Y & T - Facemelter

Well, after 13 years of studio album silence, one of my favorite hard rock/metal bands has made it back into my stereo with a a supply of new tunes. In 2003/2004 they released a bunch of unreleased songs on the two volume Unearthed releases, which was great in itself, as it was basically equivalent to have new music from the band; but 2010 brings us the real thing. The boys are back, and they still have the chops, even after 35 years of making music.

Singer/guitarist Dave Meniketti has released a couple excellent blues rock albums over the years, but this is a band effort, with original members Dave and Phil Kennemore, and long time members John Nymann (guitar) and Mike Vanderhule (drums). The band has been doing this since the 70's and the talent sure shows.

Y & T has been unfortunate in not being more well recognized for their work. They were a great influence to many "big name" bands of the 80's hair metal days, but they themselves never reached the same stardom. Not sure why, because their catalog of releases is fill to the brim with classic rockers and shakers. But oh well, I am just glad they are back with some new stuff.

Per the band's MySpace page, the album title comes from:

Face-melting is a term that has been with Y & T since the mid-'70s, when a rabid fan ran backstage and told the band, "you melted my face," which inspired the group's first publishing company: "Facemelting Music." Well, to me, face melting would be some blistering hot metal, which this is not. This is exactly what you would expect from the Bay area boys, amazing melodic hard rock, a does of blues, and just enough metallic edge to make it interesting.

Opening the album is a kind of lame silly sideshow piece (though the music underneath is cool) before blazing into "On with the Show," which is a high energy rocker and a great opener, where Nymann shows his comfort with the fretboard as he blazes through riff after riff and a tasteful lead. Harder edged highlights also include "I'm Coming Home," "I Want Your Money," "Hot Shot," "Blind Patriot," and the closing track, "One Life." The rest fall in between good solid bluesy mid-tempo rockers, and the occasional obligatory ballad.


Let's just say that song-wise the band has matured, lyrically and musically. Yet not too much of a maturity to not occasionally slip into the less mature (it is rock and roll after all) on such tunes as "Gonna Go Blind." I would say, this album ranks up there with the classics like "Black Tiger" and "Mean Streak" without sounding at all "dated."

Modern rockers may not grasp on enjoy the musical journey presented here, but long term fans will love this slab of rock-you-face-off fun.