Although you may all take this content for granted - my Aunty died a few days ago - and Pete's shows and output with Steven, Simon, Martin, Chris Alo, the guys from the Hudson V. Squares and so on - you ALL have made this week just that bit easier - that bit better - for me to cope. A sincere thank you from the UK for the camaraderie, chat, opinions, comedy and exchanges. You all help - you are ALL amazing! Thanks ❤🎉❤ X JC X
As always: thanks guys for making my weekend. Even if the albums are not really my cup of tea.. it doesn’t really matter, that’s how great this show is. And remember: Belgian beers… they are the best!
Still crazy..... Sound track from a brilliant British film of the same name, all about a old rock band that get back together etc 👍 Jimmy nail is very good in this.
Great show as ever guys. I love ‘walk in the fire’ and ‘welcome to the real world’ both classics in my humble opinion. However, I can’t say I know much about the Molly Hatchet album. If pushed to keep one then it would be Strangeways!! 👍🏽
Great show as always, guys! You three make the end of my week so enjoyable. I just ordered The UK Connection and SOT Octopus t-shirts. Gotta show the love.
Great show as usual. Love the beer opener and Pete, Simon and Steven, the 3 personalities who do such a great job every other week. But Strangeways? How about picking a band that more than 2 people ever heard of! Even Pete never heard of them.
1. Mr Mister - Welcome to the Real World (kinda sappy but a good album, 'Broken Wings' best track) 2. Strangeways - Walk in a Fire (this is well done but really generic, every song sounded like I'd heard it before, 'Danger in your eyes' & 'Love lies dying' best tracks) 3. Molly Hatchet - The Deed is Done (Yikes! you'd think I'd have heard this but I don't remember it at all, if you told me the band didn't play on it I wouldn't be surprised, Danny Joe doing a Huey Lewis imitation on half the tracks) I'll keep Mr Mister, can't wait to hear your takes...
For me off this Strangeways album the best tracks are the title track, "After The Hurt Is Gone" & "Where Are They Now". Still a cut above in terms of these three bands/albums - and it's not even their best. I'd put 6 or 7 of their other albums ahead of this one..."Broken Wings" is BY FAR the best track from the MM album. From this MH record I like "She Does She Does" but that's about it (and not even sure I'd call that song AOR - but overall this was maybe their least Southern Rock-sounding album). Then again I'm not a huge Hatchet fan - their s/t debut is their best IMO, and by quite a bit. No Guts... No Glory & Flirtin' each have a couple good tracks...
For me, it's Mr. Mister's Welcome to the Real World - that's the 'keeper' and it's not even close. I get far more out of that album (the melodies, the writing, craftsmanship, etc.) than I do anything from the other two albums featured for this episode. Many of Steven's comments on the album were pretty insightful, I must say. Though tough, "Is It Love" is probably my fave from the album, too. The Strangeways album - the one that seems to get much love here - is pretty good. Enough to make me want to own it? Not really. It's serviceable melodic rock. The Molly Hatchet album is a decent bit of fun, if not derivative; I was reminded of a bunch of other things while listening to it, even if the sources were vague. Fine episode.
Good to cover the album by Distance, with Under One Sky, also the debut by Unruly Child, which is an absolute stonker, then progress to Open Skies and Valentine with the immense Shotgun Symphony, there is so many classics AOR, Pomp releases that never get covered, which is a shame
Great show, but can I go back to last week when we all had a good laugh about the song Grandad? (Yes I bought it for my Grandad for Xmas). Just heard the writer of that iconic song has died aged 86. You might know him from his work with Bowie TRex Sky Blue Mink and Macca. Yes, the legendary Herbie Flowers has left us.
Nice job sticking to your guns in defense of that Hatchet album, Simon. I don’t love it, but it did lead to an opportunity to see them at a small venue in Kalamazoo, MI as they weren’t as popular as they were. They rocked that biker bar live. I thought that album was okay at the time, though I admit it hasn’t aged well. Anyway, if I put myself in the frame of mind when it came out, I wasn’t put off.
Mr mister definitely a favorite from my growing up I still do prefer their debut I wear the face a little more but the bands musicianship is what sold me on them as for Molly hatchet the deed is done it's not as strong as their earlier albums and with Terry Manning's production you can tell they were going for that zz top eliminator sound
Enjoyed this episode. It's good to do these revisit episodes - even if it is music that isn't one's particular cup of tea. None of these three albums do much for me but it was good to check. Mr Mister - terrible name and they lacked any standout identity musically or image, like so many others, and I guess thats why they faded away. Strangeways - agree the album before pretty solid, this one is just open the doors of the musical advent calendar stuff. Dull. Molly Hatchett - I do like this band and I dont mind a couple of the tracks on here even though they lassoed the bandwagon and let it drag them through the dirt outside the studio's parking lot. Desperately trying to get in. Don't agree on the Wang Chung reference, they occasionally did a few interesting things.
