This is a big week for me. Two of my favorite artists are releasing 40th Anniversary Editions of their biggest albums. First, Def Leppard and ‘Pyromania’ and Billy Idol with ‘Rebel Yell’. Yes, I ordered… More
Bon Jovi – ‘Have a Nice Day’ (2005) – Album Review (The Bon Jovi Collection Series)
Before the release of ‘100,000,000 Bon Jovi Fans Can’t Be Wrong’, Bon Jovi had already finished recording their next album, ‘Have a Nice Day’. The record company wanted to put it out in early 2005, but Jon and the band had other ideas. They actually went back in to the studio and recorded more songs and tweaked some of the existing. As a result, the album didn’t see the light of day until September 20, 2005. The album 13 tracks and 3 bonus tracks scattered over Europe, Australia and Japan. The album would hit #2 in the U.S. and would hit platinum status as well as see #1 in numerous countries around the world so they were still a big worldwide band.
The album saw a new face in the producer chair. A gentleman by the name of John Shanks. John had worked with Ashlee Simpson, Hillary Duff, Kelly Clarkson and so many more. Us rock fans, were not real excited about that pedigree. Would this be a watered down, poppy Bon Jovi. Thankfully, that wasn’t the case as the album picked up where ‘Bounce’ left off giving us some heavy Bon Jovi and actually it saw a more thought-provoking Bon Jovi as Jon Bon Jovi really dug deep for the lyrics.
But, this would also be the first of many Shanks produced albums that many fans is the reason the band has lost its way and isn’t the same as it used to be. Yes, a band should grow and play with new sounds, and they did that, but the diehard fans have not been happy with the results, this fan included. This was the last Bon Jovi album that was good in my book. We will see if that thought still holds true as I re-explore the later albums. For now, I’m just going to enjoy this one like I always have.
The album would kick off with the first single and the title track, “Have a Nice Day”. The song is a carbon copy of “It’s My Life” as it is anthemic as well as delivering a positive message that says live your life the way you want to do it and when people try to bring you down, just tell them to “Have a Nice Day” and move on with your life. It is an exciting opening track, with an ear worm candy of a chorus that will keep you singing for days after you hear it.
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My Sunday Song – “Bad romance” by Lady Gaga
For My Sunday Song #409, we tackled Harrison’s next pick of “Bad Romance” by Lady Gaga which was an unexpected, but welcome pick. The song is from Lady Gaga’s E.P. ‘The Fame Monster’ and was written by Lady Gaga and RedOne. The song did pretty well going #1 on the Top 40 Charts and #1 on the Dance charts as well, but held to #2 on the Billboard Hot 100. To say it was popular is an understatement as it sold over 12 million copies worldwide. Crazy for a single. And the video, well it has over 1.7 Billion views. That is Billion with a B.
The song was inspired by the paranoia Lady Gaga felt while on tour for her debut album. It also draws from her quite unhealthy relationships she has had and is drawn to like a moth to a flame. Too many bad romances I guess. There is a big shout out Alfred Hitchcock movies with the lines…”I want your psycho, your vertigo schtick (Schtick, hey!) / Want you in my rear window, baby, you’re sick” which also points to unhealthy attachments that meet these adjectives.
The song is pure dance pop inspired by electro pop and it is full of synthesizers and drum machines. The song has one of the most catchiest openings with the “Oh-oh-oh’s” and then the “Ra-ra-ah-ah-ah / Roma Roma-ma / Gaga, “ooh la-la”. The minute you hear that you know the song and I think if you have a car full of people, they will all sing along. There is a rap piece in the middle and she even goes French for some lyrics. All making the song a massive earworm. One of the best pop songs she has ever done.
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The Collection – Record Store Day 2024
Welcome back to The Collection. Today, April 20, 2024 was yet another Record Store Day and another morning of getting up too early and waiting in line…but it is always fun. See what we got this time around.
lease do leave a comment and I promise I’ll address them as soon as I can! Don’t forget to click “Like” and “Subscribe”. Thanks for watching.
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Friday New Releases – April 19, 2024
Welcome to will be a massive New Release day for one artist as Taylor Swift has a brand new album this week. No, not a “Taylor Version” of an old album, but a brand new one. The woman is a machine with as much product as she puts out. And for the rest of us, there is the new Pearl Jam record and that first song and title track, Dark Matter, is pretty awesome. There a ton of other releases today as well so check them out and let us know what you want to hear or what we may have missed. Thanks for stopping by and I hope you all have a great weekend!!
