Another all-encompassing retro review!

While I've been gearing up for a new Big Ass iPod, I've been going through my CD and tape collection and tagging stuff that I want to convert into digital formats. In the process, I found a tape cabinet full of all of my "All Time Nifty Tunes" collections. These were 90-minute compilation tapes with two sides of what I considered to be my favorite tunes at any given period of time. Basically, a mix tape. Commonly called "ATNT", they were usually contemporary "hits".... sort'a my version of those awful "NOW That's What I Call Music" CD's (or the K-TEL compilations of the early 80's). Most evolved organically, as I'd tape stuff off of radio or borrowed from a friend. Each tape took about a month to build. Even though I billed them as "All-Time"... after about a year, I really hated some of these tunes.

Anyways, here's All-Time Nifty Tunes Vol 1.
I originally made this as something I could listen to on my paper route. From about April 1988, and I taped over my dual-album copy of "Night Ranger- Seven Wishes" and "Night Ranger- Midnight Madness". I actually recorded on Side Two first, so this is the only compilation with semi-reverse order. I had just turned 14 when I started doing these...and you can kinda' see how my tastes evolved.

Side Two:
1. Dio- "Time to Burn"
I was really starting to sour on Dio, and simply wanted to copy this track from the "Intermission" EP. Couldn't stand that EP and this saved me from ever having to listen to it again. After two months, I would FF this song.

2. David Lee Roth- "Just Like Paradise"
First "contemporary" hit I recorded. I remember buying this album on vinyl during a blizzard in January 1988. I found myself turning the record off after this song, so I wanted to pull it out of there. I really liked DLR's "Eat 'em and Smile", but this follow-up single from "Skyscraper" was one guitar track above a Journey song.

Anthrax- "I'm the Man"
I stayed up late to listen to "Metal Shop" one night and on a whim decided to tape this song. The DJ just said "here's a new song from Anthrax" and I hit REC. Completely changed my tastes and outlook on music. It was suddenly okay to laugh and have fun with heavy metal.

Dokken- "Burning Like a Flame"
Another "contemporary" single from "Back for the Attack". Wow, these guys were so damn poppy. The gutar solo used to thrill me, though.

Iron Maiden- "Wasted Years"
This is still one of my favorite Maiden tunes, today. I taped this off of vinvyl, so I could have a handy version to carry around.

Billy & the Boingers- "I'm a Boinger"
A single that was packaged with the BLOOM COUNTY collection, "Bootleg". A studio recording of Steve Dallas, Hodge Podge, Opus and Bill the Cat doing their new theme song. Mandated by the FCC and Tipper Gore when they determined "Deathtongue" was too offensive. Best and most realistic line: "Sure we look disgusting. But whose chops are we busting? In a year, maybe two, we'll seem tame!"

Megdaeth- "Peace Sells"
Another "Metal Shop" radio recording. You had to stay up late to hear the COOL BANDS of the time. This got me hooked on Megadeth for about two years. Has one of the greatest opening lyrics with "Whatta' ya' mean I don't believe in God? Talk to him everyday".

Great White- "Lady Red Light"
Another radio recording. Liked the opening guitar riff, but the rest was your typical west coast pop metal. Like all of Great White's songs, the phrase "rock me" is a substitute for ... gasp... "fuck me".

Ozzy Osbourne- "Shot in th Dark"
"Ultimate Sin" was one of my favorite albums, so I pulled the lead single from it.

Kick Axe- "Red Light"
Another late night "Metal Shop" recording. West Coast pop metal with a gravelly singer. Never heard of this band when I taped it, and I still haven't!

Judas Priest- "You've got Another Thing Coming"
Radio single from the then recently released "Priest: Live". It was simply cool to hear NEW Judas Priest on the radio back then. Editted version, without the allbum's drawn-out crowd sing-a-long, but my tape cuts out, anyways...

Side One
Night Ranger- "You Can Still Rock in America"
This was the only Night Ranger song I didn't tape over. Was my favorite of theirs, but soon became an FF while listening to this tape. In my younger days, I used to hum this song as my "victory theme" when I was playing with my GI Joe crap.

Iron Maiden- "Wrathchild"
At the time, I wasn't thrilled with the "Killers" album, so I pulled what I felt was the only good song from that album. I didn't listen to the rest of "Killers" until about 1992, and realized I had missed some good crap.