Out of these three, Mr. Mister is the keeper for me. Richard Page is such an underrated vocalist in my opinion. BTW, go check out Pat's drumming on "Pull". There's some pretty creative stuff there.
Listened to the Molly Hatchet once when I got it and a bit last week it’s a terrible as it ever was, file with Blackfoot Vertical Smiles and Doc Holiday Modern Medicine,, Strangeways passed me by at the time but listening now enjoyed it and will listen o the others. However the one I’d keep is Mr Mister I’ve always enjoyed it and gone back to fairly regularly.
It would be great if you guys did a follow up episode on Dare. This time do the heavier guitar driven Blood From Stone. Dare - Out of the Silence is the best AOR album ever made.
Strangeways is one those bands I need to explore, but too unfamiliar to comment. I know Terry Brock from Mike Slamer's Nowhere Land (which is excellent and should be featured here). Have Molly Hatchet, but a far cry from the debut. Have all of the Mr. Mister albums. Hell,...Go On might be my favorite, but this is a great album. I still listen to it a ton. "Kyrie" still gives me chills. Little known fact: Buzz Feiten and Trevor Rabin play guitars on Pull. Another little known fact: Richard Page was in line to replace Peter Cetera in Chicago, and to be in Toto at some point (possibly after Isolation).
I'm only familiar with the Mr. Mister album. For the interested: Mr. Mister is a reference to the Weather Report album Mr. Gone. I have the Rock Candy Records reissue of Welcome To The Real World. It has liner notes. According to those, Mr. Mister didn't sell well beyond this album because the guy who was the champion of the band was murdered by his sons. His name was Jose Mendez. Richard Page was a backup singer. He was a backing singer for REO's Hi Infidelity. He also sang backing vocals for Motley Crue's Shout At The Devil. It's interesting that Saga was mentioned. I do consider this album slightly progressive. It's like mixing the '80s period of Yes, Genesis, Rush, and King Crimson. Btw, i typed that just before Stephen mentioned it. The guitar playing of Broken Wings reminds me of Steve Rothery of Marillion. It's funny that Stephen mentioned soundtracks. Mr. Mister did the theme to the Edward James Olmos movie Stand And Deliver. It should be mentioned that the producer of this album was previously the sound man for Yes. Speaking of which, Trevor Rabin played on Pull. It does have some New Wave influence. I don't hate any of it. Pete, if you like Winger and Toto, you should like Mr. Mister. That Molly Hatchet album has Satisfied Man. I used to see that video on VH1 Classic.
Weather Report has an album named MR. GONE...is there one I'm missing? Page & George's pre-Mr. Mister band, Pages, is pretty good. Adult Contemporary/Pop in maybe a Yacht Rock way...eventually, the band became a duo with LA sessioneers. Their sound, IMO, became a little too processed. Earlier albums are better. YMMV.
I saw Strangeways on the Europe Tour and thought this band was fantastic. I bought Native sons straight away this album is killer 10/10 please people have a look.
My take: . Love the Mr Mister album. High quality songs played & arranged by masters of their instruments. . Molly Hatchet stepped out of their lane and produced a corker of an AOR record. They are a fine band in general but this one is definitely one of my favourites of theirs. Naysayers be damned! 🙂 . I should love Strangeways but I don't. All the pieces are there but, for me, their influences are so on their sleeves, they feel like a pastiche of an AOR band rather than the real thing. I don't get engaged by Walk In The Fire at all, sadly. Wish I did but it's charms are beyond me. Can't love everything, I suppose.
Yep Deed is actually no where near as awful as Vertical Smiles for example...I think the slight polish of No Guts worked but too much production and much weaker songs are the flaws with Deed.
@@ericrobertson2024 I don't think the songs are weaker so much as in a different style. It's an outlier within their catalogue, for sure, but I think they nailed the sound they went after.
@@carlwmpylu Yep I actually liked No Guts quite a bit,oddly the weakest track Sweet Dixie sounds the most like their debut...Same deal with Blackfoot to me,a bit of polish with good tracks on Siogo but then Vertical Smiles was way overproduced ,and the songs were weaker anyway.
