Aldo Nova and Warrant keep '80s real

NEW YORK (Chipster Entertainment) - The glamourization of all things '80s continues to dominate the culture wars with a vengeance – from VH-1 to the local fashion mall, from video rental stores to the mouse-clicks of eBay snipers around the world. Exemplified by the rags-to-riches sagas of musicians who freely gave their souls to the forces of hard rock, the glory of the '80s lives on in the Metal Masters Series launched three years ago by Legacy Recordings, a division of Sony Music.

From provincial Montreal – by way of Beatlemania and New York's legendary Power Station recording studios – came ALDO NOVA, the self-titled 1982 debut album from the multi-instrumental whiz kid who scored a Top 5 Rock hit with his first single, "Fantasy." This expanded edition, which includes a newly commissioned liner notes essay by Bryan Reesman and an alternate version (previously unreleased on CD) of Aldo Nova's follow-up single, "Foolin' Yourself," is in stores from Epic/Legacy.

At the other end of the decade (and the continent) came the first two albums by Warrant, one of the most outrageous bands ever to survive the Sunset Strip. Expanded editions of 1989's DIRTY ROTTEN FILTHY STINKING RICH (source of the all-time No 2 anthem, "Heaven," plus two previously unreleased demo tracks) and 1990's CHERRY PIE (with its back-to-back Top 10 hits, "Cherry Pie" and "I Saw Red," also with two demo tracks) contain separate newly commissioned liner notes essays written by Brian Ives, a regular contributor to VH-1.

Rowdy and raucous, with attitude to spare, Warrant and Aldo Nova proudly join Legacy's Metal Masters Series, inaugurated in 2001. The maiden releases in the series comprised expanded editions of Balls to the Wall by Accept (from 1984), Metal Health by Quiet Riot (1983), Final Countdown by Europe (1986), and The Best Of Britny Fox by Britny Fox.