On June 21, 2019, Def Leppard released the second set in their four volume The Collection box set. There is a CD and a vinyl version of the set and my set is the vinyl version. It is 10 LPs and contains the albums, ‘Adrenalize’, ‘Retro Active’, ‘Slang’ and ‘Euphoria’. It also contains 2 Rarities collections called Volume 2 and Volume 3. Since we have already discussed the albums in this set, it is time to start with the rare tracks now and first up we did ‘Rarities Two’ of the set last week so I hope you enjoyed that one. This week, it is another 2 LP release and it is called ‘Rarities 3’. It also contains some rare tracks and rare live performances and like ‘Volume 2’, the songs are from the years surrounding these four albums.

LP 1:

The first track is an alternate version of “When Love & Hate Collide” from ‘Vault’. This version is a stripped down version with only a piano and the string arrangement from Michael Kamen that was used on the original version. This one is a really beautiful piece as that orchestration is perfect. Joe’s vocals are so emotive and you can really feel those lyrics. Great version, might be my favorite.

Next up is the B-Side to the original “When Love & Hate Collide”. The song, “Can’t Keep Away From the Flame” was written by Joe Elliott & Phil Collen and is another wonderful acoustic track. The sound harkens back to that 70’s rock sound that influenced the band so much. Could you compare it to Zeppelin, I don’t know…maybe…they do in the liner notes. Whatever you want to say it sounds like, all I know is it sounds awesome.

“Truth?” is up next and this is the original version, not the one on ‘Slang’. This one is a lot heavier and I like the rawness of it. It really rocks out. You hear elements of where they were going with it, but this one is more like a metal leaning band. Pretty cool…different…but still cool.

“Move with Me Slowly” was written by Phil and was the Japanese Bonus Track to the ‘Slang’ album as well as the B-Side to “All I Want is Everything”. This song is another song that is a departure from the classic Lep sound. This one has a little soul to the vibe which is cool and even borders on bluesy. How is it that their B-Sides are so freaking good. Most of these songs would’ve wound up on another band’s actual album.

Lastly, we get “Work It Out” and this is Vivian Campbell’s demo of the song. Where the “Truth?” demo was heavier, this one is not. This one is the opposite. A lot softer, a lot glammier. Plus, it is so cool to have Viv on vocals. The final version punched it up a notch and Joe put his touch on it. Still, this is pretty cool. FYI, this is Vivian on everything instrument, he did it all.

The flip side of the first LP is songs from a show in Montreal at the Molsen Center on September 15, 1996. This show might sound familiar as I reviewed the bootleg of that concert a few weeks back. Now, the LP label shows November 10, 1996, but that is WRONG!!! On October 11, 1996 the band was Germany doing a show. Oops! There are only five tracks from that show and the first two are “Bringin’ on the Heartbreak” and “Switch 625” as they should always be played together. This is not an acoustic version like they did in the past, it is all electric. 

For the next song, Joe handed the mic over to Phil Collen who sang his Lep song “Miss You In a Heartbeat”. But before he turns if over, Joe has a little fun and plays Bob Dylan’s “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door” but as a joke it is about a drunk “Checkin’ in to Betty Ford”. Then Phil gets the mic. His voice is a little rough and gritty hear, but still so cool to see Joe share the mic. Then we go to one of Vivian’s penned track “Work It Out” which is one of my favorites from the ‘Slang’ album . Lastly, they do “Deliver Me” and this one does not sound like traditional Lep and that is fine by me. I loved what they were going for with the ‘Slang’ album.

LP 2:

For the second LP, it kicks off with two songs that were used for the movie ‘When Saturday Comes’. The first song is the title track “When Saturday Comes” and it is rocker, more like the old Lep sound, a little brighter and a lot of fun and not dark like most of the ‘Slang’ era stuff (which is still great). The second track is an instrumental called ‘Jimmy’s Theme’ which has this western, cowboy vibe to it. A mellow track and I didn’t see the movie so don’t know what this character, Jimmy, was like to know if it fits him well or not…but it is an interesting piece nonetheless.

