Great Rock Albums of 1979- Ted Nugent- State of Shock

This album has a bit of irony to it for me. As you have probably read many times until your sick to death of it now, I spent three months of 1979 in musical isolation. Actually it was Marine Corps boot camp at Parris Island, South Carolina, known in the film “Full Metal Jacket” as the home for the crazy brave. At the time, many of us referred to it as the land of sun and sandfleas. I digress. During those three months, I had no information of what music was coming out. Then one night, I pulled a guard duty where a radio was playing nearby. I was able to listen to it and several times during my duty, there was an advertisement for tickets to see Ted Nugent’s always kick ass live show in Savannah, Georgia. I concluded that he must have a new album out and when I went home on leave, five weeks later, I saw the “State of Shock” album at my local store.

When I first heard the album all of those long years ago, I thought it was brilliant, although it could be said that it was because I was musically starved at the time. Killer tracks like “Paralyzed” and “Satisfied” still come to mind and show what a true artist Ted Nugent is and how he can wail on a guitar like very few people could both then and now. The problem for me is time, having refamiliarised myself with the album, I am now in the mind that it doesn’t quite live up to the knock out punch of “Cat Scratch Fever,” Weekend Warriors” or the later “Scream Dream.” Still, there is nothing wrong with the album, it is still a great album with some fine guitar work from the master himself.

Track Listing:

1. Paralyzed

2. Take It Or Leave It

3. Alone

4. It Don’t Matter

5. State of Shock

6. I  Want To Tell You

7. Satisfied

8. Bite Down Hard

9. Snake Charmer

10. Saddle Sore

Ted Nugent

Ted Nugent- lead guitar, vocals

Charlie Huhn- rhythm guitar, lead and backing vocals

Walt Monaghan- bass

Cliff Davies- drums, backing vocals

Let’s not get into an argument on whether “State of Shock” compares to some of the other Ted Nugent classics. It is a good album and for me, it was a great reintroduction back into music after being deprived of it for so long.

Next Post: Triumph- Just a Game

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