiskey in the mid 80’s.  This release didn’t come until ’89 and once again I think this band came along a couple of years too late – they were on a big label for this (Enigma) and cracked the Billboard at #99 but they came and went very quickly.  Not for me though……….I played this over and over and transcribed most of it too.  I eventually bought the official tab (which now goes for megabucks on Ebay if you can find it).

Although the rhythm section shines too,  the key players are Terry Illous on vocals and Marc Richard Diglio ,one of the most criminally under rated rock guitarists ever.     Terry has a very distinctive voice with plenty of power and range (see last note of Souvenirs  ) and in recent times has ended up fronting Great White.   Diglio really had it all – strong  on rhythm and lead (tick) , has his own easily recognisable sound (tick) and often has a real rhythmic, funky style of lead playing with elements of Bratta and Bettencourt (tick).

There’s not a bad song on this and everything from commercial rockers, heavier rock to big ballads.   I know some who prefer the follow up album Hungry -  I think that possibly sounds more lively on the production side (s/t is perhaps a bit too slick)  but IMO the songs aren’t quite as good across the album.  Hungry is definitely worth tracking down too though.



Favourite Tracks: Take What You Can ,Nice Day To Die, Maggy, Souvenirs, Tied Up

NOTE: As seems to be common the Grooveshark album listing is missing Track 6 C'mon and Love me.


Honourable Mention:  Stun Leer : Once -    solo project from Doug Howard of Touch.  Pretty straight forward melodic rock but had my attention for quite a while back in the day.

[bl5150]

So far................on the main list

#50 : Shy-Shy
#49: Vanden Plas- Colour Temple
#48: Icon: Night of the Crime
#47: Pink Floyd: A Momentary Lapse of Reason
#46: Noiseworks-Noiseworks
#45: Red Dawn-Never Say Surrender
#44: Annihilator-Never Neverland
#43: Place Vendome-Place Vendome
#42: Riverdogs-Riverdogs
#41; Symphony X - The Divine Wings of Tragedy
#40: Armored Saint: Symbol of Salvation
#39; Bon Jovi: Slippery When Wet
#38: Metal Church: Hanging In The Balance/Blessing In Disguise
#37: Angra: Angels Cry
#36: Elegy: Supremacy
#35: Gary Moore: Wild Frontier/Corridors of Power
#34: Stratovarius: Fourth Dimension
#33: Threshold: Psychedelicatessen
#32: Conception: In Your Multitude
#31: Judas Priest: Painkiller
#30: Crimson Glory: Transcendence
#29: Giant: Last Of The Runaways
#28:After Forever:s/t
#27: Lillian Axe: Poetic Justice & Psychoschizophrenia
#26: Labyrinth: Return To Heaven Denied
#25: The Doobie Brothers: The Captain & Me
#24: Trail of Murder: Shades of Art
#23: Ten : The Name Of The Rose
#22: Unruly Child: s/t  & Signal: Loud and Clear
#21: XYZ: s/t

[jjrock88]

XYZ is a pretty good release, but it is a little too slick

[Lowdz]

Unruly Child and Signal are decent bands - play them both fairly regularly and they are certainly AOR royalty. I did expect to see them on this list 
You mentioned Bruce Gowdy from Stone Fury, now there was a band!

Kade, that last UC album is very similar to the 1st one, as though they set out to write a carbon copy like DT were accused of with I&W and ADTOE.

I have the 1st 2 XYZ albums and both are very good, the 1st one is best. I don't rate them as high as Brent, I found them to be a bit of a Dokken copy but not as good, there's more filler on those two albums than Dokken albums in the T&N - BFTA era.

I don't own that Stun Leer album but have heard it on Youtube. Very good melodic rock.

[Lowdz]

In this batch:

own 7/10 - though counting the ties I own 9/12. Purchasing that Labyrinth too.

heard 7/10

love - 7/10 (or 10/12)

and in total

own - 19/30

heard - 23/30

love - 17/30

[wolfking]

Another new one.

Although, I have a digital copy of that Stun Leer album, and it's awesome.

[jingle.boy]

Since the last time I posted my knowledge (I think it was #34), I'm only 4/14, though I give myself a +3 for Judas, Conception and Giant.  Know those albums, just don't own them.

[wolfking]

I'd be confident giving myself 17 from that list in total.  Some I know better than others.

[bl5150]

The name Mike Slamer has been a fairly prominent part of my listening for at least 25 years. I could've chosen any number of albums and I'm a bit bummed at not being able to squeeze in Steelhouse Lane's Slaves of the New World for one  , but I've decided to stick with the Slamer/Greer combo and have selected two albums recorded almost 20 years apart.

The HM (Wall of Silence) was produced by Slamer and he has co-writes but , even though he's not credited , I swear he played on it.



