Don't Say No

What a great album. I remember well when it hit the airwaves back in the day. I tried to resist, mistakenly believing that anything this popular must be trash. I could only resist for so long because it's just that good. It's like Jimmy Page and Robert Plant were reincarnated in a single person. Great selection for an addition to this list, shouldn't have been overlooked. 5 stars.

Stroke! I've never heard this album before, but I love this kind of almost-AOR stuff. I should've checked this out a long time ago tbh. 5/5 and thank you!!

Great choice! I was excited to see this one, not because I think it's the greatest album ever, but because it belongs here. Don't Say No was wildly popular when it came out and its songs have become a staple of classic rock radio over the years. Whether you like him or not, Billy Squier is a huge part of the rock sound of the early 80s, a sound that the editors of the 1001 list have made a point of ignoring completely. Tight hook-laden production, with a strong pop sensibility that also rocks surprisingly hard at times. Billy Squier is a compelling, swaggering frontman who also knows his way around a guitar. Sort of a polished take on Led Zeppelin, but in the best ways. Fave Songs: The Stroke, My Kinda Lover, In the Dark, Lonely Is the Night, Whadda You Want from Me, Nobody Knows

This album takes me back to 1981 again. Every songs is so great. This has always been an absolute favorite of mine and I don't think I've heard it in years. Standouts: The Stroke, Lonely Is the Night, In the Dark, My Kinda Lover, Nobody Knows, Whadda You Want from Me, You Know What I Like, Too Daze Gone, I Need You, Don't Say No. (Yep, that's every song...) 5/5

One of the best of the 1980s. Billy is more than just THE STROKE. Great guitars on this whole album and Nobody Know (Song for John Lennon) is so perfect. His next album had some good tracks but this was absolutely his best. Strong FIVE for me.

Never quite registered how many of these songs I had heard over the years. A classic rock power house! If you had asked me this morning "who is billy squier" I would have said "no idea".

This was an absolute treat! Completely unknown to me, yet sounding oh so familiar. If you're into Led Zeppelin like me, this is a sure shot. Impressive how Billy is able to almost reach Led Zep levels, yet not make it sound like a cheesy coverband. I will be revisiting this one for sure. Multiple times. Thanks so much for bringing this one to this list!

A different take on 80s rock that I enjoyed - no wild vocals, no dated synths, just a solidly rock LP with some minor glam stylings. I’d heard of Squier before but had never listened to any of his tracks knowingly, so appreciate this actually worthwhile classic rock addition.

Brings back a lot of memories! 5/5

I absolutely remember when this album came out, it was *everything*. How was this not on the main list? Back to back hits that still sound so great. Wonderful share, finisher 150, you hit it out of the park with this suggestion. I had so much fun listening to this again today after I don't know how long; I'm a teenager again.

I’ve never heard of this guy before but he’s really good. Starts off straight down the line Rock and/or Roll with interesting little experimental flourishes here and there. But it evolves as the record goes on and keeps changing to keep me invested. I’d much rather have seen this included than any number of depressing British Post Punk albums on the list. It’s probably a 4 star album for me, but it gets an extra bonus point for showing that douche Dimery what the list should have been.

It is a classic!

Rating: 8/10 Best songs: My kinda lover, You know what I like, Whadda you want from me

Good stuff

Very good!

Seems like it would be cool driving music

Great hits that I still listen to.

Rock, hard rock. Me ha gustado. Un 4, venga.

Even though I'm giving this a four, there's way too much classic rock on the list already, I wouldn't have included this.

An artist and album I wasn't familiar with, and the album cover didn't leave me optimistic that I'd enjoy it. However, this was a pleasant surprise. Really good 80s rock, without too much of the cheesiness. Rating: 3.5 Playlist track: The Stroke Date listened: 02/10/24

I’m surprised this wasn’t on the main list because there were a million other bland 80s power rock albums on there that were far less deserving of this. This might be the quintessential bland pop rock album but it also has the stroke which is still a great hype song. Glad someone chose to include this.

