Metal Health by Quiet Riot

Metal Health, released on Pasha in 1983, is Quiet Riot's third album and the one that finally took them beyond Los Angeles: their first to get a worldwide release, and the first with guitarist Carlos Cavazo and drummer Frankie Banali alongside singer Kevin DuBrow and bassist Rudy Sarzo. Spencer Proffer produced, and he gives the band a sound as blunt and shiny as a chrome bumper, all gang-shout choruses and squealing leads.

The stomping cover of Slade's "Cum on Feel the Noize" and the title track were the hits, and the album made history: it became the first heavy metal record to reach number one on the Billboard 200, knocking The Police's Synchronicity off the top, and went six times platinum in the US. Plenty of people date the whole hair metal boom from right here.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.