833. Y&T / Mean Streak. 1983. 4/5

Back in 1986 when the fabled weekend of the "Music Video" program on Australian TV was dedicated to heavy metal music videos, one of those that became a favourite for me was the video for Y&T's "Mean Streak".  The song and video both caught my attention immediately, and from that point the song became a hit for me. However, it wasn't until a little under two years later, as I rummaged around in one of my favourite haunts, Illawarra Books & Records, that I came across a copy of the album of the same name, and my hand couldn't get to my wallet fast enough to pay for it.

OK, so Y&T aren't the heaviest band around, and to be honest it was as much a surprise to me that I loved this album as much as I did at that time, when my main focus was the giants and heavier bands such as Iron Maiden, Metallica and Megadeth. But it was my first year of university, and my wide-ranging search for new music and new bands was incorporating subtle differences in genres. Y&T, and MEAN STREAK in particular, fitted very nicely into this bracket, the kind of album I could put on and just let flow across whatever mood I was in at the time. It wasn't straight out aggression. It had those wonderful Meniketti vocals layered over the terrific rhythm section of Kennemore and Hazes and the great guitars of Alves and Meniketti himself. This blended their 1970's roots as found on their eponymous debut album with the harder sound specified in the drums and guitar that had been building over each album.
"Mean Streak" is still the star of this show, with its mercurial guitar riff, hard hitting drums and spitting lyrics. I may be biased but this is just a great song, and a great opening to the album itself. For the most part, the rest of the album is an either 'take it or leave it' proposition. Some will find that it is a bit the same all the way through, with lyrically similar themes cropping up and not a huge amount of variety in the song writing. I can forgive the majority of that for two main reasons. Firstly, the upbeat style of the songs keeps the album moving without getting too bogged down in complicated timings and technicalities. The musicianship is good, and Meniketti's vocals always smooth over anything that might be remotely out of the ordinary. "Lonely Side of Town" and "Hang 'Em High" are two great examples here. A number of the songs are very middle of the road, almost 'easy listening' kind of material, in a hard rock way rather than a country or pop way. Songs like "Take You To the Limit" and "Sentimental Fool" fall into this section, which doesn't make them unlikeable, given you enjoy the album ad the band's style of music. Secondly, I have had this album for a long time now, and it got a hammering when I first bought it, and was on heavy rotation for at least a two year period, so all of these songs are ingrained in me to a level where I don't really hear anything that I don't like. It's an historic relic for me, and one I love partly for the nostalgia it brings whenever I listen to it now.

Y&T is one of those bands that, like Night Ranger, could and should have been bigger than they have ever become. Both have albums that should be considered classics, but perhaps just lack those last vital ingredients that could make them timeless. Mean Streak is like that for me, an album i still love to this day, and enjoy anytime I put it on, but just needed something else in the mix which may have propelled it to a higher plane. Despite that, still a great favourite for me.

Rating:  Spends your money so fast that you never see the green.  4/5