Whitesnake- "Here I Go Again"
I had just seen Whitesnake in concert and still enjoyed them... but after a few listens, I realized I liked their video with a pantsless leggy redhead more than the song itself.

Dokken- "Lightning Strikes Again"
Yeah..but Dokken was one of my favorites at the time. Plus, in the mid-80's, you were required to have a song about Lightning (see also: Metallica, Ozzy, Loudness, etc..). Not a radio friendly single, but Don Dokken sings at a higher pitch for the entire song.

Guns n' Roses- "Welcome the the Jungle"
Taped from the radio, when it was red hot. After awhile, I would FF through the first four songs, so I could crank this. For me, GnR was all downhill after this. (snif)

Anthrax- "I am the Law"
After "I'm the Man" cracked me up, I went out and tracked down some more Anthrax. I was completely enthralled with this song about a COMIC BOOK CHARACTER. If I had any musical talent, I would've been tempted to write my own song about the All-Star Squadron.

Great White- "Rock Me" (live)
A radio exclusive, taped when the band performed at a local club. Probably the band's best song. Insipid lyrics (again, what does "Rock me" translate to?), but some cool psuedo-bluesy elements to the song.

Judas Priest- "Johnny B. Goode"
Taped from the radio and a loose translation of the Chuck Berry staple. I think it was the single for a new teeny bopper movie with Anthony Michael Hall. Over-produced and a jumbled song, but it was simply cool to hear Priest on the radio, then.

Iron Maiden- "Black Bart Blues"
From the B-side of "Can I Play With Madness" (and much better than that song). Yes, I actually bought the 45 LP! To me, it was a trip hearing Maiden goof around and sing about strippers and getting blitzed. Fun song, but I made sure to not record the final 4 minutes with Nicko McBrain fucking around in the studio.

Capt. Lou's History of Music (/w George "The Animal" Steele)
I had just purchased the "Wrestling Album" and this song cracked me up. I thought it'd be fun to close out my first comp tape with a comedy track.

Any of This Shit Make the Cut?
The Maiden tunes are automatically in and so is "I Am the Law". "Shot in the Dark" might make it, simply because I always felt that album and Jake E. Lee were somewhat undeappreciated. "Peace Sells" is Megadeth's best song and a classic, so that's in. I think I have all of these as Mp3's somewhere. "Capt. Lou" might make it, but I'll probably hit "SKIP" when it comes on.

Most importantly, "I'm a Boinger" needs to get on there for preservation's sake. But I don't have an easy way to convert audio tape (or vinyl) to digital. I'm sure there's a USB device out there somewhere.

The rest? Probably headed to the audio tape graveyard.

All-Time Nifty Tunes Vol. II
Continuing on with this... it's really not any different from the usually lame "What Song Are You Listening to" Thread, so pipe down and play along, bucko.

This version was mixed in fall 1988 into early 1989. Big transition period for two reasons: 1- Over the summer I got into the whole "speed metal/thrash metal" movement. Namely, Metlalica, Anthrax, Megadeth, Slayer, etc. This changed my tastes drastically, as I dumped the West Coast/Hair metal bands almost overnight.

Second big reason: Z-Rock began playing on the radio. This was a national satellite network that played all ranges of metal and hard rock. In the summer of 1988, they were billed as "the only station that plays ALL of the Monsters of Rock"-- all AOR stations had been playing Van Halen, Scorpions, Dokken and Kingdom Come. They were all scared to play Metallica. Z-Rock was a huge step up from AOR radio, which was still playing Supertramp, Journey, Billy Squire and other garbage. Now you didn't have to wait through 2 hours of crap to hear one "cool" metal song.

Side One:
Metallica- "Last Caress"
I had heard "Master of Puppets" for about a year, but never was able to sit through the shitty opening track of "Battery". Saw the band live at Monsters of Rock and they stole the show for me. This track especially.

Anthrax- "I'm the Man (live)"
A complete mess and a downgrade from the studio version. I think I added this track because it has a two minute section about "fucking up" and, gasp, NAUGHTY WORDS made me feel cool!

