Maro Wrote:
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> We tackled it a bit in earlier Kansas & Alice
> Cooper threads about underperformance of Kansas
> and Alice Cooper's MCA albums, but I knew there is
> more to the story so I did a little research about
> MCA label and underperformance of melodic or
> harder rocking releases they had between
> 1985-1992.
>
> Up to the 1985. MCA was great label which released
> many classic Lynyrd Skynyrd, Wishbone Ash, Night
> Ranger and Triumph albums, and you can add Nik
> Kershaw to the list if you consider him
> interesting enough artist.
> They also released great first Giuffria and Van
> Stephenson albums in 1984.
>
> Then, something started to change in 1985., almost
> everything melodic/harder rocking they released
> underperformed (in terms of
> selling/popularity/hits, not qualitywise).
>
> They didn't give their melodic/harder rocking
> artists enough push and promotion and often there
> was no music videos for singles from albums (in
> the era when that was really important), etc.
>
> At the same time MCA had great success with other
> kinds of music (Tom Petty emidiately comes to my
> mind).
>
> You can notice some patterns appearing:
>
> - established artists recording for them earlier
> start underperforming (Night Ranger's Big Life and
> Man in Motion, Triumph's The Sport of Kings and
> Surveillance, Nik Kershaw's Radio Musicola and The
> Works, Giuffria's Silk + Steel, etc.)
>
> - established artists coming from other labels had
> dissapointing performance for them (Alice Cooper's
> Constrictor & RYFaY, Kansas' Power and ITSoT,
> Little River Band's Monsoon & Get Lucky, The
> Outfield's Diamond Days and Rockeye, Shy with
> Misspent Youth, etc.)
>
> - we can even discuss if Boston's Third Stage (and
> 1994. Walk On) performance was on their previous
> album's level
>
> - there are artists who performed way better on
> their next labels, with next releases (Alice
> Cooper with Trash, Andy Taylor with Dangerous,
> Kane Roberts with Saints and Sinners, Dream
> Theater with Images and Words, etc.)
>
> - established artists carrers going down-the-hill
> since coming to them (Dennis DeYoung with
> Boomchild, Tim Feehan with Full Contact, etc.)
>
> - might-have-been artists, who didn't get big push
> (Fortune, Max Carl (later had big success in 38
> Special), Boulevard, etc.)
>
> - bunch of artists similar to Guns N' Roses,
> Motley Crue, Poison, Skid Row, Warrant, White
> Lion, Winger, Tesla, L.A. Guns or Slaughter, but
> none really getting on that level (Jetboy, Lillian
> Axe, Bang Tango, Pretty Boy Floyd, Trixter, etc.)
>
> - first album of their artist doing ok/great, next
> dissapointing (Bang Tango, Steelheart, Trixter,
> etc.)
>
> - should have been much bigger (Steve Jones (ex
> Sex Pistols guitarist went hard rock route), Femme
> Fatale (great Lorraine Lewis), Hardline (Neal
> Schon after Bad English), Patty Smyth, etc.)
>
>
> With all that in mind, I don't give much blame for
> the artists for underperformance on MCA label,
> there is just too many signs pointing that this
> label was "toxic" for melodic and hard rock acts
> in period of 1985-1992.
>
> After 1992. MCA was no exeption to bigger scale
> record industry shift we all know about, so I
> won't waste my time here on that.
