Winger - Winger (1988)

Posted By : toejam | Date : 11 May 2009 03:17:00 | Comments : 4 |

Winger - Winger
EAC - FLAC IMG | CUE & LOG | 306MB RAR'D - 3% REVOVERY | RS LINKS
ALL SCANS INCLUDED | ORIGINAL RELEASE 1988 - THIS RELEASE 1990

This is a great album. But it's not the typical 80's hair metal. This is very well played and the guys could write amazing hooks. This thing rocks from start to finish.

In the wave of hair metal that was coming out, one of the harder ones was Winger, which strongly benefited from guitarist Reb Beach's crunching guitar and with all band members accompanying bassist Kip Winger in the chorus and pre-chorus segments. His vocal register is high like David Coverdale, and there are times when he emulates Robert Plant's banshee-like yelps. Other times, imagine if Jon Bon Jovi had the bestial intensity of Gene Simmons. He sounds like that when he's belting'em out.

Since Winger was marketed largely on the looks of lead singer Kip Winger, and since their sleazy rockers and lovelorn ballads cover the same old pop-metal territory, the band's high-quality musicianship tended to get overlooked. Guitarist Reb Beach earned wide praise from other musicians, and he, ex-Dixie Dregs drummer Rod Morgenstein, and keyboardist Paul Taylor bring a distinct progressive metal influence to many of the tunes on Winger. Even if the lyrics are standard issue, the album is impeccably composed, crafted, and played, with melodies, riffs, and guitar solos taking off in unexpected directions and keeping the listener slightly off balance -- no easy task in the cookie-cutter hair metal genre. The only misstep is an overdone, tight-assed, totally misguided recasting of "Purple Haze." Otherwise, Winger is a surprisingly accomplished debut. -allmusic

Tracks:
01. Madalaine [3:44]
02. Hungry [3:58]
03. Seventeen [4:05]
04. Without The Night [5:04]
05. Purple Haze [3:39]
06. State Of Emergency [3:37]
07. Time To Surrender [4:10]
08. Poison Angel [3:24]
09. Hangin On [3:35]
10. Headed For A Heartbreak [5:13]
11. Higher And Higher [3:18]