Search - Quiet Riot :: New & Improved

Nice try but the track listing gives this one away

William Matson | Maine | 04/29/2006

(2 out of 5 stars)

"What you have here is an expensive reissue of Quiet Riot's 1999 studio album, 'Alive and Well', which was released on Deadline Records. The record label listed here specializes in repackaging previously released albums as high-priced imports and then changing the title to hope people are tricked into buying it again. 'New and Improved' is the title of this release but don't let that fool you into buying this cd.



There are only two good things to report here. One is that the track listing is identical to 'Alive and Well' from 1999. Even the cover art is similar. All that is different is the album title. The other good thing here, as you may already know, is that the music from 'Alive and Well' was a great addition to the Quiet Riot catalog. Tracks 1 through 8 were new songs recorded by Quiet Riot, although you may be interested in knowing that lead singer Kevin DuBrow actually wrote the songs "Alive and Well" and "Slam Dunk" several years before the 'Metal Health' lineup of Quiet Riot reunited in 1997. He had worked on those two songs when he wasn't even a member of Quiet Riot in the late 1980's and early 90's. "Slam Dunk" was written by DuBrow but recorded by a band called Pretty Boy Floyd. "Alive and Well" (the song) had a different title with different lyrics but it was simply reworked. Whatever the case, these eight tracks that open up the album are a return to Quiet Riot's traditional sound.



Track 9, "Highway to Hell", originally appeared on an AC/DC tribute album called 'Thunderbolt.' This is a pretty good version, overall. It won't make you discard your old AC/DC albums but it does beat tracking down the original tribute album if you are a major fan of Quiet Riot who needs everything they've ever released. The remaining six tracks were brand new versions/remakes of classic Quiet Riot tunes rerecorded in the studio (circa 1999) for the purpose of this album. These remakes sound very similar to the way they do when Quiet Riot plays them live, which I can confirm since I've seen them live four times.



I don't recommend buying 'New and Improved' by Quiet Riot. Do the band a favor and buy 'Alive and Well' if you don't already have it. I have a feeling none of the members of Quiet Riot will ever see royalties from this high priced import. The original 'Alive and Well' cd is much cheaper. Not only that, the track listing and running order is exactly the same. Why would you want to pay extra for same thing? I'd recommend reading separate reviews for the 'Alive and Well' album if you need more convincing.



I'm giving this two stars only because the actual music on this cd is great stuff if you are into Quiet Riot, no doubt about that. However, it has already been released years before and there is nothing new to be found on this cd."