Go! Go! Power Rangers

Lonely is the Night and the Stroke have been rotating for years, glad I now know there is a full album of badassery surrounding it to jam anytime

I think this would have been a great choice for the original list. It's a great and classic rock album.

"Billy! Every rock album has a ballad on it... it really pulls in the female audience." "Eh? it means chicks? Sign me up." Though the ballad included on this album is nearly a sin, the rest is an enjoyable rock fest. 4 absolute home runs with the rest decent tracks that follow the standard rock tropes. Billy Squier has a great voice for rock, and it is so enjoyable to guitar solos in these tracks. Really enjoyed.

Another one for the tape deck. And there are certain songs that you crank. Lonely is the Night is one of those. Just good rocking music.

I know Don't Say No pretty well, having been a regular Planet Rock listener for years and then digging deeper, and I suspect people will know a lot of Billy Squier's stuff without realising. He's excellent, no frills rock, memorable hooks, standout riffs, an all-round good time reminiscent of greats like Led Zep without coming across as a poor imitation. It gets a 5/5 from me because I can do and do listen to his stuff every week, one way or another, and I could happily do that for the rest of my life really. Life is better with this sort of music in it.

This exceeded any expectations I could have had. Gave it two listens. Classic album, I would argue. Had no idea how many hits were on this thing. Dude sounds like he carried Zeppelin into the 80s.

Wow! An album I full heartedly agree with being on this list, and I LOVE. Of course I’m aware of his hits but I don’t think I knew the others , but they were great. Will be listening countless more times.

I say "yes". Born and raised in continental Europe, I didn't have the slightest idea of who Billy Squier is one hour ago. I had probably heard "In The Dark", "The Stroke" and "My Kinda Lover" somewhere before (how frigging STRONG this LP starts, my gosh!). But no way I could have earned a blind test point hollering his name before my opponents do. Of course, this record is very derivative. Most people notice the "nods" to Led Zeppelin right away, sprinkled with power pop flavors, or some Cheap Trick or AC/DC-adjacent extra riffage, alll of this conveyed through quite *subtle* early eighties production shenanigans (courtesy to German producer Reinhold Mack, whose genius skills I had not noticed up to now). So yeah, nothing really new under the 1981 sun. Yet I think the songwriting here is so convincing and catchy that the derivative nature of the album doesn't matter much. The choruses are stellar and the riffs are superb. The vocals most often slap. The arrangements are either daring or endearing. Besides, Led Zeppelin were (in)famous for the number of previous musicians they had ripped off themselves. So who cares if Billy's inspiration sounds so obvious here, the further you go into the album? What impresses me the most in this particular example of AOR release is how fun, solid and cohesive it is from start to finish. Heck, it's far more cohesive than any Foreigner or Heart album I've had the chance to listen to (I love some individual tracks from those acts, but let's face it, they didn't really know how to tracklist an LP). Every song in *Don't Say No* could be used to soundtrack a movie and add pivotal ambience to the scene. I even enjoyed the couple of ballads towards the end of the record quite a lot. And the fake "fade out" in the middle of the title-track and closer was so well pulled-off, it had me burst out laughing (sorry for the potential spoiler here) Instantly adding this one in my list of keepers. Maybe the reason *Don't Say No* wasn't included in the original list is because Squier very much appears to be a "one-album-wonder", which might explain why Dimery and co. dismissed him as a passing fad that wouldn't be remembered decades later. But they were wrong. Boy how wrong they were! 4.5/5 for the purposes of this list of essential albums, rounded up to 5 9.5/10 for more general purposes (5 + 4.5) ---- Number of albums from the original list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 465 Albums from the original list I *might* include in mine later on: 288 Albums from the original list I won't include in mine: 336 ---- Number of albums from the users list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 73 (including this one) Albums from the users list I *might* select for mine later on: 90 Albums from the users list I won't select for mine: 175 ---- A quick footnote about some reviewers' remarks: believe it or not, you can enjoy a lot of British post-punk albums from the original list, and still appreciate more "fun" stuff, such as Billy Squier's probable magnum opus. You can go through very different emotions in life. Why couldn't it be possible for music? Another afterword now, this time addressed to the user who suggested this record: Gosh, you really don't get hip hop at large, and Kendrick Lamar in particular. There was such bad faith in your selection of quotes from *To Pimp A Butterfly* in your review for it... C'mon, you know damn well you can't sum up the man's lyrics with those n-word quotes alone, and that the n-word itself doesn't have the same intent depending on who utters it and why they do so. Worse, it's totally dishonest to separate those quotes from the topical and lyrical continuum they came from. So you seriously need to explore the *true* reasons those lyrics are offending you... That said, and all disagreement about rap music aside, I want to warmly express my gratitude to you for suggesting this Billy Squier album. Thank you. Without you, I still wouldn't know who Squier is today. Now I'm ready to holler his name for a blind test session, if ever one of his hits finds its way into it. ---- Émile, tu trouveras ma dernière réponse sous le *Inside* de Bo Burnham

