Y&T
Ultimate Collection
Hip-O
Originally calling themselves “Yesterday and Today” from The Beatles album, after their first several releases, this band became Y&T when they signed to A&M Records in the early eighties. The bulk of this collection is drawn from their stint from the eighties to the mid nineties. This covers the same time period as many other acts who arose to prominence and then either imploded or faded away with one-hit wonders. Yet Y&T soldiered on, and despite breaking up in the nineties, continues to play occasional one-off gigs. Occupying the musical terrain similarly occupied by bands such as Van Halen, Whitesnake, Journey, and a host of others, what seemed to separate them from their peers was their inability to score a hit. While many of their contemporaries rode the charts to great success, Y&T only brushed against success in the mid-eighties, with their track “Summertime Girls.”
Unfairly lumped together with what became known as “hair bands,” Y&T preferred to play music that was really just hard rock. In terms of their overall sound, they had much more in common with an act like AC/DC than acts such as Poison. Once relegated to such a category, the band found it difficult to appeal to an audience other than their loyal group of followers. On this release, the band displays their prowess and chops that clearly indicates they deserved their shot at the ring. They blaze through seventeen anthemic rockers without any filler. If there is anything missing, it is that they were unable to include any tracks from their time as “Yesterday and Today.” In an era where popular music is constrained by execrable boy bands, in some ways it is refreshing to be reminded of a time when pop music wasn’t a dumping ground of maudlin sentiment or bellicose whining.
Universal Musical Enterprises, 2220 Colorado Ave., Santa Monica, CA 90404; http://www.hip-o.com