Megadeth- "Anarchy in the UK"
I think this is actually better than the Sex Pistols version and Dave Mustaine doesn't try (too much) to sing with Johnny Rotten's accent (unlike Vince Neil, 3 year later).

Cinderella- "Fallin' Apart at the Seams"
Okay, I didn't dump all hair metal. This was my favorite track from their second album, "Long Cold Winter". They try to base it on a blues beat, but it's better than their usual crap. The chorus has the late 80's studio effect of "chanting background vocals"

Guns n' Roses- "Nighttrain"
Don't know what I ever saw in this song. I was actually disappointed with "Appetite for Destruction" and thought this was the only other single from that album.

Iron Maiden- "The Clairvoyant"
The bass intro is a lot of fun. Again, I felt I had to get some mileage out of "Seventh Son of a Seventh Son" and felt this was the only good single.

Dokken- "Mr. Scary"
All instrumental track named after George Lynch's favorite guitar. I had begun to sour on Dokken's vocals, so I made sure to pick out a song without vocals.

AC/DC- "Heatseeker"
It was their new single at the time. A bit heavier and quicker than usual bar room AC/DC songs.

Joe Satriani- "Ice 9 (live)"
Another new discovery for me and another instrumental. This was actually my theme song for my fictional pro wrestler, "Daredevil" Vic Suicide

Deep Purple- "Knockin' at your Back Door"
I had liked this song when it came out wayyy back in 1984. My brother was home from college and brought his record collection with him, I snuck into his room while he was at work and recorded this song that I had been trying to get for years. I still have this on one of my mp3 discs and still enough it.

Led Zeppelin- "Rock & Roll"
Same as above. This was the only Zep song I liked. I think that statement's still true, almost 20 years later.

Side Two:
Yngwie J. Malmsteen's Rising Force- "Faster Than the Speed of Light"
Wow. Talk about something I completely blocked out of my mind. With good reason. Yngwie was expelled from my collection shortly after this. This was from his total "I wanna be AOR friendly" album with former Rainbow singer Joe Lynn Turner.

Van Halen- "Sucker in a Three Piece"
From Van Hagar's "OU812", which I felt was devoid of any real rock tracks. This was the only one I found.

Metallica- "Orion"
EVIL instrumental. I would routinely listen to this before football games and it got me incredibly psyched up.

Heathen Dan- "I Like You, too"
Comedy track taped from Z-Rock and it's pretty damn hilarious. It's a parody of Tom T. Hall's "I Love", only instead of "I love... little baby ducks, old pick up trucks.." it's: "I like.. shankers on my tongue, sniffin' monkey dung.. smellin garbage burn...and worms". Look up the lyrics if you can.

Testament- "Nobody's Fault"
Taped from Z-Rock and turned me on the band. I had heard this song over the summer, but wasn't able to tape it until the fall. Relaly dug it, at the time.

Flotsam & Jetsam- "Saturday Night's All Right for Fighting"
Didja' ever like the Elton John song, but didn't want to acknowledge it because it was...well, Elton John? Then here ya' go. Fun thrash version, but they could have done without the piano insertion.

Anthrax- "Antisocial"
Great tune and one of their best. Unfortunately, it's a cover, which really soured some people on the band.

Tesla- "Did it for the money"
Awful. I had really liked Tesla's debut album, so I tried to tape the singles from their new album on Z-Rock. Got this awful track and I never liked Tesla again. Became a "FF" job after one listen.

Armored Saint- "Can U Deliver"
Another Z-rock tape job. I had heard about this band for years and finally taped one of their songs. I thought it was just one of their fringe songs, but after further research (and purchase of their album) I found that this was probably their best song. Never got into them, but I felt smart in 1993 when their singer, John Bush, joined Anthrax. People would say "never heard of him" and I'd say "au contraire... I have" and impress two people by pulling out my Armored Saint tape.

Warrant- "Down Boys"
Yes, you may throw insults and garbage upon me. I wanted to hate this band, and I did. But Z-Rock played this track consistently and it stuck in my head. Fortunately, I never bought their album.

Great White- "Once Bitten Twice Shy"
Y'know, it's not THAT bad of song. This was actually my Most Favoritest Song around April 1989. Listening to it now, the vocals are way too high and screechy. Unfortunately, you can still hear this tune at your local shitty bar, once a week.