1. Strangeways (Classic Aor) 2. Mr. Mister ( Hitech Aor) I like this term. 3. Molly Hatchetis new for me . Native sons from Strangeways is top notch, too
I streamed them all but have only gone on to purchase the Strangeways box set which says it all I guess as Strangeways is definitely the best one, though the Mr Mister is pretty good but fades - as for the Molly Hatchet I feel that if it were an album by a band called Molly and the Headlines and wasn't the egg mayonnaise (yuk) inside a doorstep wholemeal bread sandwich it may have been looked at differently. As for me I'm with Simon on that one, yes its not a Molly Hatchet abum but it has a certain charm to it, and I felt it did have a reasonalble bit of guitar - not typical Molly H guitar but guitar soloing none the less - e and thought that if Terry Brock or Richard Page had been singing on it, again would it have been better thougt of? even though I could have done with about 10 fewer backstabber woooahs.
A Great UK Connection. The best tracks on the Molly Hatchet were Intro Piece and Song for the Children. It's terribly 80's, the drums are awful. It starts off with "Sharp Dressed Satisfied Man" , "Legs" makes an appearance later and Stone from a Heart starts of promising, but within 30 seconds it deteriorates into bad Magnum.
The drum sound is bloody awful because it's a Terry Manning production. Every album he's been behind the desk of has an almost unlistenable drum sound. He ruined the first two Rainmakers albums for me
Out of these 3, Strangeways’ Walk In The Fire is my favorite. Mr. Mister’s is great as well. Not a fan of the Molly Hatchet album. Walk In The Fire was a UA-cam discovery for me in 2016. I fell in love with that album. I still enjoy it.
There is at least one glaring 80s production trope on here. That gated drum sound at the beginning of Black/White is a tough pill to swallow. I'm with Pete on this one though. I never heard any of this outside of the singles when this was new. No one could avoid those songs in the day. Never heard of Strangeways before today but, I'd have to admit that this isn't the worst AOR album I ever heard. Definitely sounds like an 80s movie soundtrack album. A little bit of Lou Gramm/Kenny Loggins in the vocals and maybe the songwriting owes a bit to Mick Jones' influence as well. That funky bass on Where Are They Now isn't a deal breaker for me as I type here in 2024 but, in 1989? I couldn't have shut this off fast enough to keep from retching up my Pudding Pops. Danger In Your Eyes sounds like it came off the Top Gun soundtrack. There's even a song titled Living In the Dangerzone lol! I like it too much for my own good. This is my pick from the three. I'm not even going to touch the Hatchet job on the last one.
Mr. mister album may only be platinum, but keep in mind, David Bowie let’s dance is also only platinum, and kiss alive, a double album, is only gold. Certifications only means something if they are current.
The problem for that Molly hatchet songs is that the two better tracks are the two singles: Satisfied man and Stone in your heart. They're not classic Hatchet sound but they are the best, as a mater of fact are the only two songs from that album to appear on the mighty Double trouble live album taken from that tour.
What's It Gonna Take,Kinda Like Love and Walk With You show that Hatchet can actually pull off that style but the songs other than the singles and Straight Shooter are weak on Deed.It's still far better than Vertical Smiles though.
Many beers must have been consumed before things even began because to call Molly Hatchet AOR is akin to saying that Motorhead was classical. Things get so much worse though when you consider the other 2 bands considered to be from the same genre. Next week we will see the big 4 of thrash metal, Metallica, Anthrax, Dolly Parton and The Bay City Rollers. The only conclusion that I could come up with from listening to Mr Mister and Strangeways is that bass players must have loved the 80's pop scene because they could certainly be heard more. Pete really should listen to Under The Moon Of Love from Showaddywaddy. He might be suitable impressed as to it's hooky tune. Satisfied Man is as prime a slice of hard rock as you can ever get. Stone in Your Heart is a classic, even with some keyboards. The Deed Is Dine is a solid album that does see them veering a little to the sounds of the day but still sticking to their roots all over the vinyl, except for he closer that is still rather pleasant. Danny Joe Brown's voice could never lend itself to pure AOR.
The whole point of the third album in these shows is that they are AOR-like albums from bands who would not necessarily be classed within that genre. Sometimes they work, sometimes they don't, but they are interesting to look back on with the benefit of hindsight.
No Guts No Glory was an almost perfect album to me and then Deed Is Done was quite the clunker.I did like a few tracks and it's far better than Vertical Smiles,just doesn't have that balance between southern dirt and production polish which No Guts did.
Yeah that Molly Hatchet album is just... ugh. I'm actually going to throw out a small portion of my collection and this one will be among them. Lightning strikes twice is a lot better but with Devil's canyon they really made their best album since the first five, although I think Devil's canyon might even be their best since Beatin' the odds.
