Search - Quiet Riot :: Winners Take All

A Typical "Best Of"

Layne Groseth | Omaha, NE United States | 07/07/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Another attempt by the record label to make a few bucks, but for anyone wanting a good sample of the 80's era Quiet Riot, this album more that suffices. From the big hits "Metal Health", "Cum on Feel the Noise", "Party All night" to the lesser, but just as good hits "The Wild and the Young" and "Mama were all crazy now", the album delivers what any Quiet Riot and Metal fan expects. For those who closely followed the band, the track "King of the Hill" from the non-Dubrow album simply titled "Quiet Riot" was a worthy addition, though it is not true to expected Quiet Riot form. I would suggest buying all the Quiet Riot Albums for a true sense of the band or picking up the current "Alive & Well" album to get a real modern sound to the tried and true classics of this great American Band. However, as a starter or to add to a collection - this Album would be an excellent addition."

You get bang for the buck

William Matson | Maine | 04/01/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

""Winners Take All" is one of many Quiet Riot compilations which packages their greatest hits. This was not a band approved release, so don't expect extensive liner notes.



This greatest hits collection features ten tracks and has a budget price under $10. All four albums that Quiet Riot did for Pasha in the 80's are represented. At least one cut is taken from each one. For the most part, this includes a lot of songs that are already on other Quiet Riot compilations. However, "Winners Take All" is the cheapest of any collection you'll find for them.



The first five songs are all classic tunes (for Quiet Riot). If I recall, the only one that was not an actual single is 'Winners take all' (a Queen-style ballad). This release gets off to a good start. The quality of tracks six and seven, 'Scream and shout' and 'Put up or shut up', are both debatable, since some fans like those tracks more than others. Even Kevin DuBrow, the Quiet Riot frontman, has gone on record as saying he hates the song 'Scream and shout.'



More cuts are taken from the 1984 album, "Condition Critical" than any other release. Seeing that "Metal Health" was their biggest selling album, you wouldn't figure that this would be the case. Only three cuts come from that 1983 breakthrough album.



Two cuts are from "QRIII", including the first video, 'The Wild and the young.' At one point, Quiet Riot cut a low-profile album with Paul Shortino on vocals and a different bass player (Sean McNabb). 'King of the Hill', a fairly entertaining cut, is the cut taken from that release (known to most people as "QR").



There is no previously unreleased material here and ten tracks makes for a short listen, but this is a nice sampler of Quiet Riot's 1980's output. It is worth noting that the members do not receive royalties for any releases from this label, so they are not supportive of this release.



There are plenty of people looking at this who may only be interested in 'Cum on feel the noize', 'Mama weer all crazee now' and 'Metal Health.' They will find just what they are looking for here, and then some. There are some more songs that could have been included on this collection, for sure, but those are ones appreciated more by devoted fans of this group and won't make much of a difference to casual listeners. For somebody that does like what they hear, and wants more, there are a number of other entertaining cuts on the original studio albums that these songs are lifted from.



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