Any of This Shit Make the Cut?
Anthrax's "Antisocial" is in, along with Testament, Deep Purple and the two Metallica tracks. I'll slip in Flotsam & Jetsam and Megadeth for some Wacky Cover Tune variety. The Heathen Dan track always cracks me up, so it's in.

The rest won't. Even the Maiden song. "Ice 9" is a really good tune and I dig Satriani, but it's been played as "sports highlight background music" for almost 20 years, making it unbearable. I'm tempted to include the Cinderella song for variety, but if I do, I'll be sure to add the bluesy intro that I excluded from this tape.

All-Time Nifty Tunes Vol. III
I think I mixed/recorded this compilation in early 1989. With lots of Z-Rock copies. but it looks like the first side was just me trying to fill up a tape. I don't have fond memories of this tape and don't think I played it much.

Side One:
Metallica- "Harvester of Sorrow"
I was heavily into Metallica at this point and began to give them my lead-off spot. You always need a strong opening cut. This cut was probably my favorite from "..And Justice For All". Even more so than "One".

Great White- "Mistreater"
This was probably the third single from their "Once Bitten" album. It stuck in my head for a few days and since it was on the radio, I thought I had to add it. Shitty blues emulation and screechy vocals. Not a pretty sound.

Cinderella- "Gypsy Road"
I actually liked this song.. but again, it was just me wanting to pull off the "hot single" from one of the albums in my collection. Has the over-produced backing vocals, but it's similar to their more famous "Shake Me" tune. Even today, I can still remember hearing this song for the first time on the radio.. on a summer night in June 1988, sitting by my pool.

Van Halen- "Dreams"
I used to sing this song to myself while biking or skiing. Cheesy lyrics, but it was the 80's and Van Hagar.

Megadeth- "Wake Up Dead"
Almost an instrumental, but a complete mosher tune. I never got into Megadeth heavily, but this was always a favorite.

Accept -"Midnight Mover"
This song used to be played as the background music for those old "Sunday! SUNDAY! SUNDAY!" monster truck ads. Cool guitar intro and, yeah, probably one of Accept's best songs IMO. Holds up well. Udo's screechy vocals really play over the music well.

David Lee Roth- "Hot Dog and Shake"
An attempt at a goofy party/fucking song, something which DLR was famous for. Not a classic by any means, but a decent, rare tune from DLR's second album (you only need the first two. Everything else stunk... and about 75% of the second album stunk, too)

Dokken- "in My Dreams"
WTF!?! I thought I had outgrown these clowns by now. Guess not. George Lynch was one of my Big Bro's favorite guitarists, so I think I still liked Dokken for that reason.

Ratt- "Back For More"
I had stopped listening to Ratt about a year earlier, but when I was organzing my tapes one night, I popped in their debut album and this song stuck with me. I think I included it as the one redeeming Ratt song in my collection.

Guns n' Roses- "One in a Million"
The forgotten "other single" from the semi-acoustic "LIES" EP. This is a fairly cool song and a good break from my usual sounds. Stripped down version of GnR and it works well. I forgot about this tune arond 1990, but during the Napster craze of 2000, I found a copy and burned it to my 2001 mix CD.

Anthrax- "Antisocial"
Weird... guess I liked this song so much that I included it on back-to-back compilations. Me thinks I was simply trying to fill up one side of the tape and threw it in, due to sheer awesomeness.

Side Two:
Metallica- "Breadfan"
Again, a Metallica opener and another Z-rock taper. This was quite the legendary song in 1989. Lemme' explain. It was a rare B-side, but was the #1 song on Z-rock's weekly countdown for about 8 months. Everyone wanted to know "what's that cool Metallica song they always play on Z-rock?! It's not on the album!" Nobody knew what it was called, either. "French man", "Dread Van" and "Bread Man" were the top candidates. This song absoutely destroys.

Since this was my only copy of it, with some radio static, I forgot about the tune a year later. But in 1997, I was driving to Tucson and picked up an unknown radio station. The song sounded familiar and I thought "what's this? I used to dig this song". Then I remembered everything and how much this song kicked ass. The entire band of Metallica was apparently shot and killed in April 1989, but this is worth tracking down.