I'm with Uncle Simon on this one. It may very well be the worst of the three albums, but Molly Hatchet is the keeper for me. Sometimes you just have to be contrary!😁
🤔🤔 Molly hatchet? AOR? Ok I guess I always put them in good old southern rock Mister mister welcome to the real world is a fantastic album Richard page And the Mr Mr guitarist Steve Farris is cool. he's got a great interview on UA-cam about a little over an hour and a half long.
Yes, it's an excellent album. Lesser Strangeways pick though, think it should've been the superior Native Sons (1987) as close to Journey as it gets without being Journey.
I believe that's why they made this (to me rather odd) Hatchet album pick - because this one sounds less Southern Rock than most of their others & maybe gets closest (for them) to AOR. This panel's done this before if you watched prior episodes - features two 'real' AOR bands/albums & one band that's typically not thought of as AOR but made a single AOR-type record... Farris = the guy who almost joined Kiss. Not crazy about Welcome to the Real World, to my ears very poppy with the dreaded programmed synths/drums ("Broken Wings" is a good tune, "Into My Own Hands" is OK). AOR mixed with ballads, some 80's new wave-ish stuff. BTW is it 'Mr. Mister' or 'Mister Mister'? Probably doesn't matter much...
@@LarryFleetwood8675 For me Strangeways is the (clear) 'winner' among these three bands/albums. I do agree that it's not their best (that would be Native Sons, And The Horse, Recordings, Gravitational Pull, Perfect World, Age Of Reason, the live 2011 Where Do We Go From Here?). Very good AOR band, related bands Mainsqueeze (blues/rock band with Eric Bell from Thin Lizzy/Noel Redding Band, Dick Heckstall-Smith & Rod Combes of Juicy Lucy), Giant, Roth Brock Project, The Sign and Seventh Key (another really good AOR band with 4 very good albums)
@@wolf1977 It's Mr. Mister, the album is a classic but sure bigger AOR classics exist but it's still an '80s gem and their next album Go On (1987) was nearly as fine. I believe it's called Hi-Tech AOR when it's fairly electronic and on the poppy side, same thing they'd call other mid-80s albums like Stephen Bishop, Tim Feehan or Benjamin Orr.
This comparison was not very fair. You picked the worst Molly Hatchet album, but talked about the full discography of Strangeways. I saw Molly Hatchet when Danny Joe Brown was alive and they were loud and "f"ing amazing! They did The Allman Brothers song Dreams I'll Never See and owned it. Comparing the Bands discography I ranked them: 1) Molly Hatchet; 2) Strangeways - even though none of their songs grabs me and draws me in; 3) Mr. Mister - a complete piece of cr-p outside of Kyrie, which the radio played ONLY THIS SONG FROM THE ALBUM! I excepted more of the same on the rest of the album and heard utter cr-p!
It’s not meant to be ‘fair’…the third pick is always a ‘they did an AOR album?’, meaning, it’s a style that band wasn’t known for. Has nothing to do with the rest of their catalog, and Hatchet otherwise had nothing to do with this genre previously or post The Deed is Done.
We also spoke about Molly Hatchet at length and covered that it was a style they weren't known for and that there is much better in their catalogue. One of the panel still chose it as their favourite from the three.
The 80’s weren’t great to southern rock,I think Los Hombres Malo by The Outlaws suffered from trying too hard to be melodic rock.Its Ok but not classic Outlaws
Although you may all take this content for granted - my Aunty died a few days ago - and Pete's shows and output with Steven, Simon, Martin, Chris Alo, the guys from the Hudson V. Squares and so on - you ALL have made this week just that bit easier - that bit better - for me to cope. A sincere thank you from the UK for the camaraderie, chat, opinions, comedy and exchanges. You all help - you are ALL amazing! Thanks ❤🎉❤ X JC X
Sending light; I hope your mourning process is the way you want it to go best.
Sorry for your loss brother. Hang in there Pal. Sending you a big hug. ❤😊
Sorry for your loss, and glad we can help just a little bit during this hard time for you.
Thanks, Pete - thanks all!
I always enjoy The UK Connection, whatever the subject. Thank you lads.
As always: thanks guys for making my weekend. Even if the albums are not really my cup of tea.. it doesn’t really matter, that’s how great this show is. And remember: Belgian beers… they are the best!
Thank you, much appreciated!
Can’t wait for the 5 favorite soundtrack albums episode!
This episode was made as soon as Simon busted out the ACDC glass and beer.
Strangeways winner by far. IMO. Thanks. Steven. Simon. Pete. Always so much Saturday afternoon fun here with the trio in USA 🇺🇸 👍💯
I have no interest in any of these band but I was still entertained. I'd follow Simon to the ends of my....corridor :)
Still crazy..... Sound track from a brilliant British film of the same name, all about a old rock band that get back together etc 👍 Jimmy nail is very good in this.