Then it is time for two straight up rockers. First is “Burnout”, which is an unfinished track from the the ‘Slang’ sessions. It is reminiscent of ‘Hysteria’ and according to the band, the guitar lick in it is sort of throwback to “Pour Some Sugar on Me”. Fine with me. All I know is the song does kick some ass and I can see why the didn’t use it for ‘Slang’ as it is like nothing on that album. Second is “Immortal” and the band thinks this one sounds like “Don’t Shoot Shotgun” and I would not disagree in the slightest. This feels like a leftover from ‘Hysteria’ for sure. And the same as “Burnout” would not have fit on ‘Slang’. But as a B-Side to “Goodbye” from ‘Euphoria’ in 1999 is perfectly fine since that album was a throwback to the old Lep sound anyway.

“World’s Collide” is yet another unfinished track from ‘Slang’, but this one ended up as the B-Side to “Promises” from ‘Euphoria’. This one though, does have that ‘Slang’ vibe unlike the last two tracks. This one is heavy on the guitar riffing and yet has some softer moments. A nice dichotomy of sound. Then we get “I Am Your Child” which is the Japanese Bonus Track for the ‘Euphoria’ album. The guitars on this one harken back to Steve Clark’s sound and feels like old school Lep. A great bonus track, but glad it was left off the album as it isn’t as good as the rest of that album.

The flip side is more live songs and this time they are from the ‘Euphoria’ tour not the ‘Slang’ tour. First track is “Demolition Man” from the Magness Arena in Denver, Colorado on December 9, 1999. It sounds like the album version but sped up even more then the tempo on the album if that is possible. Even though I think the album version has a little more punch. Next are three songs from Kokusai Forum Hall in Tokyo from October 2, 1999. These are three songs we will talk about again next week as I have the full bootleg show and we will review it in full. For now, let’s talk these three songs. First is “When Love and Hate Collide” and they do a great job. A classic Lep ballad played but a little flat here…sorry guys.

Next is one of my favorite tracks from ‘Euphoria’, “Paper Sun”. “Paper Sun” is one of those epic songs that Lep has on their albums in the vein of “White Lightning” and “Gods of War”. This one is a little psychedelic, a little rock and a lot of pure class by the band.  And live, the band does it the justice it deserves and the instrumental break in it is superb. Such a cool track. The last track is the live song for “Goodbye”. A song the band felt should’ve been a huge hit, but it wasn’t. This live version is pretty raw and not perfect, but I think they do a better job then “When Love and Hate Collide”.

And there you have another great ‘Rarities’ LP from the band. What a great set it Volume 3 is. You get 20 tracks this time spread over 2 LPs. Those tracks are some great demos and bonus tracks that are actually a little rare, but not impossible to get. Plus you get pieces of 3 incredible shows with the Montreal, Denver and Tokyo sets set…too bad they aren’t the full official released shows as that would’ve been even cooler. Now, I do have the full show bootlegs for Montreal and Tokyo so that will suffice for me. A cool thing about the live tracks are that 7 of them came from a fellow blogger’s personal collection. Mr. Mike Ladano supplied those to Leppard for use in the set. Weird they didn’t have them though…but thanks to Ladano!!  My Overall Score is 4.5 out of 5.0 Stars as it is great to get all these songs in one place, even if some of them aren’t the best tracks. If you haven’t picked up The Collection Volume 2 yet, you must…it is amazing!!

NEXT UP: DEF LEPPARD – ‘TOKYO 1999’ (BOOTLEG CD)

