Like the idea of recording a live album with a new material, but this material sub par Ted Nugent songs, it sounds like left over songs that in some cases do not even sound completed.

Other then three songs ULT already mentioned, there is not much to recommend from this Nugent platter, being that it is a Ted Nugent live album the energy level is way up there but the songs are not there. For completeist only.

I will spin my vinyl when I get home tonight anyway, since it has been ages since I played this LP

Ted Nugent - Great Gonzos! The Best of Ted Nugent (Epic) 1981/1999

1. "Cat Scratch Fever" (3:40)
2. "Just What the Doctor Ordered" (3:43)
3. "Free For All" (3:21)
4. "Dog Eat Dog" (4:02)
5. "Motor City Madhouse" (4:32)
6. "Paralyzed" (4:09)
7. "Stranglehold" (8:22)
8. "Baby Please Don't Go" [live] (6:00)
9. "Wango Tango" (4:50)
10. "Wang Dang Sweet Poontang" [live] (6:26)
BONUS TRACKS (1999 Remastered version)
11. "Yank Me, Crank Me" [live] (4:39)
12. "Homebound" [instrumental] (4:41)
13. "Give Me Just a Little" (3:49)

There's not really much to say about this release. By the beginning of the 80's, the Motor City Madman was still a big concert draw and he was about to switch management and change labels from Epic to Atlantic. Ted had always been the crazy metal madman in the 70's, but in the 80's heavy metal was beginning to take on a different form.

"Great Gonzos!" was Epic's attempt to cash in on the "best of" boom in the early 1980's. Aerosmith's "Greatest Hits" was a huge mega-seller. I don't exactly know how "Great Gonzos!" fared as far as sales, but it is a good collection of songs from the early years of Ted's solo career. I never really cared much about the original release as it contained nothing I didn't already own from Ted.

In 1999 when Sony re-released the CD with bonus tracks, including one new song, the Ted fanatic in me couldn't pass it up for the one new track. "Give Me Just A Little" was co-written by Ted with ex-Journey guitarist Neal Schon and his Damn Yankees bandmates Jack Blades and Tommy Shaw. However, I still managed to avoid buying this cash cow for quite some time by purchasing the highly collectible "Give Me Just A Little" CD/radio single instead. Of course being a Nugent fanatic, I eventually purchased a copy of the remastered CD, as well as an original vinyl pressing of the 1981 release.

Not a bad collection and it sold very well, like ULT stated Epic where trying to cash in on the greatest hits boom of the early 80's which was kicked off by the best selling Aerosmith and Doors comp.

I like it and listen to it once in awhile and serves as a good intro to a newbie Ted Nugent fan.

great cover shot of The Nuge

the song selection flows pretty well for a comp.

Nugent (Atlantic) 1982

1. "No, No, No" (3:38)
2. "Bound and Gagged" (4:32)
3. "Habitual Offender" (3:06)
4. "Fightin' Words" (4:01)
5. "Good and Ready" (4:20)
6. "Ebony" (4:30)
7. "Don't Push Me" (2:33)
8. "Can't Stop Me Now" (2:34)
9. "We're Gonna Rock Tonight" (3:20)
10. "Tailgunner" (7:00)

"Nugent" was Ted's first release for Atlantic Records. It is one of the
most underrated albums in his catalog, in my opinion. 'Nugent' is also
the last great Nugent disc for some time as the 1980's sound would soon
hurt the powerful Nugent style for the next two records. "Tailgunner,"
my favorite song on this disc is a seven minute guitar romp. "Bound
& Gagged" is a political song, something that would become a staple
of Ted's from here on out. "No, No, No" and "Habitual Offender" are
equally good rockers.

"Nugent" also marks the return of vocalist Derek St. Holmes. Both Derek
and Ted have the strongest voices of anyone to have sang on a Nugent
album thus far.

For a long time this CD was out of print and was fairly hard to find,
but in 2001 Spitfire Records released this disc along with the rest of
Nugent's 1980's catalogue. The re-release version is remastered and has a
extensive booklet.

I like this album but not as much as ULT does. it was nice to see the return of Derek St. Holmes and veteran drummer Carmine Appice on drums. The album has more radio friendly feel to the album, more so then his past albums at this point. Produced by Nugent himself, the songs such as 'No No No' and 'Tailgunner' are great songs and if this album had been released in 1984 or 85, then I am convienced Nugent would have another platinum album on his hands.

Some of the tracks IMO do not benefit for this slick production, such as 'Bound and Gagged' which is I take it Nugent's tongue in cheek jab at the departed Carter Presidency in his handling the Iran hostage crisis. 'Fightin' Word' and 'Good and Ready' could have easily fit on his earlier releases, and 'Ebony' is just a silly song.

