''Mean Streak'' is the fifth studio album by American heavy metal band Y&T, released in 1983 through

A&M Records A&M Records was an American record label founded as an independent company by Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss in 1962. Due to the success of the discography A&M released, the label garnered interest and was acquired by PolyGram in 1989 and began distr ...

. Major hits include "Midnight in Tokyo" (inspired by the band's live show in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

), "Sentimental Fool", and the opening track, "Mean Streak". The album peaked at number 103 on the Billboard 200 on October 27, 1983. This was the third of five studio albums released by A&M Records for Y&T.

Critical reception

Loudwire ''Loudwire'' is an American online media magazine that covers news of hard rock and heavy metal artists. It is owned by media and entertainment business Townsquare Media. Since its launch in August of 2011, ''Loudwire'' has secured exclusive ...

'' ranked the album at number 28 on their list of the Top 30

hair metal Hair is a protein filament that grows from hair follicle, follicles found in the dermis. Hair is one of the defining characteristics of mammals. The human body, apart from areas of glabrous skin, is covered in follicles which produce thick ter ...

albums.

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

said the

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a loosely defined subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the garage, psychedelic and blues rock movements. Some of the earliest hard ...

album was a disappointment to the band's fans who knew that their live shows were much better. ''

Metal Forces ''Metal Forces'' is a British publication founded in 1983 which promotes the music genres heavy metal and hard rock. ''Metal Forces'' was well known for its coverage of unsigned bands through its ''Demolition'' feature and championed the likes of ...

'' and

Blabbermouth.net Blabbermouth.net is a website dedicated to heavy metal and hard rock news, as well as album and music DVD reviews. Blabbermouth.net was founded and is run by Borivoj Krgin. The first version of the website was launched in March 2001; in October ...

called out the combination of hard rock and heavy metal songs on the album, with Blabbermouth praising the title track as the band's best song.

Track listing

Personnel

Y&T

Dave Meniketti David Alan Meniketti (born December 12, 1953) is the singer, songwriter and lead guitarist for hard rock/ heavy metal band Y&T. He has also released three solo efforts (including "Live in Japan"), one of which is more blues-oriented. He curren ...

–

lead guitar Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featur ...

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of t ...

*Joey Alves –

rhythm guitar In music performances, rhythm guitar is a technique and role that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with other instruments from the rhythm section (e.g., drum kit, bass guitar ...

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are use ...

*Phil Kennemore – bass,

Moog Taurus The Moog Taurus is a foot-operated analog synthesizer designed and manufactured by Moog Music, originally conceived as a part of the Constellation series of synthesizers. The initial Taurus I was manufactured from 1975 to 1981; a less popular re ...

pedals *Leonard Haze –

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

Production

Chris Tsangarides Christopher Andrew Tsangarides (17 August 1956 – 6 January 2018) was a British Grammy-nominated record producer, sound engineer, and mixer of Greek Cypriot origin. He was best known for his work with many heavy metal artists, including G ...

– producer, first engineer *Mike Herbick, Richie Corsello – second engineers *Nigel James – arranger *Scott Boorey – assistant engineer *

Bernie Grundman Bernie Grundman is an American audio engineer. He is most known for his mastering work and his studio, Bernie Grundman Mastering, which he opened in 1984 in Hollywood. The studio, which includes engineers Chris Bellman, Patricia Sullivan, and Mi ...

– mastering *Chuck Beeson – art direction *

John Taylor Dismukes John Taylor Dismukes is an artist, whose work has appeared in a variety of media. Biography John Taylor Dismukes began his career as an illustrator in the city of Hollywood, California. Dismukes had established the JTD & Associates company in th ...

– front cover illustration *Mike Fink – rear cover design *Larry Du Pont – rear cover photo tinting

Charts

References

{{Authority control Y&T albums Albums produced by Chris Tsangarides A&M Records albums 1983 albums Glam metal albums