VARIOUS ARTISTS

Here's one for the old school hard rock lovers, the retro wannabes, and those who appreciate the kind of great music that one hears on your regional AOR station. "Mullets Rock Too!" is the follow-up to the aptly titled double-disc "Mullets Rock", itself inspired by the David Spade film epic Joe Dirt. Several of these tracks are timeless classics from the '70s and '80s, epitomizing melodies that last a lifetime and licks that are the stuff of marathon air-guitar jams.

The disc is divided into two halves: "Side Psyched", comprised of the heavier, upbeat fare and "Side Bummed", comprised of the mellower, heartbroken fare, in most cases what one would refer to as the power ballads. Beginning with "Side Bummed", one can break it down ever further. There are four ass kickin' monster jams: TED NUGENT's classic ode to the vagina, "Wang Dang Sweet Poontang" (some seriously ripping guitar here),JEFFERSON STARSHIP's "Jane" (a killer rock tune),ALDO NOVA's "Fantasy", and BLUE OYSTER CULT's "Burnin' For You". You cannot go wrong with that bunch. The same could be said for classic AOR cuts "I Just Want to Make Love To You" (FOGHAT's cover of the WILLIE DIXON tune),"More than a Feeling" (perhaps BOSTON's most well known song),and "Love Stinks" (J. GEILS BAND, an act whose '70s work is shamefully underrated). JOAN JETT & THE BLACKHEARTS' 1988 comeback of sorts, "I Hate Myself for Loving You" is a sassy tune with classic JETT attitude. ACE FREHLEY's cover of THE MOVE's "Do Ya" is a hoot as well. Finally, you get EDDIE MONEY's hit "Baby Hold On", which I'm sure many folks love, but I find to be…well…crap (he's got far better material).

And now we get into "Side Bummed" with a collection of tunes possessing similar staying power. The fact of the matter is that you'll not hear most metal dudes acknowledging a genuine like for the tracks until they've reached a stage of drunkenness defined by teary-eyed nostalgia and/or high praise for best friends (also known as the "I love you, man" stage). The all-time classics of the group include NAZARETH's "Love Hurts", which I happen to dislike, LYNYRD SKYNYRD's "Tuesday's Gone" (bow to the southern rock legends),and KANSAS' acoustic beauty "Dust in the Wind", a tune that you can hear Will Ferrell sing at Blue's funeral in the movie "Old School". Moving into true power ballad territory, CHEAP TRICK's massive hit "The Flame" is a tune that I don't tend to associate with the Rockford, Illinois legends; I can take it or leave it. REO SPEEDWAGON's "Take it on the Run" from the mega-platinum "High Infidelity" is certainly a fan favorite, but I'll take the band's '70s output any day. BONNIE TYLER's "Total Eclipse of the Heart" is a song I basically ignored until the scene from (one again) "Old School" in which the singer from the band playing Ferrell's wedding reception kept slipping F-bombs into the lyrics (hilarious). That aside, I couldn't care less. CINDERELLA, a group that has written better tunes than they get credit for, offers the quintessential hair metal ballad "Don't Know What You Got (Till it's Gone)". Finally, NIGHT RANGER hit "Sister Christian" is as hooky now as it was back in the day, and yes it's a good tune (come on, admit it).

I prefer the first "Mullets Rock" effort for its ass-kickin' quality from start to finish, but this one works too (especially 9 of the 10 tracks on Side Psyched),aside from a few throwaways. "Mullets Rock Too!" is a good way to shake off pretense and get your wallet-chain-wearin' groove on.