Overall not a bad album but it begins a slide toward not so stellar material and a decline in album sales that would not halt til 'If You Can't Lick 'em...' album.

Of course it does not help that Ted Nugent was signed to Atlantic records who did not know how to see heavy metal/hard rock unless the bands name happened to be AC/DC or Led Zeppelin.

"Tailgunner" is a song I wish Nugent would resurrect and start performing live again. Of course, without St. Holmes on vocals it may not have the same umph! The song has a similar vibe to Stormtroopin' and Smokescreen IMO.

I re-listened to the CD last night and it is better than I remembered and the song 'Bound and Gagged' may have a political slant to it but it also has a sense of humor to it.

I like the song 'Ebony' but the lyrics are really silly, granted the lyrics are not meant to be taken seriously plus the song happens to be about Nugent's favorite subjects: chics

Atlantic Records dropped the ball on this album, during the revival of metal this album should have sold better, during this time I believe he was still headlining arenas here and Europe so I really do not get how this album failed commerically.

That's a lovely set of high heels Ted's sportin' on the cover.

I have a pair of snakeskin boots just like 'em. Use to wear 'em all the time. Wore them only once on stage, then never again. To hard to do windmills and headbang.

Ted Nugent - Penetrator (Atlantic) 1984

1. "Tied up in Love" (4:24)
2. "(Where Do You) Draw the Line" (3:27)
3. "Knockin' at Your Door" (3:54)
4. "Don't You Want My Love" (3:30)
5. "Go Down Fighting" (4:40)
6. "Thunder Thighs" (4:07)
7. "No Man's Land" (3:24)
8. "Blame It on the Night" (4:11)
9. "Lean Mean R&R Machine" (4:00)
10. "Take Me Home" (5:04)

Stuck in the middle of the glossy 80’s metal scene, Ted Nugent now hated the term “heavy metal” and said so in just about every interview he did, especially with the tons of metal magazines he was interviewed in. Ted’s gonzo rock could not be defined by the term. However, there is not doubt that Ted was a bit lost in the crowd by this time. As such, Penetrator sounds like an album of the times, and indeed it was. However, the reviews were relatively postive. I have an old copy of KERRANG with Nugent on the cover and they give the album a killer review.

Here was my review from NLTM:

This is not Ted Nugent. This was aliens who were pretending to be Ted trying to take over the world with their 80's pop rock crap. It has to be the case because the keyboards drown out the guitars. (NO! Say it ain't so!) Seriously, if it didn't say Ted Nugent on the cover, I never would have guessed it was the Motor City Madman, except for perhaps the five second guitar solo opening. Other than that, where are the gonzo guitar antics? Where is the blazing leads, the extended jam songs, where are the balls? Ahhhhh! Run away, run away!

OK, seriously though, there are some redeeming moments on "Penetrator" such as the boogie-rocker "No Man's Land", the Nugent-esque rocker "Thunder Thighs" and the bluesy "Take Me Home". Also, there are some pretty choice licks buried underneath the keyboards on "Tied Up In Love". "Tied Up In Love" is actually a pretty catchy song and should have been a radio hit in '84. Likewise "Draw the Line" is a pretty strong pop rocker, despite the gloss of the recording. This particular song was written by Bryan Adams and songwriter Jim Valance, who has also written some hits for Aerosmith. Vocalist Brian Howe has a strong, slightly raspy voice and sounds great on this 80's sounding pop stuff. Still, this is Ted Nugent. If some of this material had been released under a different band name, such as Ted did only a couple years later with the Damn Yankees, some of these songs could have been hits.

The first time I saw Ted Nugent live was on this tour. This is the worst Nugent album, IMO. Like you stated aliens most of come down because alot of these songs are watered down pop songs unworthy of the name Nugent.

That being said 'Tied Up In Love' is a great song with tons of killer Nugent guitar fills through out the song. Brian Howe, sounds great on the song and this was my introduction to the future Bad Company vocalist. "Thunder Thighs' is a funny song, 'Take Me Home' is another cool mellow tune. 'Where Do You Draw the Line' is horrid and "Lean Mean Rock n Roll Machine' plain out sucks.

Ted Nugent did not want to be lumped in with the L.A. glamsters and I have feeling that is why he was so anti-metal at the time, but I am guessing not sure if that is true or not.

Ted Nugent, like Aerosmith and Alice Cooper, should have been posed for a major comeback and this album was somewhat success, thankfully since he is a metal artist (despite what he says) and metal fans are as loyal as they come, he still managed a success tour.

I am going to spin it again tonight and see if my opinions on certain songs have changed. In the right mood it is ok, but by Nugent standards this album is a huge disappointment.

