Album review : YESTERDAY & TODAY – S/T and Struck Down (Remasters)

July 31st, 2025 by brianmc

Rock Candy Records [Release date 18.07.25]

1972 : In the days before they abbreviated to Y&T, they called themselves Yesterday & Today, after the Beatles’ latest US album release of the time, allegedly.

The band line up got shuffled a few times before settling on Leonard Haze, Dave Meniketti, Phil Kenemore and Joey Alves.

Meantime, across the Atlantic, Deep Purple, Uriah Heep and Judas Priest were creating the genre that came to be known as Classic Rock. Full on, hard boiled, full of chunky rock melodies, with something of an industrial clamour around the edges.

Y&T climbed on board that juggernaut in 1974, brandishing their tough as teak, self titled debut.

In a band of considerable talent, Meniketti stands out. As vocalist and lead axeman he was the band’s creative catalyst. His scorching solos bring out the best in everyone.

And as a unified quartet, they maintained an ever present air of detached cool, while cranking up the guitars and the beats to deliver animated rock songs.

The UFO like ‘Animal Woman’ and ‘25 Hours a Day’, a Cream tribute in disguise, are both swaggeringly tough. Two resounding statements of intent. ****

As if we needed to be reassured, 1978’s follow up album, Struck Down (short at 29 minutes) reinforces the notion that there’s a musical chemistry at work here, igniting the album’s well thought out rock’n’roll material.

You can almost feel the constant seismic rumble of title track opener, ‘Struck Down’, even before the music begins.

The more immediate ‘Pleasure In My Heart’ echoes that pounding rhythmic thump, with Meniketti’s remarkably lean yet eminently anthemic axework soaring above the fray.

In fairness, his axework occasionally backs out of the red zone, leaving space for the rest of the band. Especially noticeable on ‘Stargazer’, which sidesteps into Progressive Rock territory, a cool way to close out the album. ***

Review by Brian McGowan

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