>
> If you want to explore further, here is a list of
> more-or-less interesting MCA releases from
> 1985-1995:
>
> Night Ranger - 7 Wishes ‎(MCA, 1985) ********
> DID OK
> Headpins - Head Over Heels ‎(MCA, 1985)
> Triumph - Stages (MCA, 1985)
> Tony Carey - Blue Highway (MCA, 1985)
> Fortune - Fortune (MCA, 1985)
> Max Carl - Circle (MCA, 1985)
>
> Giuffria - Silk + Steel (MCA, 1986)
> Boston - Third Stage (MCA, 1986) ******** DID OK
> Alice Cooper - Constrictor (MCA, 1986)
> Triumph - The Sport of Kings (MCA, 1986)
> Kansas - Power (MCA, 1986)
> Nik Kershaw - Radio Musicola (MCA, 1986)
> Van Stephenson - Suspicious Heart (MCA, 1986)
> Michael Des Barres - Somebody Up There Likes Me
> (MCA, 1986)
> Stone Fury - Let Them Talk (MCA, 1986)
> Keel - The Final Frontier (MCA, 1986)
> The Kinks - Think Visual (MCA, 1986)
> Skagarack - Skagarack (MCA, 1986)
> Adrenalin - Road Of The Gypsy (MCA, 1986)
>
> Andy Taylor - Thunder (MCA, 1987)
> Night Ranger - Big Life (MCA, 1987)
> Timothy B. Schmit - Timothy B ‎(MCA, 1987)
> Kane Roberts - Kane Roberts (MCA, 1987)
> Alice Cooper - Raise Your Fist and Yell (MCA,
> 1987)
> Triumph - Surveillance (MCA, 1987)
> Steve Jones - Mercy (MCA, 1987)
> Keel - Keel (MCA, 1987)
> The Kinks - The Road (MCA, 1987)
>
> Night Ranger - Man in Motion (MCA, 1988)
> Jetboy - Feel The Shake (MCA, 1988)
> Little River Band - Monsoon (MCA, 1988)
> Dennis DeYoung - Boomchild (MCA, 1988)
> Kansas - In the Spirit of Things (MCA, 1988)
> Femme Fatale - Femme Fatale (MCA, 1988)
> Don Airey - K2 (Tales Of Triumph & Tragedy) (MCA,
> 1988)
> Krokus - Heart Attack (MCA, 1988)
> Lillian Axe - Lillian Axe (MCA, 1988)
> Lynyrd Skynyrd - Southern By The Grace Of God:
> Lynyrd Skynyrd Tribute Tour 1987 (MCA, 1988)
> BLVD. - BLVD. ‎(MCA, 1988)
> Steve Gaines - One In The Sun (MCA, 1988)
> The Rossington Band - Love Your Man (MCA, 1988)
> Crimson Glory - Transcendence (MCA, 1988)
>
> Nik Kershaw - The Works (MCA, 1989)
> Steve Morse - High Tension Wires (MCA, 1989)
> Bang Tango - Psycho Cafe (MCA, 1989)
> Pretty Boy Floyd - Leather Boyz with Electric Toyz
> (MCA, 1989)
> Steve Jones - Fire and Gasoline (MCA, 1989)
> Lillian Axe - Love + War (MCA, 1989)
> The Voices - The Voices (MCA, 1989)
> Law And Order - Guilty Of Innocence ‎(MCA,
> 1989)
> Shy - Misspent Youth (MCA, 1989)
> The Kinks - UK Jive (MCA, 1989)
> Dream Theater - When Dream And Day Unite (MCA,
> 1989)
> The Outfield - Diamond Days (MCA, 1989)
>
> Little River Band - Get Lucky (MCA, 1990)
> Steelheart - Steelheart ‎(MCA, 1990) ********
> DID OK, I guess
> Kill For Thrills - Dynamite From Nightmareland
> ‎(MCA, 1990)
> Sweet F.A. - Stick To Your Guns ‎(MCA, 1990)
> Trixter - Trixter ‎(MCA, 1990)
> Spread Eagle - Spread Eagle ‎(MCA, 1990)
> Timothy B. Schmit - Tell Me The Truth ‎(MCA,
> 1990)
> Cold Sweat - Break Out ‎(MCA, 1990)
> Jetboy - Damned Nation ‎(MCA, 1990)
> Boulevard - Into The Street ‎(MCA, 1990)
> Blue Tears - Blue Tears ‎(MCA, 1990)
> Tim Feehan - Full Contact ‎(MCA, 1990)
> Night Ranger - Live In Japan (MCA, 1990)
>
> Bang Tango - Dancin' On Coals ‎(MCA, 1991)
> Steve Morse Band - Southern Steel (MCA, 1991)
> Law And Order - Rites Of Passage ‎(MCA, 1991)
>
> Hardline - Double Eclipse ‎(MCA, 1992)
> The Outfield - Rockeye ‎(MCA, 1992)
> Steelheart - Tangled In Reins ‎(MCA, 1992)
> Trixter - Hear! ‎(MCA, 1992)
> Patty Smyth - Patty Smyth ‎(MCA, 1992)
> Spinal Tap - Break Like The Wind (MCA, 1992)
> Bang Tango - Ain't No Jive....Live ‎(MCA, 1992)
> Steve Morse Band - Coast To Coast ‎(MCA, 1992)
> Spread Eagle Open To The Public ‎(MCA, 1992)
> John Sykes - Please Don't Leave Me ‎(MCA, 1992)
>
> Meat Loaf - Bat Out Of Hell II: Back Into Hell
> ‎(MCA, 1993) ******** DID GREAT
>
> Boston - Walk On ‎(MCA, 1994)
>
> Meat Loaf - Welcome To The Neighborhood ‎(MCA,
> 1995) ******** DID GREAT

Those bands highlighted were average/below average at best. Night ranger didnt help themselves but MCA meddled and mucked up their career. MCA did not do Blue Tears any favours, no promotion at all