Good topic, and a real tough group of albums to rank; some could be so close that it could just depend on your mood for the day or week. I'll just rank them from 1 to 7: 1. Pull - I just don't think that they will top this album, but I'd be glad to be proven wrong; one of the very best hard-rock albums released in the 90's. At least three of these songs likely make my top ten Winger list. Just an undeniable heavy and fierce sound, with great musicianship. More serious than the first two albums, but still retains a mild commercial polish that engages. 2. Karma - Great mix of modern Winger tunes on this one that show varied range; a couple of really good ballads and on Witness perhaps Reb Beach's finest Winger guitar solo. Nice edgy overall sound. The blues track provides a good surprise and is placed well near but not at the end of the album. 3. Seven - Really great song quality throughout the album; meticulous songwriting with a lot of thought put into the song structures. This would probably be number 2 if only there were more or longer guitar solos sprinkled in a few places, but I understand and accept playing to serve the song also. Still I would have liked more guitar moments like on It All Comes Back Around, one of the best Winger album closers. 4. Winger - Nice, upbeat, and really fun rocking debut album with hints of the progressive side blended in; a couple of huge power ballads. The well above par talent was on full display right from the beginning. These first four albums are all very strong musical outputs. These last three it gets really tough to separate them. 5. In the Heart of the Young - Too commercial for some, but not the entirety of the album and there are a lot of different musical concepts floating around and being experimented with. There is some growth coming out of the first album even if I rank that one higher. Maybe a couple of hokey moments are present but it doesn't really bother me and I write those rare instances as a guilty pleasure. 6. IV - Coming off of the long layoff and with a different musical landscape this one has a darker tone than the others, but still comes through with infectious musical moments over the course of the album, just less of them. Maybe the most contemplative and also some very thick, weighty guitar riffage going on, and more complex song progressions. I still can't really get into the song Generica, but I do like the instrumental outro portion of the song. 7. Better Days Coming - Well something had to be last; to put it in perspective this album would rank much better on an album ranking list of many similar bands of this genre. The one, two, three punch of the first three tracks is a great opening surge and Tin Soldier is a quick progressive gem. Ever Wonder is a solid one but not among their top tier ballads. Be Who You Are Now is not a bad track at all, but it just seems like more of a Kip Winger solo album piece. So Long China is a song that I want to like more than I do, and is missing a little something ( missing a guitar solo also). Final track is good in the Winger finisher mold, but not as strong as the finisher tracks on the previous or follow-up album. While the other albums are molded in a more focused direction, this one is more like a hodgepodge of ideas.