Hatchet wins the cover award.
Strangeways gets the nod for best back cover that accidently got used for the front...ha ha
Great show as ever guys. I love ‘walk in the fire’ and ‘welcome to the real world’ both classics in my humble opinion. However, I can’t say I know much about the Molly Hatchet album. If pushed to keep one then it would be Strangeways!! 👍🏽
Entertaining show guys. Now I gotta hear that Molly Hatchet album. Sounds like another example of a record company having waaaay too much influence.
Great show as always, guys! You three make the end of my week so enjoyable. I just ordered The UK Connection and SOT Octopus t-shirts. Gotta show the love.
Wear with pride😊, thanks for watching.
Thanks!
Mr. Mister is a true fave album for. Nearly perfect. Strangeways is also a great album.
Strangeways is Incredible!!!! I had never heard of them until I saw that Rock Candy Records had 3 of their albums.
Great show as usual. Love the beer opener and Pete, Simon and Steven, the 3 personalities who do such a great job every other week. But Strangeways? How about picking a band that more than 2 people ever heard of! Even Pete never heard of them.
That’s why the second pick is always an underground classic…which means that very few know, but they should.
1. Mr Mister - Welcome to the Real World (kinda sappy but a good album, 'Broken Wings' best track)
2. Strangeways - Walk in a Fire (this is well done but really generic, every song sounded like I'd heard it before, 'Danger in your eyes' & 'Love lies dying' best tracks)
3. Molly Hatchet - The Deed is Done (Yikes! you'd think I'd have heard this but I don't remember it at all, if you told me the band didn't play on it I wouldn't be surprised, Danny Joe doing a Huey Lewis imitation on half the tracks)
I'll keep Mr Mister, can't wait to hear your takes...
For me off this Strangeways album the best tracks are the title track, "After The Hurt Is Gone" & "Where Are They Now". Still a cut above in terms of these three bands/albums - and it's not even their best. I'd put 6 or 7 of their other albums ahead of this one..."Broken Wings" is BY FAR the best track from the MM album. From this MH record I like "She Does She Does" but that's about it (and not even sure I'd call that song AOR - but overall this was maybe their least Southern Rock-sounding album). Then again I'm not a huge Hatchet fan - their s/t debut is their best IMO, and by quite a bit. No Guts... No Glory & Flirtin' each have a couple good tracks...
I'm going with "Into My Own Hands" from WELCOME TO THE REAL WORLD.
For me, it's Mr. Mister's Welcome to the Real World - that's the 'keeper' and it's not even close. I get far more out of that album (the melodies, the writing, craftsmanship, etc.) than I do anything from the other two albums featured for this episode. Many of Steven's comments on the album were pretty insightful, I must say. Though tough, "Is It Love" is probably my fave from the album, too.
The Strangeways album - the one that seems to get much love here - is pretty good. Enough to make me want to own it? Not really. It's serviceable melodic rock.
The Molly Hatchet album is a decent bit of fun, if not derivative; I was reminded of a bunch of other things while listening to it, even if the sources were vague.
Fine episode.
Just revisited the Molly Hatchet album ranking from 2020, which was interesting... 😄
Good to cover the album by Distance, with Under One Sky, also the debut by Unruly Child, which is an absolute stonker, then progress to Open Skies and Valentine with the immense Shotgun Symphony, there is so many classics AOR, Pomp releases that never get covered, which is a shame
Great show, but can I go back to last week when we all had a good laugh about the song Grandad? (Yes I bought it for my Grandad for Xmas). Just heard the writer of that iconic song has died aged 86. You might know him from his work with Bowie TRex Sky Blue Mink and Macca. Yes, the legendary Herbie Flowers has left us.
Nice job sticking to your guns in defense of that Hatchet album, Simon. I don’t love it, but it did lead to an opportunity to see them at a small venue in Kalamazoo, MI as they weren’t as popular as they were. They rocked that biker bar live. I thought that album was okay at the time, though I admit it hasn’t aged well. Anyway, if I put myself in the frame of mind when it came out, I wasn’t put off.
Nice show
Mr mister definitely a favorite from my growing up I still do prefer their debut I wear the face a little more but the bands musicianship is what sold me on them as for Molly hatchet the deed is done it's not as strong as their earlier albums and with Terry Manning's production you can tell they were going for that zz top eliminator sound
Mr. Misters Go on is a hugely underrated, mature album. Imo
Enjoyed this episode. It's good to do these revisit episodes - even if it is music that isn't one's particular cup of tea.
None of these three albums do much for me but it was good to check.
Mr Mister - terrible name and they lacked any standout identity musically or image, like so many others, and I guess thats why they faded away.
