For me this is one of those albums I loved as a 13 year old, then outgrew for many years (aka thought I was too cool for something so massively popular and unapologetically hair metal) but have come again to appreciate with wiser ears.

It was their massive breakout, with “Photograph,” “Rock of Ages,” and “Foolin'” all as hit singles. “Rock of Ages” begins with the “Gutner glieben glauten globen” which sounds like some kind of Germanic incantation but is really just nonsense Mutt Lange used to count them in. In true early 80s style, the backward masked recordings over the guitar solo reportedly say things like “Fuck the Russians” and “Brezhnev’s got herpes” – though I’ve not validated either.

My copy via a record fair at Mill No. 5 in Lowell MA.