This is a pretty solid "classic rock" album. I really don't care for The Stroke at all but there's definitely better songs on there that make up for it. Honestly this probably could've taken the place of several duds that popped up in the book.

Oh it was great fun. I was disappointed when it wasn't Tale of the Tape, as that has the Big Beat on it, but this still goes balls out fun and mostly hits!

Grew up familiar with Billy Squier. I like this!

Kind of surprised I didn't own this as a teen. It would've fit into my stuff quite well. Very nostalgic.

Definitely belongs here, good times

Yes some good old classic hard rock, how is this not on the original list!

Ok Steve, we are off to a strong start here. This is The Stroke guy?! Yea this is fun and there is nothing wrong with that.

Fun, if sometimes fairly forgettable, 80s rock, with a few great songs and a bit of filler. An artist I first knew through GTA V, and the song from there is still his best in my view, but a guy who deserves (a wee bit) more recognition. Possibly sounded a bit out of place at the time - it's very old school rock & roll, and far removed from new wave / post-punk. Without that comparison, and with the distance that time brings, it's a solid collection of songs.

Fun old 80s era rock. Can't really go wrong. My personal rating: 4/5 My rating relative to the list: 4/5 Should this have been included on the original list? Slight yes.

August 27, 2025 HL: "In the Dark", "THE STROKE", “You Know What I Like”, “Lonely is the Night” Sometimes, boomer rock is all I need to be happy (EgoRatatouille.gif)

Do not tell me what to do Billy. From a very unpromising start this album actually shows some depth and creativity so well done Billy I'll say yes this one time to anal. I don't understand why people keep comparing this guy to Led Zeppelin, I guess some random review back in the day started another weird collective notion but no, that is not a good comparison just because the drums sound good occasionally or whatever. good labum thou

Some kick ass rock n roll. Energetic.

This was in my initial order from Columbia House.

What a great album!

A Squier is a cheaper model of a Fender guitar that's still pretty good. Billy Squier is a cheaper version of Led Zeppelin that's still pretty good.

What a throwback - this album was massive in elementary school. My buddy D's older sister seemingly overnight went from her Genesis/Yes albums to LOUDLY playing him nonstop whenever we tried to get a good old Dungeons & Dragons campaign going at his house goddammit, so it was emblazoned in my mind even if at least 4 of the songs are playing somewhere on classic radio in the nearby vicinity right now. I did eventually cave and buy it on cassette because duh - but haven't listened to this in over 30 years (RIP: cassette; probably in a floating sewage island somewhere mid-Atlantic ocean). Honestly it's pretty great -it may sound a little trite now but this guy could craft the perfect rock song for the times - appealed to the heavier minded faux-tough crowd wearing denim but also had the perfect amount of catchy-AF melodies to win over a good chunk of the lighter pop tastes. Listening with older ears for the first time, I do like that it's not over-produced at all; just a solid rock album and definitely was worthy of its elevated status at the time; even if not that complex it stood (stands) above most other 4/5 piece rock bands/music of the time - I can't believe I didn't even think of it (I guess he's been resigned to the "where are they now?" file since about 1985...) - I'm wavering between 4 and 5 here; I don't listen to much music like this at all anymore but grading it for the era and giving an extra nod for nostalgia it feels worthy and absolutely 100% should have been in the book - ffs if you want to know rock history this album is a no-brainer. Fave cut: "Lonely Is the Night" 9/10 4 stars IMO belonged in the book? Yes.