Joe Satriani- "Surfing with the Alien"
Taped from Z-Rock. Another guy that I liked, simply because he had the Big Bro Seal of Approval. Ayup.....STILL used as the background music for sports highlights today.

WASP- "Blind in Texas"
Taped from Z-Rock. A fun "party song" from WASP. It's not trying to disguise anything, it's about getting shitfaced in Texas. Funny stuff.

Ozzy Osbourne- "Miracle Man"
Over-produced, but a very heavy Ozzy tune. Zakk runs through all of his signature sounds and that's a good thing. Also, it's officially 1/2 of Black Sabbath, as Geezer Butler played bass.

Pandemonium- "Eye of the Storm"
Huh? Taped from Z-Rock and it's bizarre. An attempt at a mythological/D&D song by a very repititive band. While each verse talks about "the gods and their death machines", the chorus switches to an almost West Coast metal sound. Just a weird song.

Slayer- "South of Heaven"
This song Mutherfuckin' demolishes! This was Z-Rock's unofficial theme song for the summer of 1988. Turned both me and Big Bro onto Slayer. After further research, we found that we didn't really care for their other albums, though. You always hear "dude, go get Reign in Blood", but I really REALLY dig "South of Heaven".

Iron Maiden- "Cross-Eyed Mary"
'Nother Z-rock thing. They would play all the previously unheard (in the US at least) b-sides from the band's history. It was all for the release of the UK only "First Ten Years" 10-disc set, but at least we Dumb Yanks got in on the party a little bit. Those things are still selling for a hefty price, today. Anyways, this is a Jethro Tull cover from about 1983. Like all Maiden b-sides, it's good variety compared to their album cuts.

Van Halen- "Running with the Devil"
Taped from Big Bro's VINYL! A classic that I suddenly realized I had no copy of. Felt like I was flunking Metal 101 without this tune.

Accept- "Balls to the Wall"
I finally had a copy of this tune. I remember seeing the video on USA's "Night Flight" and cracking up, back in 1984 or so (and it IS a funny video...just ask Beavis & Butthead. "Uh..how did this butt-munch get up on stage?!"). Nobody outside of the hardcore metla heads (and geeks like me) knew about this song and Accept. Made me feel special to have it.

Manowar- "Kings of Metal"
Oh boy...Manowar. What the HELL was I thinking? This tune was apparently written for the sole purpose of being an audience singalong at concerts. They sing about their speakers and world record noise. Manowar is probably one of the most ridiculous bands of all time. They're like Spinal Tap, but serious.

Kix- "Blow My Fuse"
Another song that I began to like, due to continuous airings on Z-rock. Ugh. All of Kix's songs were about getting a blowjob or fucking.

Addams Family Theme
I didn't have enough room left on the tape for a full song, so copied some stuff from my TV Themes tape. A very well-known song, but I had a buddy in Scouts with the last name of Adams. I'd play this to annoy him. Nowadays I hear this and feel like I'm at a baseball game.

Jetsons Theme
Same as above...only I didn't have a buddy named Jetson.

Any of This Shit Make the Cut?
Breadfan, Midnight Mover, One in a Million and South of Heaven are shoo-ins. Blind in Texas, Miracle Man, Running with the Devil, Wake Up Dead, Hot Dog & a Shake and Surfing with the Alien might make it. They'd be good variety, but not main event material. In other words, if someone was in my car and those tunes came on, I wouldn't feel too cool. I might toss in Back for More and Gypsy Road just to say "hey, I used to like these bands". Crap, have I just given the thumbs-up to TWO Cinderella songs?!

I'm a huge Maiden fan, but Cross-Eyed Mary isn't something I want to hear. I'd include Balls to the Wall, but it's become such a punchline with its constant VH1 Classic airings. It's really not a terrible song, so maybe in another year or two.

All the recent Hair Metal talk has led me back to this.

All-Time Nifty Tunes Vol. IV
This is unique among the ATNT series in that it's the only 60 minute tape. I was short on dough or too lazy to walk to Walgreens and spend 3 bucks for some 90 minute tapes. This is also probably the weakest comp tape of the entire series. I was leaving for the 1989 Boy Scout National Jamboree in August 1989 and wanted to take along some "cool" tunes. I stayed up late, the night before my trip and tried to piece this compilation together. It stunk.