Strangeways - agree the album before pretty solid, this one is just open the doors of the musical advent calendar stuff. Dull.
Molly Hatchett - I do like this band and I dont mind a couple of the tracks on here even though they lassoed the bandwagon and let it drag them through the dirt outside the studio's parking lot. Desperately trying to get in.
Don't agree on the Wang Chung reference, they occasionally did a few interesting things.
Out of these three, Mr. Mister is the keeper for me. Richard Page is such an underrated vocalist in my opinion. BTW, go check out Pat's drumming on "Pull". There's some pretty creative stuff there.
I stumbled upon Mr. Mister LIVE AT THE RITZ (1985) on YT. They're better live.
I picked up PULL a couple years ago...once I found out it existed.
Fly On The Wall is a very underrated rockin album.
Exactly the point I was trying to make. 👍
Best show on the channel ❤ has any of the panel tried newcastle brown ale?
I’ve had it, yes.
I drank a lot of it in my younger years Ian. Cracking stuff!
Listened to the Molly Hatchet once when I got it and a bit last week it’s a terrible as it ever was, file with Blackfoot Vertical Smiles and Doc Holiday Modern Medicine,, Strangeways passed me by at the time but listening now enjoyed it and will listen o the others. However the one I’d keep is Mr Mister I’ve always enjoyed it and gone back to fairly regularly.
It would be great if you guys did a follow up episode on Dare. This time do the heavier guitar driven Blood From Stone. Dare - Out of the Silence is the best AOR album ever made.
Strangeways is one those bands I need to explore, but too unfamiliar to comment. I know Terry Brock from Mike Slamer's Nowhere Land (which is excellent and should be featured here).
Have Molly Hatchet, but a far cry from the debut.
Have all of the Mr. Mister albums. Hell,...Go On might be my favorite, but this is a great album. I still listen to it a ton. "Kyrie" still gives me chills. Little known fact: Buzz Feiten and Trevor Rabin play guitars on Pull. Another little known fact: Richard Page was in line to replace Peter Cetera in Chicago, and to be in Toto at some point (possibly after Isolation).
I'm only familiar with the Mr. Mister album. For the interested: Mr. Mister is a reference to the Weather Report album Mr. Gone. I have the Rock Candy Records reissue of Welcome To The Real World. It has liner notes. According to those, Mr. Mister didn't sell well beyond this album because the guy who was the champion of the band was murdered by his sons. His name was Jose Mendez. Richard Page was a backup singer. He was a backing singer for REO's Hi Infidelity. He also sang backing vocals for Motley Crue's Shout At The Devil. It's interesting that Saga was mentioned. I do consider this album slightly progressive. It's like mixing the '80s period of Yes, Genesis, Rush, and King Crimson. Btw, i typed that just before Stephen mentioned it. The guitar playing of Broken Wings reminds me of Steve Rothery of Marillion. It's funny that Stephen mentioned soundtracks. Mr. Mister did the theme to the Edward James Olmos movie Stand And Deliver. It should be mentioned that the producer of this album was previously the sound man for Yes. Speaking of which, Trevor Rabin played on Pull. It does have some New Wave influence. I don't hate any of it. Pete, if you like Winger and Toto, you should like Mr. Mister. That Molly Hatchet album has Satisfied Man. I used to see that video on VH1 Classic.
Weather Report has an album named MR. GONE...is there one I'm missing?
Page & George's pre-Mr. Mister band, Pages, is pretty good. Adult Contemporary/Pop in maybe a Yacht Rock way...eventually, the band became a duo with LA sessioneers. Their sound, IMO, became a little too processed. Earlier albums are better. YMMV.
@@jazzpunk sorry. Fixed
The only one that I have from this group of albums is Mr. Mister album. Which I haven't played in a long time.
I saw Strangeways on the Europe Tour and thought this band was fantastic. I bought Native sons straight away this album is killer 10/10 please people have a look.
My take:
. Love the Mr Mister album. High quality songs played & arranged by masters of their instruments.
. Molly Hatchet stepped out of their lane and produced a corker of an AOR record. They are a fine band in general but this one is definitely one of my favourites of theirs. Naysayers be damned! 🙂
. I should love Strangeways but I don't. All the pieces are there but, for me, their influences are so on their sleeves, they feel like a pastiche of an AOR band rather than the real thing. I don't get engaged by Walk In The Fire at all, sadly. Wish I did but it's charms are beyond me. Can't love everything, I suppose.
Yep Deed is actually no where near as awful as Vertical Smiles for example...I think the slight polish of No Guts worked but too much production and much weaker songs are the flaws with Deed.
@@ericrobertson2024 I don't think the songs are weaker so much as in a different style. It's an outlier within their catalogue, for sure, but I think they nailed the sound they went after.
