DAMN YANKEES Vinyl Records and CDs

Oh, power ballad, where have you gone? And hit-making supergroups -- you, too, have scurried off like an unclean thing into the night. That's why Damn Yankees are like a breath of...well, some kind of air. You've got plenty of big names here: Styx's Tommy Shaw, Jack Blades from Night Ranger, some studio drummer guy, and (hold onto your six-shooters, folks) the paragon of American values, Mr. Ted Nugent. He pretty much keeps to lead guitar, though, letting Shaw and Blades trade off on vocal duties. Still, it's hard to imagine Nugent not having a big role in the lyrical development of songs such as the jingoistic "Don't Tread on Me." Apart from these hopelessly dated power ballads, Damn Yankees occasionally rock out like only four professional arena rockers can.