Side One:
Muppet Show Intro
Okay, it didn't entirely stink. I used to do an awesome impression of this song, complete with the old guys voices: "Why do we always come here?" "I guess we'll never know" "It's like a kind of torture..to have to watch the show!!" I can still do it for the most part, right down to the Kermit voice.

Flotsam & Jetsam- "Hard on You"
I had just recently gotten their "No Place for Disgrace" album and wanted to pull something else off of it. Screechy vocals, but typical 1989 speed//thrash stuff.

Fat Albert Theme
Listened to this way too much. Even today I an stil recite "this is Bill Cosby, comin' atcha' with music and fun ...and if you're not careful, you just might learn something! Hey, hey, heyyy!" How can you not like this song?

Ozzy Osboure-- title unknown
For Ozzy's "No Rest for the Wicked" album, he had about four or five extar hidden tracks. Each version of the cassette had a different track, so you never knew what you were getting. This tune was taped from Z-rock and it's an up-beat poppy song. Ozzy garbles the chorus, but it sounds like he's saying "what of the peace sign". Probably a cover from an old NWOBHM band.

Tesla- "Hang Tough"
Another Z-rock import..and I still wodnered WHY I liked Tesla at this stage. This sounds like a leftover AC/DC track, with a crappy singer. It's possible that I may have been on a year-long project to tape every Tesla song from the radio and thus save myself the 8 bucks I would've spent on the tape. Now that I think about it...that's probably exactly what I was doing! Cheap bastard.

Anthrax- "Caught in a Mosh (live)"
I love this song and it makes numerous appearances on the ATNT series...all the way up to the final version in 1998. I only had a less-than-stellar 2nd generation copy of "Among the Living", so I took this from my store-bought "I'm the Man" EP. The song loses a little something, live, but it's still cool.

Great White- "Let's Move it"
From their 1989 "..Twice Shy" album. I remember I had stayed up that night in hopes of getting the title track recorded. Couldn't get it, so I settled for this leftover. Wacky semi-truck sound effects in the background. I also liked this song at the time, because they say "let's get this mutha' on". Oooo..pseudo-cursing!!

Unknown Band-- "Fire in the Hole"
A thrash/speed metal song and to this day, I still have NO idea who it is. Taped off of Z-rock, again. Basic thrash verses, but the music stops and the singer screams "FIRE IN THE HOLE!!" Maybe Sacred Reich?


SIDE TWO:
Accept- "Generation Clash"
This is a rarity. It's from Accept, AFTER Udo Dirkschneider left. The new singer sounds like Paul Rodgers and it's more US radio-friendly. I think the guy was from New Jersey, even. This song attempted to be an "anthem", like "Balls to the Wall" was, but it's very over-produced and almost sterile. Accept got a big push from this record, but the album itself had little to offer outside of this track. The whole thing was forgotten by October 1989. I think I had this tape somewhere..but I may have sold it to the "Used Music Store" when I was in college. I'd like to find it for weirdness' sake. Sort of like the fourth Quiet Riot album from around this time-- established bands cut crapy studio albums without their trademark vocalists.

AC/DC- "Back in Black"
Pulled from one of my old tape copies. I was running out of time and wanted an old standard to beef up this tape. Soon became a fast forward job, since it was constantly played on the radio.

Batman TV theme (1960's)
Okay, it's not the official TV theme..it's a lame wannabe. About 90% accurate. Since it was a wannabe', I originally thought this was from the 1940's movie serial. This was the summer of 1989 after all, and I wanted to be "cool" by throwing in the old school Batman theme.

Another unknown Thrash song
The radio curse and time crucnh strike again. Wow...still no idea who this is. The song relaly has no chorus, so I can't for the life of me make out any lyrics. Sorry..completely worthless paragraph!

Sacred Reich- "Surf Nicaragua"
Sort of a black humor song, something common among speed/thrash bands. I loved this song when I first heard it, but each successive time it dropped down my list. Completely forgettable now.

Testament- "Practice What you Preach"
This is pretty cool. Their singer has an angry growl in this one. Think of Pantera around the "Cowboys From Hell" phase. Really sold me on the band and got me to buy the album when it came out in September 1989 (this was an advance single, played on Z-rock). I had forgotten about this, until now. May have to track it down.

