Damn Yankees(The Group)-Were They Really That Bad?

Pretty bad. Bases loaded twice.

 

AFAIK they've never been nominated for the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame, so they must be just as bad as Todd Rundgren

 

THEY WERE LAST NIGHT!

 

I like both Damn Yankees albums a lot, and I'm a fan of Jack Blades' work in general. I do not, however, enjoy "High Enough" at all. That's a really bland ballad from a guy who happens to have written some really good ballads.

 

At the time, I thought they were pretty decent - all excellent musicians in a 'supergroup' type band. Saw them live in 1992 and I thought it was a terrible show - it seemed to me the show was centered around Ted Nugent, and him coming out with a bow and target was just too much.

Looking back on them now, it's easy to dismiss them as a 'bad' band, but I think they were writing/releasing appropriate songs for that era, and were indeed quite popular and were very good.

 

I agree and they were great live!

 

Second album was just as good , IMO.

 

Low blow to those of us cheering last night in the MLB Postseason Thread!

 

I remember a college trip I was on with a group of friends and I was driving and "High Enough" came on the radio and I just oversang it as much as I could and everyone was laughing at me. But, I really did like that song and thought Damn Yankees were just as good as anyone doing power ballads at the time.

Interesting that Night Ranger has been performing "High Enough" the last couple of years on tour.

 

+1

 

I always liked High Enough and a couple other songs. Poison, Damn Yankees, and Firehouse was the 2nd concert I ever went to. 1993 at the Fargodome in Fargo, ND I was 18 at the time

 

To the original question:

Yes, and then some.

 

Wait up..."High Enough" is a bad a$$ song? I would laugh at someone if I heard them playing that a$$ bad song.

 

Yeah, I saw them too right at the peak of their popularity and I thought the same thing...it was a much different show that I was expecting, and not at all in a bad way. They opened for the "Holy Water"-era Bad Company and, to me, were dramatically better than the headliner.

 

Both these releases are Awesome! I wish they would of released more!

 

Were They Really That Bad?

Worse.

 

I just picked up the debut Damn Yankees CD at Goodwill last night for a whole 79 cents. That was a long overdue upgrade from cassette, and ya can't beat that price with a stick.

But seriously... I've always kinda liked D.Y. I wouldn't call myself a diehard fanboy or anything, but they had some good songs and they were an excellent live band (I saw them at Radio City Music Hall in NYC on the Don't Tread tour in early '93).

About a year ago Classic Rock magazine confirmed what many fans had long suspected -- that Damn Yankees was indeed a manufactured "supergroup." Tommy Shaw, Jack Blades, and Ted Nugent were all adrift at the time career wise and none of them knew each other prior to DY's formation; it was A&R demi-god John Kalodner who had the idea of putting the three of them together.

http://ultimateclassicrock.com/damn-yankees-history/

 

They were easily as good as any other band of that style at the time but were just a little too late I think. I still would classify them with bands like Extreme, Mr. Big, Winger and Tesla - i.e. the best of the genre from songwriting and performance standpoint.

 

If memory serves, their first album sold very well, but by the time the second (Don't Tread) came out in 1992, everybody had changed the channel, so to speak.

 

I liked them enough. Some good singles and killer hooks. Methinks people are expecting ENTIRELY too much out of a hard-rock/pop "supergroup"

 

Liked the band although 'High Enough' is eh, in my opinion. I think 'Come Again' is their best song.

 

Second album was just as good also.

 

the title track for the bands 2nd album is a heavy hitter

 

Bonetripper is available on the Rock Candy Records re-issue of the first album. It was also on a compilation.

 

They were absolutely awful, just terrible in every way.