This is so utterly exemplary of this era/genre/vibe, yet none of these hit me as true instant-recognition ubiquitous hits. It's all just too played out for me to be into it much. Nothing against it but I don't really need to listen to any more of this kind of music for this lifetime.

Pleasant radio friendly rock.

A lot of other people have said what I might say, but I will add, it was fun to learn where the sample in Eminem's "Berzerk" came from!

Gold-standard AOR of its time, hard rock style surrendered totally to a pop LP costume. Squier even feels like a character, playing what he says instead of believing it. The few peaks are nicely packaged in their respective songs.

Good eighties rock in all its splendor, with rhythmic songs and also gives us the Lonely classic!

Was into this at first, but it mostly turned into Zeppelin worship as it went on.

5/10. I'm sure this went hard in the 80's

Didn't change my world, but was very competent

The Led Zeppelin influence is very clear here. It’s as if 70s hard rock was rolled into a single guy through a pop lens. The result is a very listenable and concise album. I’m surprised something like this wasn’t on the original list.

pretty shocked this wasn’t on the original list. This is some great rock anthem music here. Overall it’s classic rock to a T, just catchy choruses and solid guitar action. Pretty hard to beat sometimes. 7.6/10

No

The 80s answer to the cock rock likes of Led Zeppelin, AC/DC, and Bad Company. While that sentence reads like I hate this album, I don't. It's fine, solidly performed, just doesn't move the needle too much for me. Favorite tracks: "I Need You", "The Stroke"

It was ok. Like Kiss from Temu.

I'd originally misread the release date for this wrong - thinking it was a 90s album - which made me question all kinds of things about the sanity of the person submitting. As a 90s release, it's all kind of tired, done-to-death 80s rock, with multiple tracks that could easily and seamlessly have been slotted into the 1986 film masterpiece / toy advert "Transformers: The Movie" without anyone noticing. As an early 80s release - well, it may well have been an introduction to the style. Given some of the other reviews on here, it might well have been. Personally, I thought it was OK. There is no danger at all of me listening to it again - I'm sure not going to fit into the requisite skinny jeans - but it was nice to hear something from someone who was clearly very popular and influential at the time, but since has pretty thoroughly vanished from consciousness. Not my thing, but I can see the value of it and why it's gotten a nod.

Early 80s American rock. I prefer the "i love rock and roll" flavour but it's inoffensive enough.

Straight up rock record. Enjoyed listening to it. Had heard of him before but didn’t know his stuff.

A fair few rip offs here

Didn’t realize The Stroke and Lonely is the Night were on the same album but glad we got this! I wasn’t impressed with the rest but a nice inclusion.

You've likely heard at least one of these songs on classic rock radio before, probably the Stroke. Squier's big rock sound can be partially attributed to the production of Reinhold Mack, who is also notable for this work with ELO, Queen, and Deep Purple. As far as this brand of '80s rock goes, Don't Say No is pretty safe and a bit bland. Much of the time he sounds like a watered down Led Zeppelin, but in all honesty it's not bad either. Very middle-of-the-road radio rock. And it wraps up before the 40-minute mark so that's a win. CONTENDER FOR THE LIST: No!

They call him Led Blimp. They call him Shallow Purple. No idea who this guy is, but it's like listening to a homunculus of every 70s hard rock band imaginable. Serviceable.

Ok rock album big of drums and the guy definitely loved Led Zep as it's influence shines through. Didn't like the slow one. 3.5 I don't think I will revisit it.