Dokken- "Tooth & Nail" (live)
Complete tape filler. I didn't have a good copy of the studio track, so I copied it from my "Beast from the East" tape. Had a heavy beat for Dokken. At first listen, you wouldn't think it was Dokken...until the end when Don Dokken starts screeeeeeching. I always felt guitarist George Lynch was one of the few redeeming Hair Metal axe-men. I think he continued to release solo albums well into the 90's (after Lynch Mob flded). Mostly "guitar for guitar's sake" type of albums.

Any of This Shit Make the Cut?
Maybe "Practice What You Preach" and "Muppet Show Intro". I've listened to this tape maybe five times since I cut it. Really nothing worth preserving here. If I ever get back into Ozzy, I may have to do some research and track down that pesky unknown tune.

I somehow need to hear your version of this.

ATNT Vol V This was recorded around late August 1989 and was my "back to school tape". A return to the 90-minute format, too.

SIDE ONE-------------------------------------
Megadeth- Set the World Afire
Sorta' sounds like "Wake up Dead" and it's about 5 minutes long. That was one of the rules that sorta' metamorphasized out of the ATNT series-- always open up with some "epic" song. Something that would sound good to start off a concert. Similar to the way Iron Maiden would always open their show. This Megedath song is okay, but Mustaine sounds like he drunk more than usual on the vocals.

Scorpions- "Blackout"
I started to dislike the Scorps, but this was one of their older songs that I always liked. Taped it off of the radio.

Dangerous Toys- "Teas'n Pleas'n"
These guys were sorta' like a combo of Van Halen, Guns n' Roses and ZZ Top. Dirty hair band from Texas, but with a slightly harder edge than most of the hair crap that was coming out at the time. I liked this song, but the ending absolutely sucked/sucks. The song changes tempo 3 different times (for you young'uns, think of System of a Down's "Chop Suey") and one of switches is incredibly awful. If I had an MP3 editor and CD's back in the day, I would've editted that part out.

WASP- "The Real Me"
At the time, I didn't know that this was a cover of a song by The Who. But it sounds more EVIL with Blackie Lawless screeching the lyrics. Lots of synthesizers in the background, but it still sounds kinda' heavy. This actually got me to go out and buy a WASP album for the first time in my life. They were a hair band, but one of the "ugly" hair bands. Like the kind of guys you'd see playing at a smoky bar, instead of Bon Jovi who seemed like they'd play at a junior high dance.

Metallica- "Master of Puppets"
I first heard "Master" in 1986 and it took me a LONG time to warm up to the album. Everytime I put it on, I'd hear "Battery"-- which is one of the worst Metallica songs ever (well... that's out of songs cut pre-Jethro Tull Incident, when Metallica was still a band). I couldn't get through that song, so I'd hit "EJECT" and never listen to the rest of the record. After seeing them as "Monsters of Rock" in 1988, I finally warmed up to Metallica and learned to "FF" though "Battery". Turned out, I loved the rest of the album. The title cut was one of my favorites. To this day, if I'm around buddies and we hear any word that sounds remotely like "Master".. you know what we'll say.

Felix the Cat Theme
At Boy Scout Summer Camp that year, I began to annoy all the little shits by constantly singing this song and saying "Righty-o" like Felix did. Felix cartoons made a bit of a comeback via syndication around 1988, and all of the kids HATED him. So I included this as a joke song. The joke died in September and I was left with an annoying song. It backfired on me!

Ozzy Osbourne- "Hero"
Another of the "hidden Ozzy songs" from "No Rest for the Wicked". Ozzy's vocals sound practically haunting in this one. I thought it was probably the best track on the entire album, despite being "hidden". I originally called it "Unwilling Hero" and it wasn't until lately that I discovered the real name.

Anthrax- "Be All, End All"
Anthrax was slowly becoming one of my favorites. This has a deep, pounding beat to it and it's very creepy. Sorta' the unofficial title track to "State of Euphoria", too.

Slayer- "Dissident Agressor"
I was only 14, but already feeling OLD! This was a cover tune of an old Judas Priest song that I actually remembered. Awesome, and probably an overlooked Slayer "gem". The story is that Slayer got their start doing Maiden, Priest and Sabbath covers in LA, so you can tell that they put some effort into this tune. The drums really help to deliver this thing. For once, someone does a Priest cover and the lack of Halford's vocals is NOT noticed.

