Month: November 2024

Down ‘N’ Outz – ‘The Further Adventures of…’ (2014) – Album Review (The Def Leppard Collection Series)

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The Down ‘N’ Outz were formed thanks to Mott the Hoople. Mott the Hoople was doing a reunion show, well a week’s worth of reunion shows. They asked Joe to be a part of it. One thing led to another and with the help of drummer Phil Martini, Ronnie Garrity from Raw Glory, and Paul Guerin, Guy Griffin, and Keith Weir from The Quireboys, the Down ‘N’ Outz were born. They performed as the opening act. The twist was they would be playing songs by bands or artists associated with Mott the Hoople, but not actually Mott the Hoople songs. And that was what the first album, ‘My Regeneration’ covered was songs associated with Mott the Hoople, but not Mott the Hoople songs.

This time around on ‘The Further Adventures of…’ they focus entirely on Mott the Hoople songs and what a joy it is. On April 21, 2014, they released their second album with the same line-up, a little more playing together under their belt and a fresh set of old songs. They set out on a tour and years later would release a live album & DVD of a show from the tour called ‘The Further Live Adventures of…’, but I don’t have that one yet so not sure we will get to that during this series. For now, we will focus on this album so we might as well get to it.

My copy is a standard release, no deluxe edition. But what is really cool is when you open the enclosed booklet and fold it out you get a whole comic book story as you will see below. They even turned themselves in to comic book characters. A fun, different approach and a great packing job. Joe and company are doing these releases right!

The album kicks off with the classic 1969 Mott the Hoople hit “Rock And Roll Queen” which was off their self-titled album. The band is slamming and Joe sounds great. The punchy piano breathes so much life in to the song and the song completely rocks. A great opening track to set the tone.

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Bryan Adams – “War Machine” / “Rock And Roll Hell” – 7″ Single

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We all know Bryan Adams and what a great songwriter he is as he has had numerous hits such as “Cuts Like A Knife” and “Summer of ’69’ to only name a couple. He and his writing partner Jim Valance are two of the best. But did you know they also wrote for other artists? Before Bryan was famous as Bryan Adams, he and Jim wrote a couple songs for the band Kiss. On the Kiss album ‘Creatures of the Night’, they have two songs and both written with Gene Simmons and sung by Gene. One is one of his trademark songs “War Machine” and the other is “Rock And Roll Hell. What we have here is the brand new single released from Bryan covering those two songs. Is it technically a cover if he wrote it? Good question.

After all these years, why has he suddenly decided to release his own version? Easy, Bryan has started a brand new record label called Bad Records and this was his way of kicking off that label and it’s very first single release. They were released digitally and they decided to actually release a 7″ Vinyl Single as well which of course I had to buy as I am a huge Kiss fan and “Creatures” is one of my favorite albums by the band. It is Kiss Adjacent so I had to get it.

A-SIDE:

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Friday New Releases – November 8, 2024

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Another Friday and another load of new releases. Not as many as we’ve seen in the past and a handful of reissues. One I’m getting is the Ratt 40th Anniversary of ‘Out of the Cellar’. Let me 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.

  • Ratt – Out of the Cellar (40th Anniversary) – (BMG Rights Mgmt)
  • Neal Morse – No Hill For a Climber – (InsideOutMusic)
  • Talking Heads – 77 Super – (Rhino / Warner Records)
  • The Pineapple Thief – Last to Run – (KScope)
  • State Champs – State Champs – (Pure Noise Records)
  • Nathan Evans – 1994 – (Better Now Records / Universal Music)
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Motley Crue – ‘Supersonic And Demonic Relics’ (RSD 2024 Picture Disc) – Album Review

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For the first time on vinyl, Motley Crue released ‘Supersonic And Demonic Relics’ for the 2024 Record Store Day. And since this was the first time on vinyl, I had to grab a copy. There were only 2,500 copies available, so I guess I am lucky to have grabbed one of them. I am sure they will release this album on vinyl eventually, but hopefully this will be the only picture disc. Now, with the track record of RSD albums, I’m not holding my breath.

