I was inspired by the Dokken thread to do one on this band. Yeah, we all know how Beavis and Butthead (along with Metallica in the Nothing Else Matters video) were blamed for killing their career, but I think a thread on them might be a decent re-evaluation of them. I wont go into the history as the band members previous stints are well-documented Winger-Winger (Atlantic 1988) 1. Madelaine 2. Hungry 3. Seventeen 4. Without the Night 5. Purple Haze 6. State of Emergency 7. Time to Surrender 8. Poison Angel 9. Hangin On 10. Headed for a Heartbreak 11. Higher and Higher Feel free to post your thoughts on the album or songs (I'll post mine either today or tommorow)
Great band, great musicians. Reb Beach’s playing on Headed for a Heartbreak is sick, especially the outro, awesome solo.
From the odd song I've heard, I'd say that their music doesn't really seem to fit the image they were saddled with. Could say that about quite a few of the "hair metal" bands though. Been meaning to properly dip my toe into Winger's catalogue for an age so I'll follow this thread with interest, even though I don't have much to offer the discussion.
Ok, time for my thoughts 1. Madalaine-Kip's voice on this was what initially sells me on this song, love the soaring vocals. While the solo isnt bad, it doesnt hold a candle to other songs. Still, excellent opener. 2. Hungry-Even though strings on the intros to pop metal songs are a well-worn gimmick, it does keep attention. Once the song kicks in proper though, it still has plenty of punch, and the song actually gets better near the end when things get more dramatic. Probably my fav track on the album. 3. Seventeen-Let's get this over with, yes, the lyrics ARE kind of skeevy (though I've heard worse songs about the same topic). That said, there's lots of cool stuff going on here musically, I'd like to think it was the solo that made this such a hit. Also, this is the first song where Kip is using more "glam metal"(never liked that term to be honest, but I cant find any other way to describe it) vocals. 4. Without the Night- Very classy ballad, I actually prefer this to the more well-known Headed for a Heartbreak, kind of surprised they didnt release this as a single. 5. Purple Haze- The albums first misstep. They try their best, but this just sounds sloppy, and they dont really sound like they're into this, I wonder if they were roped into doing this by the record company. 6. State of Emergency-Nothing special, but solid track. Kind of a slight Dokken vibe in the verses. 7. Time To Surrender-Kind of a hidden gem, the guitars are somewhat more menacing here, not that it's thrash or anything, but it's not as light as some of the stuff here. 8. Poison Angel-The other bad song on this album. Kip cant really pull off a sleazy vibe, and the chorus is seriously weak, decent guitar though. 9. Hangin On-The intro is definitely inspired by Van Halen. Kind of middling, but I like it enough, and this is another song that's carried by the guitar work. 10. Headed for a Heartbreak-The big power ballad on this album. Well done, Kip sings with lots of passion, and the end is a showcase for Reb Beach 11. Higher and Higher-Bonus track on the CD. Again nothing special, but enjoyable, with another excellent solo.
Also, between this album and the follow-up In the Heart of the Young, Kip also had a duet with fellow Atlantic artist Fiona with "Everything You Do (You're Sexing Me)"
Fiona (the former Mrs. Beau Hill) made some excellent rock/pop records and this song is no different. Good stuff!
Winger-In the Heart Of the Young (Atlantic 1990) 1. Cant Get Enuff 2. Loosen Up 3. Miles Away 4. Easy Come Easy Go 5. Rainbow in the Rose 6. In the Day We'll Never See 7. Under One Condition 8. Little Dirty Blonde 9. Baptized By Fire 10. You Are the Saint, I Am the Sinner 11. In the Heart of the Young 12. All I Ever Wanted (Japan-only bonus track)
I think Winger are a solid band, with good musicians, who seemingly got ripped on harder than some their peers when Grunge hit.
whoa. lets slow it down lol. just saw this thread and you posted 2 albums in like a day. can we hold off until this weekend or something? btw the first winger album several of the songs were written for other artists and when winger became a band they just kept what they had. thats why it seems a bit uneven and cheesy compared to what followed
The second album was my first exposure to them - because they didn’t have any success in my country they were seen here as a hard rock band which contained monster players due to their exposure in Musician mags & without any of the attached negativity from Beavis & Butthead etc. If someone ever said ‘Winger? Aren’t those guys like Poison or something?’ I would usually play them ‘Rainbow In The Rose’ to confirm they weren’t like Poison or something.
I like Poison a lot but they seem to have a very different vibe from Winger, if my limited exposure to the latter is any indication.
Love Winger. Looking forward to reading this. Love the CD sound of this album along with many other hard rock albums from 1988.
In the video for ‘Nothing Else Matters’ Lars is seen throwing darts at a dartboard with a picture of Kip Winger stuck to it. The footage comes from the ‘A Year & A Half In The Life Of Metallica’ documentary while making The Black Album.
Winger would later write a vicious anti-Metallica song called Hell To Pay, but we'll get to that when we get to Pull.
