Winger Songs Ranked
Winger is an American rock band that has combined elements of glam metal and progressive metal. Formed in New York City, Winger gained popularity during the late 1980s and early 1990s. The band’s two platinum albums, Winger and In the Heart of the Young, along with charting singles “Seventeen”, “Headed for a Heartbreak” and “Miles Away”, put them on the top of the charts by the early 1990s. In 1990, the band was nominated for an American Music Award for “Best New Heavy Metal Band”. As the music scene changed in the early to mid-1990s due to the popularity of grunge, their success faded after their third release Pull.
Winger disbanded in 1994. In 2001 they reunited and have since conducted several successful tours. In 2006, the band’s 1993 touring line-up (minus Paul Taylor but including John Roth) reunited to record the band’s first studio album in over 13 years, IV and toured in support of the album into 2008.
In 2009, the band released their fifth album, Karma. As of 2013, Winger still performs on mini-tours, festivals, and private events. Their most recent album, Better Days Comin’, came out in 2014. Here are all of the Winger’s albums ranked.
Don’t miss out on the music of Winger below! Click to enjoy and experience the heavy metal sound of the late 80’s.
14. No Man’s Land (Pull, 1993)
“No Man’s Land” is just another bitching song with a great groove. “No Man’s Land” is a stereotypical pop-metal formula song…pleasant but unoriginal.”
13. State of Emergency (Winger, 1988)
“A decent glam metal album with slight progressive influence. Kip Winger did well at songwriting and Reb Beach gave a great guitar performance here.”
12. Rat Race (Better Days Comin’, 2014)
“Winger continues on their journey. This is one of the bands that doesn’t rush with releasing albums ever too often, and that’s probably a good thing. Even though Winger is a bit on the softer side of things for my likes, I do enjoy listening to them every now and then.”
11. Without the Night (Winger, 1988)
“Even the ballad Without the night is dressed in more than interesting moments with the guitar arrangements, the incursion of the keyboards and the vocal quality of Kip Winger.”
See more: Winger Albums Ranked
10. The Lucky One (Pull, 1993)
“The Lucky One is an acoustic/electric song that is wicked, but for some reason, the intro sounds a lot like some other song I heard in a movie a couple of years back, but I can’t remember what movie and song it was.”
9. Spell I’m Under (Pull, 1993)
“Spell I’m Under, is more like Winger’s earlier releases, but that is okay in some cases but in this case not really, it is kind of a setback for this album, but still a great song.”
8. Easy Come Easy Go (In the Heart of the Young, 1990)
“Second album by Kip Winger’s band, at the same level as their debut, perfectly executed and excellently mixing the best 80s Rock with the most classical school of Heavy Metal. To highlight “Easy Come Easy Go” for exemplifying the quality of the album in question.”
7. Can’t Get Enough (In the Heart of the Young, 1990)
“Well its not gonna win you over if you didn’t like glam metal to begin with. But within their field, this is a lot better then their oft-slagged upon reputation would have you believe.”
6. Miles Away (In the Heart of the Young, 1990)
“The lyrics strike me particularly like they could’ve been written by a relative beginner at the art, but the melody and monster of a chorus makes up for that a lot. It also manages to convey a down-to-earth sad/reflective tone amid the aforementioned bombastic chorus and radio-friendliness. Obviously not a true great one, but enjoyable, and I’d say better than your average glam metal chart ballad.”
5. Madalaine (Winger, 1988)
“Madalaine” is the only great song from Winger’s debut album. I feel confident saying that. What’s frustrating about listening to it is knowing how much potential Winger showed in that song – lyricism, phenomenal musicianship, and brilliant songwriting skills – and yet, out of ten tracks on their debut album, this was the only one to showcase their talents? Unbelievable! The intricate guitar work on this song is the main draw, as well as the fact that Kip Winger gives a stunning vocal performance to complement those dark, evocative, and cryptic lyrics. All of the pieces come together to make this a fantastic song.”
4. Hungry (Winger, 1988)
“Hungry” starts off promising with an interesting string section, and then the cheesy 80s synths come in and ruin the atmosphere. A song about a man trying to cope after his wife died in a car crash.”
See more: Cinderella Albums Ranked
3. Down Incognito (Pull, 1993)
“Down Incognito, is one of those songs that grow on me, when I first heard it I did not like it that much but over time it became one of my favorite songs on the album. It is a great blend of electric and acoustic guitars, and the song has great vocals.”
2. Headed for a Heartbreak (Winger, 1988)
“Headed for a Heartbreak,” is a clumsy and clichéd 80s power ballad crammed to the brim with unbearable synths that cloud Reb Beach’s expert guitar work. That’s not the worst song here, though.”
1. Seventeen (Winger, 1988)
“Seventeen” would be a lot more enjoyable if it didn’t have just awful, loathsome lyrics centering around Kip Winger’s desire to bone his 17-year-old neighbor. That’s one of those songs where they could have sung about anything else with a riff that delectably sweet and complex, and it would have redeemed the song.”