Taylor Swift – The Tortured Poets Department – (Republic Records)
Pearl Jam – Dark Matter – (Monkeywrench / Republic Records)
Bruce Springsteen – Best of Bruce Springsteen – (Columbia Records / Sony Music)
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Def Leppard – ‘Retro Active’ (1993) – Album Review (The Def Leppard Collection Series)
The band was now five albums in but it had been 12 years total. Not a great track record. They wanted to not have 4 years or more between albums again so it was decided to release a compilation album to hold fans over until the next release. But this wasn’t any ordinary greatest hits compilation, nope…that would’ve been too easy. The band decided to pull together a bunch of rare tracks and B-sides and put them together on one release…but still…not so simple as they re-recorded parts, remixed others and gave us a solid collection of songs from their career over the span of 1984 up to 1993. It also gives us some of the last recordings of the late, great Steve Clark.
The album would be called ‘Retro Active’ and released on October 5, 1993. It would spawn three singles including “Two Steps Behind”, “Miss You In A Heartbeat” and The Sweet cover for “Action”. Both “Two Steps Behind” and “Miss You In A Heartbeat” would go Top 40 and the album would go on to sell over 1,000,000 copies in the U.S. alone. Heck, even the opening track, “Desert Storm” would hit the U.S. Mainstream Rock Chart at #12 without even being released technically as a single.
One really cool aspect of the album is the cover which was designed by Hugh Syme and Nels Israelson. The image is a photographed of a woman sitting in front of a vanity mirror. However, she is positioned just so, along with other items, so that when you moved the album further away from you it turned in to a skull. A really cool concept
The album opens up with an outtake from the ‘Hysteria’ album called “Desert Song”. It was originally recorded as an instrumental and is the last song released by the band to feature Steve Clark on guitar. In fact, it is noted as the only song in the catalog to feature both Steve and his replacement Vivian Campbell who did some background vocals on the song. I know I said it was originally an instrumental and it was, but lyrics were written when the pulled the song back out after forgetting about it for years. The song is about Mick Ronson who was dying of cancer around this time. It is a killer opening track, hard hitting and a really cool Clark tone to it which is so missed. The bass work is great on this as well as the guitars. To me, the song sounds more like it would’ve fit on ‘Slang’ then on ‘Hysteria’. A truly fantastic track.
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The Collection: Ep. 9 – Kiss on Vinyl (Part 4 – The Bootlegs)
The video is up now for Episode 6 of The Collection. When you have older siblings, their music taste can influence what you like and my brother, Gary, was a huge Kiss fan and that spawned me being one as well. From about 7-8 years old all the way til now at 55, I am still a Kiss fan.
For Part 4, we are tackling my Kiss Bootlegs that I have on vinyl. We put it in chronological order for the year the album or songs were recorded, not when they were released. We start with Wicked Lester and go up to a 2010 show from L.A. We have over 20, so sit back and enjoy.
I hope you enjoy this episode which goes “live” right now…Monday night, April 15th at 8pm. Please do leave a comment and I promise I’ll address them as soon as I can! Don’t forget to click “Like” and “Subscribe”. Thanks for watching.
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Bon Jovi – ‘100,000,000 Bon Jovi Fans Can’t Be Wrong’ (2004) – (Disc 5 & 6 – Part 6 of 6) – Box Set Review (The Bon Jovi Collection Series)
We are in the year 2004 and Bon Jovi has now been around for 20 Years at this point. To celebrate their 20th Anniversary, they released a really cool box set of mostly unreleased tunes and a lot of little extras titled ‘100,000,000 Bon Jovi Fans Can’t Be Wrong’. The Box Set is a collection of 50 songs spread over 4 CDs, 38 of which had never been released. The others were songs from soundtracks, remixes and/or B-Sides. This was a band dumping everything sitting by the wayside in to one set and I applaud them for that. Us diehard fans love this kind of stuff. And if that wasn’t enough, if you have the Japanese Edition, which i do, you get another CD of B-Sides and Japanese Bonus Tracks. That is another 10 songs.