Ok, enough time has passed that I can post my thoughts on ITHOTY: Cant Get Enuff-Not an awful song, it's anthemic enough, but it's just missing something to make it a classic IMO. Great solo by Reb as always though. Loosen Up-Fun party rock, that chorus will get stuck in your head. Miles Away-Another classy ballad. Sure, there were plenty of songs like this in the late 80s/early 90s, but as long as they were at this quality I dont mind. Easy Come Easy Go-Second Fav song on the album. Love the chorus and even the sampled horns add to the song's feel. Rainbow in the Rose-Took me some time to get into this song, but I've warmed to it, if just for the vocals, though. In The Day We'll Never See-Fav song on the album, sounds like a precursor to the "Pull" album. I'm surprised no Power/Prog metal bands have covered this, its kind of got that sound to it. Under One Condition-Third ballad on the album. Slightly softer than Miles Away and Rainbow, but this song is another good one. Little Dirty Blonde-This is where the album starts going off the cliff, cant really get into this, sounds pretty generic. Baptized by Fire-Not as bad as the previous song, kind of like that guitar solo at the beginning, but this still isnt a favorite, and that rap part in the middle comes out of nowhere. You Are The Saint, I Am The Sinner: Meh, could easily have been left off the album, filler IMO. In The Heart Of The Young: I like this song, but even I can see that it's incredibly overblown. Still, epic way to end the album,, All I Ever Wanted: ,,Unless you had the import version which had this song. Excellent song, has some of the first album's vibe, should have been on the US release.
Some odds and ends to close this era: Miles Away B-Side "Blue Murder": "Out for the Count" from the Karate Kid 3 Soundtrack: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-DcUJT0aME "Battle Stations" from the Bill and Ted Bogus Journey Soundtrack: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCbJSGWim9E I'll wait until sometime next week to talk about the one I really want to discuss, Pull.
Just a quick update, I'll probably post my thoughts on Pull on Thursday or Friday (I'll post the tracklisting tomorrow), and I will cover the solo albums (which sound NOTHING like Winger), and the reunion albums of course, but to save on work, I wont cover Kip's acoustic album (which were acoustic versions of winger and solo songs), Winger's Live album, or Demo Anthology, nor will I discuss Kip's songs on various tribute albums (most of which are out of print).
Winger-Pull (Atlantic 1993) 1. Blind Revolution Mad 2. Down Incognito 3. Spell I'm Under 4. In My Veins 5. Junkyard Dog (Tears on Stone) 6. The Lucky One 7. In For The Kill 8. No Man's Land 9. Like A Ritual 10. Who's The One? 11. Hell To Pay (bonus track) Thoughts to be posted either tommorow or Friday
And here we go: Blind Revolution Mad-Already you can hear the maturity of Winger's sound as we have an extended acoustic intro that builds into an agressive series of riffs that bring us into the song proper, and it is a smoker. Kip almost sounds like he's rapping the lyrics, and there's a big anger in his voice, almost as if he had lots of rage he finally got to express. Down Incognito-Probably the most "commercial" song on this album, but it still is a big departure from the previous albums. Love the guitar sound on the verses and the harmonica solo. There's no reason why this never became a rock radio staple. Spell I'm Under-A much more dreamier ballad than the more overproduced (though still good) ballads from the first two albums, with an excellent chorus. Kind of bittersweet listening to it though, considering this was dedicated to Kip's wife Beatrice who would die 3 years later. In My Veins. Very Skid Row-esque tune. Kind of conventional, but even with a song like this, the band go beyond the typical Winger sound, and I love the sleaze-metal style guitars. Junkyard Dog (Tears on Stone)-Now this is the epic of the album, with a great intro, lots of killer riffing, and more anger from Kip's vocals. The second half of the song is softer but still powerful. The lyrics to this song seem to be about drug addiction, and I almost wonder if it's about someone Kip or one of the other band members knew. The Lucky One-More of a softer, almost acoustic sound. It seems that the departure of Paul Taylor forced them into a more "organic" sound, and it works as now the emphasis is more on the vocals and the emotion of the song rather than the production. In For The Kill-If you thought Blind Revolution Mad and Junkyard Dog were heavy, you havent heard anything yet. Starts light but gets darker and angrier as the song goes on, with the mid-song chorus and the outro showing lots of power in Kip's vocals, though the song is still relatively accesible. No Man's Land-The only other song that's close to "commercial" here, but still a good tune that should have been a single. The "too fast to live, too young to die" lyrics make me wonder if this was about the pop-metal scene and their fast-living life. Like a Ritual-This one is the only one that doesnt do much for me. Played and sung well, but I just cant connect with it. This is also probably the most sexual Winger song (yes, even moreso than Seventeen). Who's The One-We close the (US) release with a more serious acoustic song. Some good harmonies. The only complaint is that the playing starts getting a little "samey" as the track goes on. Hell To Pay (Japanses version)-This song was written as a response to Lars throwing the darts at the poster of Winger, but I wonder if this was also aimed at all the rock critics who refused to take them seriously. Pure rage in the vocals, and even the guitars have a tougher sound. This would be the final Winger release until 2005, as they broke up a year after this album's release, and Kip started releasing some very different sounding solo albums (which I'll be covering next).
