Guilty Pleasures

by Greg PratoBy the early 21st century, Quiet Riot's best-known lineup (from their Metal Health/Condition Critical era) had reassembled. And with nostalgia suddenly rising for bands from the bygone hair metal era, the group couldn't have picked a better time to get back together for live gigs, as well as an all-new studio outing, 2001's Guilty Pleasures. Compared to releases at the time from other similarly styled/reunited groups (Ratt, L.A. Guns, etc.), Guilty Pleasures is a cut above. In fact, it's easily Quiet Riot's strongest release in ages. You can't help but think that if this was the album issued as the follow-up to Metal Health (instead of the so-so Condition Critical), the group's heyday would have been elongated. While admittedly there's nothing here that will do battle with blink-182 and Britney Spears for the top of the singles charts (in fact, their obvious attempt at a single, "Rock the House," fails miserably), the first two tracks -- "Vicious Circle" and "Feel the Pain" -- are definitely Metal Health worthy. Also, you have to give Quiet Riot credit for sticking to their identifiable sound, and not going the route of Def Leppard and Mötley Crüe, who erroneously attempted to update their sound around this time.