Twisted Sister – Love Is For Suckers
Whitesnake – Whitesnake

This was my favorite cassette for a long time.

The Whitesnake album is so ear pleasing with its guitar heaviness and as much as “Love Is For Suckers” gets ignored by Jay Jay French and Mark “The Animal” Mendoza, as no songs appeared in a live setting after Twisted Sister reformed, the opening track, Wake Up (The Sleeping Giant) is as good as all of the big songs from the previous albums.

Tesla – The Great Radio Controversy
Stryper Mix to fill up B side

This tape got played to death because I had so much fun learning the Tesla album, especially songs like “Hang Tough”, “Lady Luck”, “Makin Magic”, “Love Song”, “Paradise” and “Flight To Nowhere”.

Bon Jovi – Live On Tour plus Roxus and Paula Abdul
Babylon AD – Babylon AD

Side A had many re-tapes and I can’t even remember what I dubbed over.

And I don’t know why I thought I needed the “Live On Tour” EP on a cassette, “Stand Back” from Roxus was copied from a single I had to fill out the side and the Paula Abdul tracks were copied because a band I was in, wanted to rockify the songs and cover em. But they sounded lame so they never went past the first rehearsal.

And the debut Babylon AD album is a great album, full of riffs, melodic leads and great melodies which lift with the arena rock choruses. It’s commercial performance didn’t match the performances on the tape.

Mix Tape With No Name

I always enjoyed doing these kind of mix tapes.

Side A

Aimee – Ozzy Osbourne (B side)

The Ozmosis album had so many writers and false starts, it was no surprise that Ozzy had a lot of songs left over. This is one of them.

Love Will Keep Us Alive – The Eagles

This from the “Hell Freezes Over” CD. Timothy B Schmidt nails the vocal.

Mother Mary – Heydey

Ross The Boss left Manowar and formed a hard rock band with heaps of melody, but it was too late as the marketing teams and labels abandoned the genre.

Can’t Stop Loving You – Van Halen

Yeah I know it’s pop rock all the way, but it’s EVH which makes the difference and his unique take on simple progressions.

Until It Sleeps – Metallica

The power in this song is undeniable. You don’t need super distorted guitars to sound heavy. The melancholy verses with the abrasive choruses blend perfectly, a reversal of what they did for “The Unforgiven”.

Under A Mourning Star – Conception

From Norway, I got into them because the record store guy told me they are similar to Dream Theater.,

Eve – Dream Theater (B side)

An instrumental full of moods and melancholy which never gets boring.

Deliver Me – Def Leppard

“Slang” gets no love, it’s like it doesn’t exist. But it’s a good album.

Disarm – Smashing Pumpkins

I love this song in its simplicity and delivery.

Side B

While Side A was more 90s releases, side B is more in line with the 80s and 70s.

The Final Countdown – Europe

That keyboard riff.

Out In The Fields – Gary Moore

A duet with Phil Lynott and the guitar lead during the Chorus.

Limelight – Rush

The guitar solo from Lifeson is worthy.

Speak For Yourself – Gary Moore

The speed of the riffs and the lyrical references to being true to yourself.

Carry On My Wayward Son – Kansas

This song will never get old. And those riffs in the intro make me pick up the guitar to play along.

Holy Diver – Dio

Ronnie James Dio. Enough said.

In The Beginning – Emerson, Lake, Palmer

For all of their intricate and progressive songs, their fan base was built on the backs of their simple songs.

Manhattan Project – Rush

A song about the US building the atomic bomb getting the Rush treatment.

Wishing Well – Free

So many bands covered it, but no one got the swingy R&B vibe of the original. Paul Kossoff died way too young and the world lost an unbelievable guitar talent.

Angra – Holy Land
Angra – Angels Cry

A band from Brazil that featured the future Megadeth guitarist Kiko Loureiro, who also co-founded the band.

And their music is more Dream Theater like the “When Dream and Day Unite” album, focusing on progressive time signatures in a power metal setting.

King Diamond – The Dark Sides
Metallica – Creeping Death (EP)
Ratt – Detonator

I really like “Detonator” from Ratt. It’s such a good album and a perfect evolutionary step for the band. But like all things in the 90s, too little too late.

And King Diamond just kept on appearing in my collection because of the guitar playing of Andy LaRocque.

Metallica – ReLoad

My neighbor purchased it and copied it for me. It’s his writing you see here.

And I didn’t know if I liked it but I kept on playing it because it’s Metallica and suddenly songs like “Prince Charming” And “Fixxer” hooked me.