Led Zeppelin- "Misty Mountain Hop"
I was on a campaign to discredit and destroy Led Zeppelin, but this was their only song that I liked. I wanted to preserve it on the tale of this side of the mix tape, while I erased all my other Zep copies.

SIDE TWO-------------------------
AC/DC- "That's the Way I wanna' Rock and Roll"
The second single from "Blow Up Your Video". I simply wanted to get some mileage out of that album, which I seldom listened to. Figured it'd be a good idea to include this...but it soon became a FF job.

Testament- "The Ballad"
Or, "The Obligatory Power Ballad". This is ten times better than 1992' "Return to Serenity", which alot of gearheads believe is Testament's "greatest song, man". I liked it at the time, but listening to it now, I can't belive how horribly mismatched Chuck Billy's voice is for a "ballad". The heavy parts of the song are good, but the quiet parts stink.

Celtic Frost- "Mexican Radio"
Holy Fucking Shit. This song kicks so much ass. It's a cover of an old Wall of Voodoo song, but sounds nothing like the original. Completely heavy and EVIL. I could never tell what the singer was saying in the chorus, so I thought they had changed the name to "Radio Maker". Unlike most of the ATNT songs, I've kept this song alive on various compilation tapes/CD's over the years.

Great White- "Mr. Bone"
Hey, another west coast metal song about FUCKING! Who'da thunk it? Has elements of their bluesy "Rock Me", but it's so fucking stupid. I had a teacher named "Mr. Boehm" and I'd hum this tune in my head whenever I was in his class. Could never take the guy seriously after that.

Metallica- "One"
The novelty of this song had passed, but it was still heavy as all fuck for 1989. In February, it completely took the world by storm when the video hit MTV. It was only shown once per day and it was intense. Scared the shit out of me and it's still a good video, today. This was the Unofficial Fuck You, Corporate Radio Song of 1989.

Gorky Park -"Bang (live)"
Ugh. Yup, the Glasnost band from the Moscow Music Festival. Boy, does this stink. I had the entire radio broadcast of the show taped once, and think I was preserving this song while I erased most of the others. These guys were over and done in about one week in September 1989.

Tesla- "Heaven's Trail"
Shit..what the hell was wrong with me?! Another Tesla song taped from the radio. Fuck, I think I really WAS trying to tpae the entire album off of the radio, in an attempt to save a lousy 8 bucks. Oh, the pain. Howeer, this was probably the least shitty song from their second album. But a little bit of shit is still shit, Beavis.

Great White- "Face the Day"
Radio copy. Okay song. Fairly rare at the time. Great White's stuff from "Once Bitten" and "Twice Shy" was all over the radio, but their old stuff was rarely on the radio or found at the record store. I tried not to include two songs from the same band on each side of an ATNT comp, but made an exception for this "rarity".

Blue Oyster Cult- "Godzilla"
At the time, a flashback for me. I used to LOVE BOC back in the early 80's. Big Bro would always crank their albums while were playing D&D, Micronauts or Star Wars. An early nostalgia trip for me. How can you NOT like this song? It's about frickin' Godzilla! And it kicks ass. YES! YES! Can't beat that, Beavis.

Popeye The Sailor Man Theme
Added because I had less than a minute of tape remaining. From the 1930's cartoons and you can hear Bluto in the back, sounding like he's being cornholed. It has the seldom-sung second verse, too. With Popeye singing "I biffs and I boffs 'em, but none of them gets nowhere.." Well blow me down.

Any of This Shit Make the Cut?
"Mexican Radio", "Godzilla", "The Real Me" and "Dissident Aggressor" are already in. I need to track down the Ozzy "Hero" song. "Be All, End All" might be added when I copy in some old Anthrax stuff, but I'm not making a special effort to get it. The Metallica songs are good... but I've heard them countless times since (despite the fact that I've played the LP's on my stereo maybe twice since then). Even though old Metallica is good shit, it's become some overplayed that I'm numb to it anymore. Maybe in 10 years.

Everything else... sorry, going the way of my Ratt albums.