This is a lot of music to absorb and we won’t be absorbing it all here. Nope. I’m going to go through each and every CD, track by track over 6 posts. We are now on the fifth disc which is the DVD and then the sixth disc which is the Japanese Bonus Disc, 10 tracks, but they are all previously released. So let’s get started and dive into the music as that is why we are really here any way.
DVD:
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My Sunday Song – “Yours Truly 2095” by Electric Light Orchestra
For My Sunday Song #408, Harrison has picked a song from a band that was no surprise to me. He is a huge Electric Light Orchestra fan and to get a song from them was expected. The song of choice this time around is “Yours Truly 2095” from the band’s 1981 album ‘Time’. It was the band’s 9th album and was a concept album about basically time travel. I mean it is a little more detailed then that, but we aren’t here to talk about the album. We are here to talk about the song which was written by Jeff Lynne.
The song itself is about a guy who travels to 2095 and meets a Fembot (gynoid) and it makes him think of his girlfriend from back in 1981. The robot is smart with an IQ of 1001, but is cold and unkind and is nothing like his girl. Maybe some day he would “feel her cold embrace and kiss her interface”, but for now he won’t touch the fembot. He misses the warm and heartfelt touches of his actual girlfriend. I love the line “I met someone who looks a lot like you / She does the things you do / But she is an IBM”. It says they are trying to recreate the human contact with a robot, but she is really only a computer. A very cold world that would be. But the guys from Big Bang Theory would be ecstatic if this happened. They always wanted to build a sexbot.
The music is pure new wave, early 80’s synth pop. The vocals have the style of “Video Killed the Radio Star” as they are very processed. The song feels metallic and cold in its delivery. Very high tech for the time to with all the synths. Robotic noises throughout and the “2095” lyrics is spoken in a robot voice. A catchy little tune and as strange as it sounds.
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Friday New Releases – April 12, 2024
Welcome to another Friday New Releases. This week we might not have a ton of releases but there are some good ones I am wanting to hear. First for me this week is Will Hoge’s new album ‘Tenderhearted Boys’. I am a huge fan of this talented singer/songwriter. One of my favorites. I can’t wait to hear what is in store this time around. Next is is the greatest hits compilation from Linkin Park with 20 of their biggest hits. Then, I want to check out the new Mark Knopfler and the new Blue Oyster Cult. You country fans might be excited by Ernest and maybe Tyler Hubbard. Take a look through the list and let me know what you want to hear this week or what we may have missed. Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful weekend.
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Will Hoge – Tenderhearted Boys – (EDLO Records / Soundly Music)
Linkin Park – Papercuts – (Warner Records)
Mark Knopfler – One Deep River – (British Grove Records / EMI / Will D. Side Ltd / Universal)
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Def Leppard – ‘Live Sheffield 1992’ (Bootleg DVD) – DVD Review (The Def Leppard Collection Series)
I like my bootlegs. A good bootleg is hard to find and when I come across one, I get all excited. This time was no different. I found this DVD on eBay called Def Leppard – ‘Live Sheffield 1992’ and took a chance. I’m glad I did because the picture quality and sound are all excellent. There is a reason for that. The show was recorded in full both for TV and for Radio as Joe mentions after the first song. But like all Bootlegs, there are a lot of errors on the packaging.
First error, the show is called ‘Live Sheffield 1992’. It was in Sheffield, England that part is true…well that and it was live. The 1992 part was the first error. The show is actually from Don Valley Stadium on June 6, 1993 not June 24, 1992. Then we get to the track listing and obviously this person doesn’t know Def Leppard. The song “Too Late For Love” is called “Too Late Forever” and the song “Rocket” is called “Rock It” ( I can see that as an honest mistake). And the last is “Two Steps Behind” listed as “Too Steps Behind”. There are not a ton of errors, but I do love it when they have them.
This show is not the full setlist. Sorry to disappoint. It is the 1 hour highlight show that was broadcast on Yorkshire TV and on Japanese TV and consisted of only 14 of the 20 shows played that night. It cuts all the solos, but it also cut some really great song choices, however, the quality of the video is so good and the editing is done so well, it feels like a single show and is really enjoyable regardless. Now, an interesting fact, the full show recording is the bootleg that is called “The Circus Comes to Town” which I want to get one day on CD. I believe it might be an audience recording, but still the full show is a great set of songs. Lep has released some of this performance officially on the Video Archive video they released a short time later. Still less songs then on here though. Let’s get in to this show.
2 Loud 2 Old Music 