Rocktrospectiva: The Rocker "Damn Yankees" Turns 35

Released on 13 March 1990 "Damn Yankees" was the self-titled album by the US hard rock band released by Warner Bros. Records on March 13, 1990. The album spawned featured the chart topping hits as "High Enough", "Come Again", and "Coming of Age" and also "Runaway" & "Bad Reputation".

 

The Damn Yankees, they did manage to rekindle the spirit of 1970s and '80s rock with each of their talents, at least to some extent. Damn Yankees took the unblemished, radio rock ballad "High Enough" to its deserving number three spot on the singles chart, "Coming of Age" is the album's second-best track, which has the band rocking out without going over the edge and sounding too contrived. The rest of the album finds the group reliving their glory days, which is to be expected, and tracks like "Runaway" and "Come Again" come through as avid little rockers. 

 

Only "Piledriver" and "Rock City" sound silly and pushed, most likely influenced by Nugent himself. As the 1990s approached, the slick sound of guitar rock may have been dwindling, but Damn Yankees do a fine job at keeping it alive at least for a little while. By the time their next album was released, the decade had no room for their brand of arena rock, which sounded more passé than ever before, despite a decent sounding single which kicked it off.

The predominant direction is radio-ready hard rock circa the time. Even though all these guys had been around for a while, the lead single “Coming of Age” was musically impeccable for hard pop rock.  Lyrically, there is nothing of any value here, just meaningless male drivel.  The Van-Hagar like licks of “Coming of Age” are enhanced by the aggressive lead guitar work of Terrible Ted, who probably thought the lyrics were pure poetry.

The bluesy riff of “Bad Reputation” screams Nugent, but the vocals of Blades and Shaw blend as if they have always been a vocal team.  Of course as we all know, Damn Yankees led to a long and very productive partnership for the two, with Shaw-Blades being a personal favourite album.  The most remarkable thing about Damn Yankees is indeed the blend of vocals.  Just listen to that bridge in the middle of “Bad Reputation”.  Two rock singers rarely complement each other as well as Shaw and Blades.  But just when you thought it was going too folksy, Ted returns with a fluttering blitzkreig of strings and (probably) freshly killed meat. "Runaway" features some of Shaw’s great slide guitar work, on a mid-tempo rocker with an unforgettable anthemic chorus.  Damn Yankees is often forgotten for its guitar work.  Think about it though:  Tommy Shaw and Ted Nugent are two of America’s best from the old school.  While the songs are simple pop rock, the solos are simply awesome.

By the time fall 1990 it was time to drop a ballad for a single "High Enough",  there were a number of acoustic ballads that were all very similar sounding, but there is no better way to describe “High Enough” than “sounds like summer 1990”.  Unfortunately it does not stand out or have any qualities that make it more memorable than the other ballads out that year.  

The band’s namesake track "Damn Yankees" sounds like a Nugent song.  It has a chunky, ballsy riff, though nothing to write home to mother about.  Unfortunately the lyrics are terribly dated, the kind of pro-American intervention sentiment that went out fashion many years ago.  On "Mystified", Ted brings the blues while Tommy gets down on the pedal steel.  This is a great little blues rock jam of the kind ZZ Top are comfortable with.  I’m certain Rev. Billy would approve of the Nuge’s blues licks, authentic as they come.

"Rock City" ain’t bad at all, accelerated for your pleasure and name-dropping Jimmy Page in the lyrics.  It’s not the heaviest song on the album — they save that for the end — but it’s definitely second.  There is little doubt, based on interviews with the band, that the heaviness came from Ted.  Let’s all take a moment now to thank Ted Nugent for rocking so damn hard.  Penultimate track "Tell Me How You Want It" is a pretty good mid-tempo song, with classy vocals from Tommy and Jack.  Had they released more singles from the album, this one would have been up for the job. And then finally you got "Piledriver" is just a dumb sex song, but it’s also pure Gonzo Ted, the Ted you knew was hiding somewhere on this album.  

The album still sounds entertaining, but real flaw is on the lyric sheet too many corny or many stupid and dated songs but effective back then when power ballad was at their top. 

 

Damn Yankees Track List: 

 

1. Coming Of An Age

2. Bad Reputation

3. Runaway

4. High Enough

5. Damn Yankees

6. Come Again

7. Mystified

8. Rock City

9. Tell Me How You Want It

10. Piledriver