#20 Streets: Crimes In Mind/ Seventh Key: The Raging Fire (TIE)
Released 1985/2004

       
Streets was my first exposure to Slamer and also (indirectly) to Kansas.  It was the first band where Slamer and Greer collaborated closely and it also happened to feature Greer’s Kansas bandmate Steve Walsh on vocals.  It’s basically a more straight ahead, rocked up, guitar heavy Kansas sound and I really like it.  The guitar work is really cool for the time as well.  The first Streets album was good but a bit patchy  - they really hit their stride here and it’s yet another little known classic.   Three of the ten tracks aren’t quite at the same level as the rest , but the level on the seven best is fantastic.

Slamer is a bit of a hermit in terms of his public profile but he sure knows how to surround himself with the right people. If you look back to his first big band City Boy and their album from 1979 -  on bass we have Mutt Lange and on harmonica Huey Lewis    I don't know whether Slamer tought Lange or vice versa but another thing Slamer can do (in modern times) is get a sound quality/production on a shoestring budget that would put a lot of bigger bands to shame.  No names 

The Seventh Key features Greer on vocals who was a bit of a revelation to me at the time.  Just more fantastic melodic rock.


Favourite Tracks (Streets)  Don't Look Back , Crimes In Mind , I Can't Wait,   Turn My Head,

Favourite Tracks (Seventh Key):  Cross The Line , It Should've Been You,  The Sun Will Rise , Winds of War



Honourable Mention:  Wall of Silence- Shock To The System.............Canadian melodic rock with Slamer twidldling the dials.

[wolfking]

Never checked out Streets but love Slamer and Seventh Key.  That's easily the best album from them.  Gonna check those streets songs and WOS now.

Also, I went back and found a digital copy of Lillian Axe, Poetic Justice.  It was okay but didn't blow me away at all.

[jingle.boy]

Ok, now you're just cheating and disobeying the rules!

Three more to add to the list - though I did check out this years release from Seventh Key, and remember that it was very enjoyable, but didn't quite stick to the ribs.

[TAC]

I remember the Streets album being released.  Don't remember much about it though.

[bl5150]

Ok, now you're just cheating and disobeying the rules!

Three more to add to the list - though I did check out this years release from Seventh Key, and remember that it was very enjoyable, but didn't quite stick to the ribs.

Soz    .................Cross The Line is fucking killer    Not that's a build up to a chorus

[wolfking]

Ok, now you're just cheating and disobeying the rules!

Three more to add to the list - though I did check out this years release from Seventh Key, and remember that it was very enjoyable, but didn't quite stick to the ribs.

Soz    .................Cross The Line is fucking killer    Not that's a build up to a chorus

Yeah, probably the best song on there, great climax to the solo at the end too.  I actually love the verse riff in this, very Sabbath.

Chad, the new one is actually something I come back to now and then for something a bit lighter but it's not the best introduction to the band, the best is right here.  The latest was decent enough but doesn't come close to this.

[jingle.boy]

Once again – they don’t make ‘em like this any more. I can’t really think of a better album released in 1992 either – or can I ?

Note to Chad - Grooveshark's listing of the Unruly Child is missing Track 2 - Take Me Down Nasty

On the first point, you better be able to think of a better album from 1992!  I can think of a couple right now.

On the second point, yes it is there.  You just need to select the "show more songs" option at the bottom.  Whoever uploaded it didn't do the tracklisting correctly, and has it at #1, therefore it gets hidden below the main album listing.

Great sounding album... another one to add to my lump of purchases that I can feel coming on.  Production seems a little thin, but otherwise this is a great sounding album.

[bl5150]

#19 Tesla : The Great Radio Controversy
Released 1989
Tracks
1.     Hang Tough     
2.     Lady Luck     
3.     Heaven's Trail (No Way Out)     
4.     Be A Man     
5.     Lazy Days, Crazy Nights     
6.     Did It For The Money     
7.     Yesterdaze Gone     
8.     Makin' Magic     
9.     The Way It Is     
10.     Flight To Nowhere     
11.     Love Song     
12.     Paradise     
13.     Party's Over 

What do you get when you combine the songwriting prowess, heaviness and catchiness of Def Leppard/Bon Jovi in their prime with a bluesy/ Southern influence , some 70’s Aerosmith, lose the big hair and add a Tom Keifer style glass-gargling vocalist?  Tesla  - and to me they’re the ultimate band in this rootsy rock style, ahead of bands like Cinderella.  They also did a better job of it than Great White who IMHO went way  too commercial.