@@carlwmpylu Yep I actually liked No Guts quite a bit,oddly the weakest track Sweet Dixie sounds the most like their debut...Same deal with Blackfoot to me,a bit of polish with good tracks on Siogo but then Vertical Smiles was way overproduced ,and the songs were weaker anyway.
1. Strangeways (Classic Aor)
2. Mr. Mister ( Hitech Aor) I like this term.
3. Molly Hatchetis new for me .
Native sons from Strangeways is top notch, too
I streamed them all but have only gone on to purchase the Strangeways box set which says it all I guess as Strangeways is definitely the best one, though the Mr Mister is pretty good but fades - as for the Molly Hatchet I feel that if it were an album by a band called Molly and the Headlines and wasn't the egg mayonnaise (yuk) inside a doorstep wholemeal bread sandwich it may have been looked at differently. As for me I'm with Simon on that one, yes its not a Molly Hatchet abum but it has a certain charm to it, and I felt it did have a reasonalble bit of guitar - not typical Molly H guitar but guitar soloing none the less - e and thought that if Terry Brock or Richard Page had been singing on it, again would it have been better thougt of? even though I could have done with about 10 fewer backstabber woooahs.
A Great UK Connection. The best tracks on the Molly Hatchet were Intro Piece and Song for the Children. It's terribly 80's, the drums are awful. It starts off with "Sharp Dressed Satisfied Man" , "Legs" makes an appearance later and Stone from a Heart starts of promising, but within 30 seconds it deteriorates into bad Magnum.
It's a bit like what Blackfoot tried with Vertical Smiles the same year, that one's almost like a masterpiece compared to the MH album... 😁
The drum sound is bloody awful because it's a Terry Manning production. Every album he's been behind the desk of has an almost unlistenable drum sound. He ruined the first two Rainmakers albums for me
Out of these 3, Strangeways’ Walk In The Fire is my favorite. Mr. Mister’s is great as well. Not a fan of the Molly Hatchet album.
Walk In The Fire was a UA-cam discovery for me in 2016. I fell in love with that album. I still enjoy it.
1. Mr. Mister
2. Molly Hatchet
Don't recall ever hearing of Strangeways.
There is at least one glaring 80s production trope on here. That gated drum sound at the beginning of Black/White is a tough pill to swallow. I'm with Pete on this one though. I never heard any of this outside of the singles when this was new. No one could avoid those songs in the day. Never heard of Strangeways before today but, I'd have to admit that this isn't the worst AOR album I ever heard. Definitely sounds like an 80s movie soundtrack album. A little bit of Lou Gramm/Kenny Loggins in the vocals and maybe the songwriting owes a bit to Mick Jones' influence as well. That funky bass on Where Are They Now isn't a deal breaker for me as I type here in 2024 but, in 1989? I couldn't have shut this off fast enough to keep from retching up my Pudding Pops. Danger In Your Eyes sounds like it came off the Top Gun soundtrack. There's even a song titled Living In the Dangerzone lol! I like it too much for my own good. This is my pick from the three. I'm not even going to touch the Hatchet job on the last one.
Mr. mister album may only be platinum, but keep in mind, David Bowie let’s dance is also only platinum, and kiss alive, a double album, is only gold. Certifications only means something if they are current.
The problem for that Molly hatchet songs is that the two better tracks are the two singles: Satisfied man and Stone in your heart. They're not classic Hatchet sound but they are the best, as a mater of fact are the only two songs from that album to appear on the mighty Double trouble live album taken from that tour.
What's It Gonna Take,Kinda Like Love and Walk With You show that Hatchet can actually pull off that style but the songs other than the singles and Straight Shooter are weak on Deed.It's still far better than Vertical Smiles though.
Cmon Simon. Cliff Richard I’m No Hero!
Cliff is very much under consideration, don't worry.
OK. 1 watching now well it must be me as I am watching.
Great show - but Mike Shirley, Simon? I think you mean Shipley, he mixed Def Leppard, The Cars and all kinds of good stuff.
Many beers must have been consumed before things even began because to call Molly Hatchet AOR is akin to saying that Motorhead was classical. Things get so much worse though when you consider the other 2 bands considered to be from the same genre.
Next week we will see the big 4 of thrash metal, Metallica, Anthrax, Dolly Parton and The Bay City Rollers.
The only conclusion that I could come up with from listening to Mr Mister and Strangeways is that bass players must have loved the 80's pop scene because they could certainly be heard more.
Pete really should listen to Under The Moon Of Love from Showaddywaddy. He might be suitable impressed as to it's hooky tune.
