Y&T – Facemelter (2010)
The return of 80s metal icons Y&T with a brand new album is something that had most fans salivating. After not releasing a new record since the 1990s, everyone was curious to see what the band could do in the studio. Their brand new record, Facemelter, is up for a tough test. Can a hard rock band that’s been silent from new material for more than a decade still deliver the goods? Dave Meniketti and company went into the studio to find out.
Facemelter starts out with a lot of promise. Although the intro “Prelude, On With The Show”, sounds like a rip off of Motley Crue’s “God Bless The Children Of The Beast”, the song “On With The Show” rocks hard and starts the record off right. Blazing guitar riffs combined with superb vocals by Meniketti solidify “On With The Show” as a spectacular album opener.
Classic 80s metal saturates Facemelter. Every song has either a large helping of 80s metal style, or at least a touch of the classic metal feel. “Shine On” is an example of 80s rock recaptured. This song sounds like it could have (and maybe should have) come out in 1989. Starting with a sweet, slow Meniketti riff, the drums build until Shine On explodes in classic guitar solos, hot vocals, and heavy rock. This is one of the strongest songs on the record, even if it feels a little dated.
Despite stealing Foreigner’s signature riff (RE: “Hot Blooded”), “Hot Shot” is another great Facemelter track. The song opens with the “Hot Blooded” riff (albeit slightly altered) and then bleeds into a more Y&T type of sound. Singing about women, rock and roll, and having a drinking good time, Hot Shot is a classic, sleazy, sexual innuendo that makes older listeners yearn for the glory days of yesteryear.
“Gonna Go Blind” is the most entertaining track on Facemelter. A tongue-in-cheek ode to sexual fantasy and self pleasuring, “Gonna Go Blind” is a humorous track with a hard rock backdrop. Meniketti sings about how a certain leisure activity will make him go blind. He never says what that activity is, but he doesn’t need to. The listener is intelligent enough to figure out by the end of the first verse. He’s gonna go blind because he does it all the time.
Overall, Facemelter fails to live up to the test of being a blistering hard rock record. It’s not that this is a bad album, just not a fantastic one. There are moments of greatness on this album and a couple of the songs will even cause a smile, a fist in the air, and a head bang. Overall though, Facemelter lacks the punch that one would expect from a heavy metal record.
While the stronger songs definitely stand out (“Shine On”, “Gonna Go Blind”), there is also unfortunately too much filler (“I Want Your Money”, “Blind Patriot”) to help set this record apart from the massive amount of music that is currently available. If you are a fan of 80s metal, or Y&T, then you should pick up a copy of Facemelter. If you’re looking for some innovative hard rock to bang your head to for hours at end, don’t bother. Facemelter is an album that may end up collecting dust after a few spins.
Rating: 
Out of 10
Track Listing:
- Prelude, On With The Show
- On With The Show
- How Long
- Shine On
- I Want Your Money
- Wild Child
- I’m Coming Home
- If You Want Me
- Hot Shot
- Blind Patriot
- Don’t Bring Me Down
- Gonna Go Blind
- One Life
- Losing My Mind
Y&T Is:
Dave Meniketti – Lead Guitar, Lead Vocals
Phil Kennemore – Bass Guitar
John Nymann – Guitar
Mike Vanderhule – Drums
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Not a bad record, but it’s a shame the japanese bonus track is actually the best song on the album, and most people won’t ever hear it.
i am going to get this cd love Y&T they have aways been metal and allways will be METAL RULEZ