This surely should be included in the original 1001 list. It sounds exactly like the stuff the authors' list love (and I liked it :-P).

Pretty fine hard rock with some dance tendencies

It was good.

Dear fellow child of the ‘80s, thanks for recommending this. Really enjoyed listening for the first time since … well, the ‘80s. It was so big that it probably merits inclusion on the list proper, though it can’t really be said that it’s held up all that well musically, which is no surprise given that time had already passed him by before one graduated high school and he never caught up. One shudders to think where he might be touring today. While he’s certainly bigger than Tommy Tutone, it’s an issue when “similar artists” queries turn up Loverboy (yikes!) and Pat Benetar.

Classic yet-undersung 80s rock. Billy Squier was a casualty of the “video killed the radio star” phenomenon of MTV. I wonder what would’ve happened had he had Duran Duran’s video producer?

Don’t Say No might not be a groundbreaking album, but it’s widely considered the high point of Billy Squier’s career. After listening, I can see why. I went in cold, having never really heard of Squier before. Judging by the comments here, this album was formative for a lot of people growing up in the U.S., but I’m not sure it ever made much of a splash in Europe. That said, I definitely recognised a few riffs. This thing has been sampled and borrowed from a lot more than I realised. Musically, it’s idiosyncratic stadium rock, if that makes sense: big and bombastic, but with some quirky bits too. You can really hear Queen producer Reinhold Mack’s fingerprints all over it, especially in the theatrical production. It feels a bit glam-rock strut with a bit of Zeppelin swagger. The album veers between solid rock craftsmanship and slightly sugary or cliché moments. But the variety keeps it interesting, and for fans of REO Speedwagon, Foreigner, or Heart, this album’s a must-listen.

You know what, this is pretty much exactly what I expected, and that's totally cool. It's got his big hits, and the other songs don't fall off too hard from that. It's a nice little time capsule for the transition in rock between the 70s and 80s. I have a hard time rating it all that highly, since I don't think that this was pushing the limits compared to some of his contemporaries, especially Van Halen, but it's a really solid listen 3/5, but a very upbeat 3/5

Enjoyable, classic Rock. Not really heard much of his stuff before. good chops, riffs and solos. Feels a bit generic, but enjoyable enough.

Pretty standard early 80s rock. Not bad. Not great.

Well, holy shit…this album was released the day I was born. That’s crazy. It’s a solid rock record, even if it owes a bit to Led Zeppelin and is a little butt rock-y….like this is what you’d cruise around listening to in your Datsun 280z and I can see the merit in that. A high 3 because we share a birthday.

The lyrics have that typical 80s cheesiness but the riffs make up for it by generally going super hard.

I'm afraid I have to disagree with my fellow user in this group. Although it sounds good, it's a total Led Zep ripp-off. In at least three songs I hear a riff or vocal line that sounds exactly like that. No, this I cannot approve.

I'm afraid I have to say No to Billy Squier. I do not like this MOR stadium hardrock sound and the songs are mediocre.

I'm going to have to say no to this, Billy.

Didn’t get into this one at all I’m afraid. A cheesy ‘80s take on ‘60s-style rock with generic songwriting, rubbish synths and reverse snares all over certain tracks, and really cringy lyrics. The falsetto in the ballad Nobody Knows is pretty painful, and the bass tone in the verses of I Need You sounds so much like a Casio preset it’s actually kind of funny (though otherwise I think it’s a pretty good song and probably my favourite on the album) Apparently two songs from this album have been sampled by Eminem which is fun Also my goodness Billy, please put your dogs away

OK. Dad rock.

And I thought Jeff Buckley wanted to be Robert Plant

I saw Billy Squier open for Styx and Bad Company when I was in high school probably 25 years ago now. Styx was incredible and at this point I don't remember much else from that show. This album at the same time seems to be entirely familiar and entirely ordinary. I feel like I have heard of all of these songs so many times, but they all sound kind of the same, and just kind of sound like ubiquitous inoffensive rock music from the late 70s/early 80s.

Meh

Strokin' strokin'! Stroke!