Satisfied Man is as prime a slice of hard rock as you can ever get. Stone in Your Heart is a classic, even with some keyboards.
The Deed Is Dine is a solid album that does see them veering a little to the sounds of the day but still sticking to their roots all over the vinyl, except for he closer that is still rather pleasant. Danny Joe Brown's voice could never lend itself to pure AOR.
We aren’t saying that MH are AOR…but that album is sure a sad attempt at it!
The whole point of the third album in these shows is that they are AOR-like albums from bands who would not necessarily be classed within that genre. Sometimes they work, sometimes they don't, but they are interesting to look back on with the benefit of hindsight.
By the way: Molly Hatchet is the reason why I say "What" a lot!
No Guts No Glory was an almost perfect album to me and then Deed Is Done was quite the clunker.I did like a few tracks and it's far better than Vertical Smiles,just doesn't have that balance between southern dirt and production polish which No Guts did.
Yeah that Molly Hatchet album is just... ugh. I'm actually going to throw out a small portion of my collection and this one will be among them. Lightning strikes twice is a lot better but with Devil's canyon they really made their best album since the first five, although I think Devil's canyon might even be their best since Beatin' the odds.
I'm with Uncle Simon on this one. It may very well be the worst of the three albums, but Molly Hatchet is the keeper for me. Sometimes you just have to be contrary!😁
Good to be on the same page, Jim!
🤔🤔 Molly hatchet? AOR? Ok
I guess I always put them in good old southern rock
Mister mister welcome to the real world is a fantastic album
Richard page
And the Mr Mr guitarist Steve Farris is cool. he's got a great interview on UA-cam about a little over an hour and a half long.
Yes, it's an excellent album. Lesser Strangeways pick though, think it should've been the superior Native Sons (1987) as close to Journey as it gets without being Journey.
@@LarryFleetwood8675that's pretty cool I may have to check that one out
The journeyesque one
I believe that's why they made this (to me rather odd) Hatchet album pick - because this one sounds less Southern Rock than most of their others & maybe gets closest (for them) to AOR. This panel's done this before if you watched prior episodes - features two 'real' AOR bands/albums & one band that's typically not thought of as AOR but made a single AOR-type record...
Farris = the guy who almost joined Kiss. Not crazy about Welcome to the Real World, to my ears very poppy with the dreaded programmed synths/drums ("Broken Wings" is a good tune, "Into My Own Hands" is OK). AOR mixed with ballads, some 80's new wave-ish stuff. BTW is it 'Mr. Mister' or 'Mister Mister'? Probably doesn't matter much...
@@LarryFleetwood8675 For me Strangeways is the (clear) 'winner' among these three bands/albums. I do agree that it's not their best (that would be Native Sons, And The Horse, Recordings, Gravitational Pull, Perfect World, Age Of Reason, the live 2011 Where Do We Go From Here?). Very good AOR band, related bands Mainsqueeze (blues/rock band with Eric Bell from Thin Lizzy/Noel Redding Band, Dick Heckstall-Smith & Rod Combes of Juicy Lucy), Giant, Roth Brock Project, The Sign and Seventh Key (another really good AOR band with 4 very good albums)
@@wolf1977 It's Mr. Mister, the album is a classic but sure bigger AOR classics exist but it's still an '80s gem and their next album Go On (1987) was nearly as fine. I believe it's called Hi-Tech AOR when it's fairly electronic and on the poppy side, same thing they'd call other mid-80s albums like Stephen Bishop, Tim Feehan or Benjamin Orr.
This comparison was not very fair. You picked the worst Molly Hatchet album, but talked about the full discography of Strangeways. I saw Molly Hatchet when Danny Joe Brown was alive and they were loud and "f"ing amazing! They did The Allman Brothers song Dreams I'll Never See and owned it. Comparing the Bands discography I ranked them: 1) Molly Hatchet; 2) Strangeways - even though none of their songs grabs me and draws me in; 3) Mr. Mister - a complete piece of cr-p outside of Kyrie, which the radio played ONLY THIS SONG FROM THE ALBUM! I excepted more of the same on the rest of the album and heard utter cr-p!
It’s not meant to be ‘fair’…the third pick is always a ‘they did an AOR album?’, meaning, it’s a style that band wasn’t known for. Has nothing to do with the rest of their catalog, and Hatchet otherwise had nothing to do with this genre previously or post The Deed is Done.
We also spoke about Molly Hatchet at length and covered that it was a style they weren't known for and that there is much better in their catalogue. One of the panel still chose it as their favourite from the three.
The 80’s weren’t great to southern rock,I think Los Hombres Malo by The Outlaws suffered from trying too hard to be melodic rock.Its Ok but not classic Outlaws