Like most of the bands in this list , almost nobody knew them at the time here in Australia other than diehards , but while looking back at this album I was surprised to see just how well they charted in the USA.   I never realised they had stats like this (via Wikipedia):

-   All of their first 5 albums (and that includes 2004’s Into The Now) cracked the Billboard top 35
-   Psychotic Supper and FMAJ almost made top 10 and were the highest charters
-   The first 3 studio albums + FMAJ went platinum , TGRC went multi platinum despite charting lower than PS
-   Love Song and Signs (live) were top 10 singles.

Anyway………when it comes down to it I rate all of their first three albums very highly  , and while many of my favourite songs (Song&Emotion , Modern Day Cowboy for two) come from other albums I find TGRC to be the most consistently great across all the songs.  It was hard choice but if I think back and do the usual criteria of which album got the most play without using Skip , then it certainly wins there too.

There’s a whole load of different degrees of heaviness on this album and it all works – Paradise in particular shows what they were capable of when they decided to push their  song writing   beyond the usual. The sort of stuff that made them one of the few bands of their type not to be totally wiped off the map in the early 90’s.  They were also ahead of their time a bit later on with the FMAJ , which played a large part in setting off the rash of Unplugged albums in the 90’s.

Favourite Tracks:  Paradise, Flight To Nowhere, Lady Luck ...............won't link as you guys know 'em.

 
Honourable Mention:   Tower City - All Or Nothing ..............these guys could've been big but wrong decade!  Unfortunately they only produced one complete , well produced album and that was their debut A Little Bit Of Fire in 1996.  It's a bit of an AOR classic but a bit fluffy for me these days - like a watered down Def Leppard .  Sample (title track).  This here is their ironically named and incomplete second release - I really don't know what happened but it was released with the songs' production varying from anything between horrible to quite good (thankfully on the best tracks)  If you think of it as a high end demo then you'll be right.  But it shows a progression to a harder sound and the songs that were completed reasonably well are killer. Here' another good one. Shame about them calling it quits in the middle of this.  Useless trivia :  Larry Saltis is one of my favourite AOR voices and also fronted The New Monkees - presumably that will mean something to someone in the US/Canada.  He also handles guitars on this very competently.

[TAC]

OK, just gave a couple of those Seventh Key tracks a listen. Not sure if I have room for them in my listening.  Sounds like a modern day Foreigner.

[TAC]

Great write up on Tesla, B. Funny you mention Great White. For this album, Tesla did a co headlining tour with Great White, with Firehouse opening. Luckily, the show here had Tesla headlining.
If you ask me, i might rate this 4 th out of the original four, but this is FULL of great songs.
Paradise is my all time favorite Tesla track.
Tesla also had a huge UFO influence, and Makin Magic is very reminicient of Chapman era UFO.
Love The Way It Is, Lady Luck, and Yesterdaze Gone.

[jingle.boy]

Finally!  An album I don't have to discover!  This too made my top 50, and song-for-song, is their best.  MR and PS have higher highs, but also have lower lows.  And you're spot on that FMAJ helped kick off the unplugged trend (I think Clapton was really the first bit one, but Tesla I recall being 2nd to the game).

Top notch album.

[Lowdz]

Love those first 4 Tesla albums and the new one. Just looking back they didn't feature in my top 50 but they could easily have done - maybe if I'd made it  a top 100 like Brent's doing they would've been there. 

They were a big fave back in the day - great live too. Certainly not a typical hair metal band - they had too much substance for that.

Never heard the Tower City album -

[jjrock88]

Back to that XYZ, I found there was just too many ballads for my liking

Love the first three Tesla discs, all excellent!  Whats the sitrep on the forth one, Bust a Nut?

[TAC]

Back to that XYZ, I found there was just too many ballads for my liking

Love the first three Tesla discs, all excellent!  Whats the sitrep on the forth one, Bust a Nut?

What's a sitrep?

Bust A Nut is AWESOME!!!!!

[jjrock88]

situation report

[FreezingPoint]

If there is one thing that I have always admired about Tesla, it is their ability to make a great rock record, and The Great Radio Controversy is no exception. Sure, some of their albums sound different and are influenced by the times in which they were made, but I always end up finishing one of their albums saying, "That album rocked."

The Great Radio Controversy is probably my favorite by them. There just aren't any songs that I skip or am unenthusiastic about. When they took creative chances on the album, it tended to pay off. Just putting on the beginning of Hang Tough you think, "This is going to be great." And then you get to the solo and you say "This is going to be amazing."

Back to that XYZ, I found there was just too many ballads for my liking

Love the first three Tesla discs, all excellent!  Whats the sitrep on the forth one, Bust a Nut?

What's a sitrep?

Bust A Nut is AWESOME!!!!!

Agreed! I really like Bust A Nut. It may even be my second favorite after this one. It may be a bit more dry in terms of sound (it definitely sounds 90s - but not bad at all) and there are some great songs on there - I enjoy Shine Away, Rubberband, Mama's Fool, and Alot To Lose. The rest are great too.