Great Metal Albums of 1984: Ted Nugent- Penetrator

 

Guess what? For this Ted Nugent post, I'm not going to say anything about his politics. Even I know when to stop beating a dead horse. So instead, I'll focus on his 1984 album, "Penetrator," which was universally criticized by the metal world for his use of keyboards on the album. To my shame, even I was one of those critics. Thankfully, there's a much older and questionably wiser me to listen to the album with a more objective mind. My thoughts: "Penetrator" still doesn't make me want to put albums like "Cat Scratch Fever," "Weekend Warriors" and "Scream Dream" nor any of his kick ass live albums on the scrap heap but it's still a pretty good album.

The use of keyboards come through straight away on the opening song, "Tied Up In Love" but not until after a really cool guitar intro only which Terrible Ted can do. Before, I risk repeating myself over and over, the keyboards do make their presence known on many of the songs but they play a subordinate role on the album. Take the second song for example, "(Where Do You) Draw the Line." This song was written by Bryan Adams and Jim Vallance so one might be forgiven for thinking this was going to be some keyboard dominated soft rock song, it's not. Ted's guitar magic comes through very loud and abundantly clear. While still present, the keyboards take even more of a back seat on "Knocking at Your Door." There are some good guitar riffs to lead the song and Ted nails the guitar solo perfectly. Even more so on the track after "Don't You Want My Love." Here the keys are almost non existent. Almost, but there are plenty of Nugent style rocking to be heard on it.

A curious twist comes up with "Go Down Fighting." This is a song title that you would expect to be a belt it out of the park rocker but the keyboards make their presence known on it, almost making it a Journey type song. The strange thing is that the intro reminds me of Savatage, yeah really. Fortunately, Ted works his guitar magic so you know which side of the fence the song really is. Any doubts of that are dispelled with "Thunder Thighs." This is a great rocker where Ted just takes control and jams and I hear not one trace of keyboards. It's just Ted being how he always had been in albums past. However, I sometimes am reluctant to declare it my favourite song on the album because of the sexist connotations behind the title. "No Man's Land" is just as heavy, if not more than it's predecessor. Where you think there might be a keyboard at the chorus, there isn't. After a couple of decent but non descriptive tracks is the closer "Take Me Home." Again, maybe it's me but this sounds like a Southern Rock anthem. Not something I'd expect from Ted Nugent but it's the best song for the closer.

Looking at the credits and remembering recent posts, it turns out that Bobby Chouinard's drum skills were in great demand in 1984. He played on some of the tracks of both Gary Moore albums I recently posted about and he plays on this entire album. It leads me to conclude that his skills have been forgotten about in later years and this is a travesty because, he's that good.

Track Listing:

1. Tied Up In Love
2. (Where Do You) Draw the Line
3. Knockin' At Your Door
4. Don't You Want My Love
5. Go Down Fighting
6. Thunder Thighs
7. No Man's Land
8. Blame it On the Night
9. Lean Mean R&R Machine
10. Take Me Home

[caption id="attachment_1135" align="aligncenter" width="206"] Ted Nugent[/caption]

Ted Nugent_ guitars, lead vocals

Brian Howe- lead vocals

Alan St John- keyboards- vocals

Doug Lubahn-bass

Bobby Chouinard- drums

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EkGtuBX5nj0

Two interesting notes regarding Ted Nugent, the first coming from this post. Two years on, I would see Ted Nugent live with Savatage in support. It was a great concert even if it was poorly attended. The other was after my last Ted Nugent post, I put him down on the Bloodstock wishlist. The only comment I got back was someone saying they would love for him to play Bloodstock but he has only come to the UK four times since 1988. Anyway, back to "Penetrator." This album was far better than I remembered it back in 1984, keyboards or not.

Next post: Great White

To get Rock and Roll Children, email me at: tobychainsaw@hotmail.com 

Great Rock Albums of the 70s: Ted Nugent- Cat Scratch Fever

Growing up as a teen in the late 70s, I did not own one of those bulky home entertainment centers like my friend did. Instead, I had to rely on an antique radio that only got AM and had a limited range. As a result, I only got to hear a rock song if it got into the top 40. So, immagine my surprise when listening to my relic when one day the song "Cat Scratch Fever" by Ted Nugent came blasting through it. I'm surprised that that old radio didn't explode upon the heavy riffs which were blasting out of it. That song would change me in more ways than I could have immagined back then.
When I said top 40 earlier, I didn't mention that back in 1977 when this great album was unleashed, that the charts were full of disco. Back then, we had to contend with the "Saturday Night Fever" onslaught, so it was a welcome relief to hear a true rock song on the radio. For me, it was "Cat Scratch Fever" that got me to join the "Death Before Disco" club.
Like the "Hair of the Dog" album by Nazereth a few years earlier, the "Cat Scratch Fever" album could also be cited as a model on what future heavy metal albums were to sound like. When I eventually heard the album in its entirety, I was impressed that it was full on kick ass rock from start to finish. I was mesmeried by the full power of it and even then, I regarded Ted Nugent as a guitar god who could wail away with the best of them.

Track Listing:

1. Cat Scratch Fever

2. Wang Dang Sweet Poontang

3. Death by Misadventure

4. Live It Up

5. Homebound

6. Working Hard

7. Sweet Sally

8. A Thousand Knives

9. Fist Fighting Son of a Gun

10. Out of Control

Ted Nugent- vocals, lead guitar

Cliff Davies- drums, vocals

Derek St Holmes- rhythm guitar, vocals

Rob Grange- bass

When I did finally get to see this guitar god live, I was impressed with how he played "Cat Scratch Fever" and then followed it on with "Wang Dang Sweet Poontang" although I would have preferred to hear the first song played in it's entirety. Both concerts are mentioned in "Rock and Roll Children." "Cat Scratch Fever" will forever go down in the annals of heavy metal history as one of the great albums of all time.

Next Post: Aerosmith- Rocks

To buy Rock and Roll Children, go to www.strategicpublishinggroup.com/title/RockAndRollChildren.html

Also available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Froogle