The album originally came out on June 29, 1999 and Wikipedia says this is the band’s fourth compilation, but I don’t know what their three are before it as I only know of Decade of Decadance 81-91 in 1991 and the Greatest Hits in 1998. Yes, this is compilation but it not a greatest hits album. Instead it is a collection of tracks from soundtracks, songs that were new on a greatest hits album, remixes and even a handful of unreleased tracks. I really like these type of releases even if the songs aren’t always great. I’ll take this over a greatest hits record any day. My only complaint about this RSD release is the quality of the pictures on the cover and even the choice for the vinyl pictures. The cover looks grainy and not very professionally done. And the side of the vinyl with the picture of the speakers from the album cover are a little dull and not very crisp. I know, I’m picky.

LP 1:

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Man Raze – ‘PunkFunkRootRock’ (2011) – Album Review (The Def Leppard Collection Series)

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We are now on the 2nd album from Man Raze and still no new Def Leppard studio album. This time Phil Collen, Simon Laffy and Paul Cook bring us more of their eclectic style of music. This one is even in the title as we get some punk, some funk (very little) and a lot of rock. You get two Girls and one Sex Pistol which adds up to even more fun. The album is a chance for the boys to pay homage to their musical influences and so we get a variety of sounds and songs all fit into a fantastic package.

When this came out on back in 2011, I was all over it. I really loved the debut and expected I would this one as well. I have the standard U.S. edition, but Japan got one too on January 26, 2012 and of course it had a bonus track. One day I’ll get that one.

The opening riff of the opening track grabs hold and sucks you in. “Over My Dead Body” is a cranking rocker that is catchy as hell and will leave the song eating away at your brain like an ear worm. A song that could’ve easily been a Def Leppard song as it is so melodic and full of great harmonies plus a tight, killer guitar solo. Man Raze opens the album with a bang.

“I C U in Everything” is up next and instantly things sound different especially in Phil’s vocal delivery. A lot of effects are put on them and he sings much deeper and darker. I love the bass work on this one as it gives it a nice groove. It is another rocker, but a completely different style then the previous song. They are keeping it interesting. The vocals I didn’t like at first, but are growing on me with each listen and Phil does another great little solo.

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.38 Special – “If I’d Been the One” – 7″ Single

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The last 7″ Single I found this Summer was for a Southern Rock Band that did really well in the early 80’s. A lot of smash hits including this one from their 1983 album ‘Tour de Force’. I said last week that this week’s single was special. And that is because the band was .38 Special and the song was “If I’d Been the One”. The album went to #22 thanks in part to this Top 40 song which went to #19 and #1 on the Mainstream Rock Chart. The version I have is a standard U.S. version and the B-Side was also from the album, so sadly, no non-album track which I love to get as the B-Side, but at least we got another great track from the album.

“If I’d Been the One” was credited to Don Barnes, Larry Steele, Jeff Carlisi and Donnie Van Zant. The song is about Donnie and his relationship with his older brother Ronnie Van Zandt who was killed in the notorious plane crash that killed several members and crew of the band Lynyrd Skynyrd. Donnie asks the question, what if he was the one on that plane? Donnie was definitely hurting and seem to be suffering from survivor’s guilt even though he wasn’t on the plane. It was a chance for him to express his love for his brother and his battle with all the emotions he felt about his death. It is really a sad song.

A-SIDE:

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Friday New Releases – November 1, 2024

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We are already in November, the year is winding down but that doesn’t mean the new releases are. Here is a new batch of albums for you this week. Let me know what you want to hear or what we may have missed. Nothing for me this week, sadly! Thanks for stopping by and I hope you all have a great weekend.

  • Skillet – Revolution – (Hear It Loud)
  • The Cure – Songs of a Lost World – (Polydor Records / Lost Music Ltd / Universal)
  • VOLA – Friend of a Phantom – (Mascot Label Group)
  • Willie Nelson – Last Leaf on the Tree – (Legacy Recordings)
  • Weezer – Weezer (Blue 30th Anniversary) – (Geffen)
  • Elvis Costello – King of America & Other Realms (Super Deluxe) – (UMe)
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