THE DEF LEPPARD COLLECTION SERIES

1. Def Leppard E.P. – 7″ Single (1979)
2. First Strikes 1978-1979 (Bootleg CD)
3. Girl – Sheer Greed (1980)
4. On Through the Night (1980)
5. When the Walls Came Tumbling Down (April 26 1980) (2020)
6. High & Dry (1981)
7. Too Many Jitterbugs – B-Sides And Rarities (2020)
8. Raw – Early BBC Recordings (2020)
9. Girl – Wasted Youth (1982)
10. Pyromania (1983)
11. “Photograph” 7″ Single (1983)
12. “Too Late For Love” 12″ Single (1983)
13. Live at the L.A. Forum 1983 (2018)
14. Seattle, August 3, 1983 (Bootleg CD)
15. Pyromania TV Collection (Bootleg DVD)
16. Hysteria (1987)
17. “Animal” 7″ Single (1987)
18. “Women” 7″ Single (1987)
19. “Pour Some Sugar on Me” 7″ Single (1987)
20. “Hysteria” 7″ Single (1987)
21. “Armageddon It” 7″ Single (1988)
22. “Love Bites” 7″ Single (1988)
23. “Rocket” 7″ Single (1989)
24. Animal Instinct – The Def Leppard Story – Book Review (1987)
25. Rarities – Volume One (2018)
26. Live in Mountain View – August 17, 1988 (Bootleg DVD)
27. Historia – DVD (1988)
28. Live: In the Round, In Your Face (CD Video / DVD) (1989)
29. Adrenalize (1992)
30. “Have You Ever Needed Someone So Bad” – Cassette Single (1992)
31. “Tonight” CD Single (1993)
32. Live Sheffield 1992 (Bootleg DVD)
33. Retro Active (1993)
34. Visualize DVD (1993)
35. Hard Rock Café – Singapore, Malaysia October 26, 1995 (Bootleg DVD)
36. Vault: Def Leppard Greatest Hits (1980-1995) (1995)
37. “When Love & Hate Collide” – CD Promo Single (1995)
38. Video Archive (1995)
39. Slang (1996)
40. Montreal: The Classic 1996 Broadcast (Bootleg CD)
41. Live Bites: FM Broadcast (Bootleg CD)
42. Live in Argentina 1997 (Bootleg DVD)
43. Euphoria (1999)
44. Rarities – Volume Two (2019)
45. Rarities – Volume Three (2019)
46. Tokyo 1999 (Bootleg CD)
47. Cybernauts – Live (2000)
48. X (2002)
49. Hysteria: Classic Albums DVD (2002)
50. Best of Def Leppard (2004)
51. Rock of Ages: The Definitive Collection (2005)
52. Yeah! (2006)
53. Songs from the Sparkle Lounge (2008)
54. Man Raze – Surreal (2008)
55. B-Sides (2021)
56. Yeah! II (2021)
57. Yeah! Live (2021)
58. CMT Crossraods – Taylor Swift & Def Leppard (2009)
59. Down ‘N’ Outz -My ReGeneration (2010)
60. Man Raze – PunkFunkRootsRock (2011)
61. Down ‘N’ Outz -The Further Adventures of… (2014)
62. Def Leppard (2015)
63. The Lost Session (2018)
64. Personal Jesus 7″ Single (2018)
65. Down ‘N’ Outz -This is How We Roll (2019)
66. Hits Vegas: Live at Planet Hollywood – Vinyl (2020)
67. Hysteria: Live – Vinyl (2020)
68. Def Leppard Acoustic Vegas – 10″ Vinyl (2020)
69. Down ‘N’ Outz – The Music Box E.P. (2020)
70. Diamond Star Halos (2022)
71. High & Dry – Picture Disc (RSD) (2022)
72. Drastic Symphonies (2023)
73. Drastic Symphonies – Picture Disc (2023)
74. Definitely: The Official Story of Def Leppard (2023)

PREVIOUSLY POSTED:

1. The Def Leppard E.P. (1979/2017)
2. Def Leppard: Interview Picture Disc (1982?)
3. “Bringin’ On the Heartbreak” – 12″ Promo Single (1984)
4. Live at the Top (Bootleg) (1987)
5. “Pour Some Sugar on Me” –  5″ Shaped Picture Disc (1987)
6. Hysteria U.S. Tour 1988 – Tour Book (1988)
7. “Make Love Like a Man” – 12″ Single (1992)
8. “Let’s Get Rocked” – 12″ Single (1992)
9. Adrenalize: The 7 Day Weekend Tour (1992/1993)
10. X: World Tour (2003)
11. Mirrorball – Live & More (2011)
12. Def Leppard: The Definitive Visual History – Book Review (2011)
13. Viva! Hysteria (2013)
14. And There Will Be A Next Time…Live from Detroit (2017)
15. Hysteria: 30th Anniversary Box Set (2017)
16. The Story So Far – The Best of (2018)
17. The Collection, Volume 1 (2018)
18. Hysteria: The Singles Box Set (2018)
19. Live at Abbey Road Studios (2018)
20. Def Leppard: Concert Review – Charlotte, NC June 9th 2018 (2018)
21. The Story So Far – The Best of Volume 2 (2019)
22. The Collection, Volume 2 (2019)
23. London to Vegas (2020)
24. Rock & Roll Hall of Fame 29 March 2019 (2020)
25. The Early Years ’79-’81 (2020)
26. The Collection, Volume 3 (2021)
27. Def Leppard Funko Pop!