Quiet Riot - Metal Health
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The album that changed everything. Released on March 11, 1983 on Pasha Records and produced by Spencer Proffer, Metal Health is one of the most consequential records in the history of hard rock, the album that proved beyond any doubt that heavy metal could conquer the mainstream, opening the door for a genre-defining decade of music that followed directly in its wake.
The story behind it is as compelling as the record itself. Quiet Riot had been grinding away for years, releasing two albums available only in Japan and losing their co-founding guitarist Randy Rhoads to Ozzy Osbourne and, tragically, to an early death in 1982. Singer Kevin DuBrow rebuilt the band around drummer Frankie Banali, guitarist Carlos Cavazo, and bassist Rudy Sarzo, and the resulting lineup was the one that would make history. The band were initially reluctant to record their cover of Slade's 1973 hit "Cum On Feel the Noize," and recorded it in a single take with minimal effort, which is precisely why it sounds as alive and unstoppable as it does. Released as a single in August 1983, it became the first heavy metal song to crack the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number five. The album followed it to the top of the Billboard 200 in November 1983, replacing The Police's Synchronicity and becoming the first heavy metal album in history to reach number one. On November 26, 1983, Quiet Riot became the first heavy metal band ever to hold a top five single and a number one album in the same week.
The closing track "Thunderbird" adds a poignant dimension to the album, a tribute to Randy Rhoads written when DuBrow was still mourning the loss of his longtime friend and bandmate. It is a reminder that beneath the anthems and the party rock, Metal Health was also deeply personal.
The album sold over six million copies in the United States and more than ten million worldwide, achieving six-times platinum certification from the RIAA. This 2024 reissue on Epic/Legacy brings one of the great landmark records of the era back to vinyl where it belongs.