I remember when the album was released - the local radio station used to play new albums on Sunday nights. One album was Penetrator, they played it the Sunday before it was released in stores. I, of course, made a cassette tape of it to listen to. I remember thinking it was OK but not great at the time. I have yet to upgrade this one to CD. Thanks for posting clips Ult, now I remember what it sounded like!

Ted Nugent - Little Miss Dangerous (Atlantic) 1986

1. "High Heels in Motion" (3:34)
2. "Strangers" (3:45)
3. "Little Miss Dangerous" (4:46)
4. "Savage Dancer" (3:50)
5. "Crazy Ladies" (3:38)
6. "When Your Body Talks" (3:12)
7. "Little Red Book" (3:02)
8. "Take Me Away" (3:00)
9. "Angry Young Man" (3:54)
10. "Painkiller" (5:51)

Ted is still dabbling in 80's pop-rock on this platter, but "Little Miss Dangerous" is still 100x better than it's predecessor. At least on this disc, the keyboards aren't mixed above the guitars. As a matter of fact, "Little Miss Dangerous" and "Painkiller" are both Nugent classics. "Little Miss Dangerous," the song, is actually one of my all time Nugent favorites. The song is slow and has a nasty groove to it with some mean guitar solos. I was lucky enough to catch this one live a few times. It's noteworthy that all the good songs on this disc were written by Nugent himself, without the help of Sony's "professional" songwriters. I'd be willing to bet that Sony had a big part in the change in style on these last two albums.

Anyhow, I still really enjoy this disc and it does frequent my CD player, despite the fact that it is not on the same level as Nugent's 70's outputs. For a long time this disc was out of print and relatively hard to find, but in 2002 Spitfire Records remastered and re-released all for Atlantic recordings. The logo was changed on the reissue to the classic Nugent logo.

Oh, one other thing, there is a hilarious picture of Ted with a mohawk on the inside cover.

And just for fun, a cool video of Aerosmith and Ted Nugent jamming 'Milk
Cow Blues' together at Cal Jam II in 1978.



Man, is Tyler wasted in this video. I don't even think he knew that Ted was on the stage.

'Little Miss Dangerous' is a major improvement over his previous album despite the fact that Nugent is still flirting with the pop metal sound of its day. The title track and 'Painkiller' are classics, and I even like the pop metal songs on this LP. such as 'High Heels In Motion' 'When Your Body Talks' and 'Take Me Away'

'Little Red Book' is not a bad cover tune but maybe a little too poppy, and 'Angry Young Man' is not a bad tune. Not a classic Nugent platter but it is a good album which sold very well, and the title track was used in espiode of Miami Vice where pop metal vocalist had the guest role, and also at this time Ted Nugent played on a different episode of Miami Vice playing a vicious drug dealer.

Seems to not be a whole lot of interest in the Nug's catalog at this point besides myself and you manny.

I'll give it another day and go on with "If You Can't Lick 'Em" and then Nugent's first concert video "New Year's Eve Whiplash Bash".

As a side note:

Quote:

Whitford/St. Holmes (Columbia) 1981 1. "I Need Love" (3:18) 2. "Whiskey Woman" (3:51) 3. "Hold On" (3:00) 4. "Sharpshooter" (5:29) 5. "Every Morning" (4:40) 6. "Action" (3:45) 7. "Shy Away" (4:12) 8. "Does It Really Matter?" (4:25) 9. "Spanish Boy" (4:09) 10."Mystery Girl" (3:19) In 1981, Aerosmith's second guitarist left to persue a solo career. (Albeit a short lived one.) Brad Whitford hooked up with Ted Nugent vocalist/rhythm guitarist Derek St. Holmes. Rounding out the lineup were bassist David Hewett and drummer Steve Pace. Of course everybody, including myself, compared this to Aerosmith and Ted Nugent, but this album is no where near as good as albums like "Rocks," "Toys in the Attic," "Ted Nugent" or "Cat Scratch Fever." That being said, this isn't a bad album either. It is a good collection of arena rock/metal songs with a good amount of commercial hooks. "Sharpshooter" is an exceptional commercial metal song and others like "Whiskey Woman" and "Spanish Boy" are just good rock and roll songs. Probably not an album that would appease the masses, but for Aerosmith and Ted Nugent fans, this album was/is a real treat.

That is too bad IMo he is one of the most important and turns out one of the most ignored metal (yes that's right I said metal!) of the 70's. I wonder if his politics have kept him from getting his proper due, I hate his politics but as far as I am concerned that has nothing to do with his music or his standing in METAL history.

I feel that Ted Nugent, in terms of American metal, he is important to development of the genre, and should be named along side Aerosmith, Alice Cooper, Kiss, and Van Halen