Search - Y&T :: Best of 1981-1985

A good compilation of an underrated band

John Alapick | Wilkes-Barre, PA United States | 09/13/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Best 0f '81 to '85 collects most of the best tracks Y & T ever recorded as the albums they made after this didn't touch the material featured here. If these songs were recorded a few years later and if they were marketed correctly, Y & T would have been hard rock superstars. Unfortunately, their best work was behind them by the time MTV & radio embraced hard rock or what some would call hair metal.



The majority of the tracks here are top notch whether it's heavy rockers ("Open Fire", "Mean Streak", "Hurricane"), or mid-tempo material ("Black Tiger", "Midnight In Tokyo", "Dirty Girl"). "Summertime Girls" was their most popular song and should have been a huge hit. But what Y & T excelled at was their power ballads and their live show. Their best ballads are all here as "Rescue Me", "Forever", and "I Believe In You" are among the best ballads ever recorded in the genre, much better than the sugar coated sappy ballads that would be hits for bands like Bon Jovi and Def Leppard years later. The two live tracks here are decent but there's a much better live version of "Barroom Boogie" on the out of print Open Fire album. The tracks "Beautiful Dreamer" and "Hang 'Em High" are not among their best work. This is a good compliation, but it would be stronger if it featured a couple more live tracks from Open Fire such as the title track and "Forever" and more tracks from the underrated In Rock We Trust album like "Don't Stop Runnin'" and "Break Out Tonight." Definitely worth picking up if you're a fan of good melodic heavy metal from the '80s."

BEST OF THE BEST OF Y&T

John Alapick | 09/24/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Y&T FIRST BLEW ME AWAY OH SO MANY MOONS AGO WITH "RESCUE ME" OFF EARTH SHAKER. THE FOLLOWING ALBUMS BLACK TIGER AND MEANSTREAK MAKE UP THE TRILOGY. ALL THE GREAT TRACKS FROM THE TRILOGY ARE INCLUDED ON THIS CD. JUST PLAIN OLD FASHION KICK A** ROCK. IF YOU LIKE DOKKEN YOU'LL LOVE THIS CD."

A must-have collection from a band at a "creative peak"

Jon Reed | Northampton, MA USA | 12/26/1998

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Y&T was/is one of the great undiscovered hard rock bands of all time. Fronted by an outstanding lead singer and guitarist, Y & T always put together a range of songs on any of their albums, from blues, to ballads, to straight ahead rockers, and, my personal favorites, the "epic rocking ballad." This last category was Y & T's specialty, and this album gathers the three best: "Rescue Me" (off Earthshaker), "Forever" (off Black Tiger), and "Midnite in Tokyo" (off Mean Streak). After Mean Streak, Y & T was never quite the same to me, although they do have a very great pop rock song, "I'll Keep on Believin'" on "In Rock we Trust". An inferior song from that release, a cover of "Summertime Girls," is on this lp. True fans will need to buy all of these releases. Those who just want the high points don't have it easy though, as Mean Streak also boasts "Lonely Side of Town," one of the all time great Y & T songs, although I'm not sure if the band realizes this. Great great stuff....."