Pure 80's Rocks

Performer: Various Artists
Producer: Jeff Moskow (Compilation)
Distributor: Universal Distribution

Notes: All tracks have been digitally remastered. UTV's Pure series of compilations has had singular success for the television-advertised reissue division of Universal, especially since the word doesn't mean much of anything in this context, other than being a marketing brand. There have been three Pure compilations of music from the 1980s -- Pure 80's, More Pure 80's, and Pure 80's Hits -- and now there is Pure 80's Rocks, which is to say, hard rock/heavy metal anthems from the '80s. As is typical with compilations, this is more a collection of songs by minor performers than of major ones, who tend to resist having their work included on such releases. So, there is nothing here from Guns N' Roses, Def Leppard, Bon Jovi, Van Halen, or M�tley Cr�e, but plenty of material by the likes of Y&T, Kingdom Come, Triumph, and Autograph. That said, it isn't all one-hit wonders, as attested by the presence of Judas Priest, Kiss, and Foreigner, and compilation producer Jeff Moskow has employed two people to license tracks from other labels. All the majors are represented, as well as some smaller firms. And these really are hits: 16 out of 18 made the pop charts, ten of them in the Top 40 and two topping the charts, and 17 made Billboard's Album Rock Tracks chart, three of them hitting number one there. One gets a good sense of the kind of pop-metal that was successful in the '80s before Metallica took metal in a different direction and the grunge of the early '90s buried the hair bands of the '80s. Pure 80's Rocks is a good album for anyone who stood up in a bleacher seat at an arena and jammed a thumb onto a portable lighter during Poison's "Every Rose Has Its Thorn." And, for better or worse, there are several million of them. ~ William Ruhlmann

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