Author: 2loud2oldmusic

Bon Jovi – ‘Lost Highway: The Concert’ (2007) – Album Review (The Bon Jovi Collection Series)

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Bon Jovi’s ‘Lost Highway: The Concert’ was actually a Live DVD released on November 13, 2007 where the band played the album in its entirety. This was the firs time the band had played any of their albums this way live. It was shot in Chicago, Illinois in front of an audience of around 2,000 people. And if you look at the picture below, it looks like the stage was set-up to look like a gas station as I see a couple of gas pumps. A much smaller stage and a more intimate setting. The band played an additional three songs at the end. However, I don’t actually have the DVD, but I do have a CD of the concert that was released as a Deluxe Edition of the album. In the UK and Germany, it was called the “Tour Edition”.

The big the DVD and the CD was that the DVD had the song “Who Says You Can’t Go Home” as the finale, but here, we end at “Wanted Dead or Alive”. I guess I will have to live with that difference…until I get the DVD. But there were no changes in the band. The regular band was all there including Jon Bon Jovi, Richie Sambora, David Bryan, Tico Torres and Hugh McDonald. But there were a few additional musicians on stage with them including Bobby Bandiera on rhythm guitar, Lorenza Ponce on violin (and vocals) and Kurt Johnston on pedal guitar and mandolin. I guess the band needs help making the songs sound country. I guess that is probably because they are a rock band not a country band. Sorry, off topic there for a second.

Since they are playing the album in full, you already know the setlist and first up is the title track “Lost Highway”. The band sounds great and Jon’s vocals are spectacular. The smaller setting let’s him sing for the song rather than for a large crowd where he might have to sing with more gusto. Richie’s solo feels more exciting and lively here. The crowd sounds like they are in to it and that makes the energy and vibe feel really great. “Summertime” is still as cheesy I remember but in a live setting with a fun crowd, I can see how this would be an exciting song live and they make it just that.

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My Sunday Song – “Captain Bring Me Down” By Danger Danger

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For My Sunday Song #412, we are going to discuss the song “Captain Bring Me Down” by Danger Danger. The song was off their fourth album called ‘Four the Hard Way’ and written by Paul Laine and fellow bandmate, Bruno Ravel. For the song, you had Paul on vocals and on keyboard, Bruno on bass, Tony Bruno on guitar and Steve West on drums. I don’t believe the song was a single, but it might be the best song on the album and the most saddest of stories.

The story behind the song is a little heart wrenching. In an interview Mike Ladano and I did with Paul, I brought up this song and mentioned it was my favorite on the album and Paul graciously told the story of the song despite how personal the song was to him. He was working with a friend of his on his friend’s album and they were sharing stories together of how they were both bullied when they were kids and in school. After working on the album, his friend, Randy, went to visit his brother and ended up doing heroin with his brother and died. Paul was moved by the stories he and Randy had discussed on bullying and turned it in to a song. It is about meeting your bullies years later and they treat you like you are best friends. They were the cool kids and school and now they drown their sorrows in alcohol.

The song opens with Paul’s keyboards and Tony on acoustic guitar. The keyboards are like violins and string orchestration and are so powerful sounding. The vibe is somber and the tempo is slow and the lyrics hit you right in the heart and the stomach. The percussion and drums on the song were used perfectly as emphasis of the sadness. The guitar solo is so tasteful and played for the song as it is not a time to showboat. So well done. Paul delivers one of his best vocal performances on this album with this song as he makes you feel every word and every note. I have never listened to this song the same way after I heard Paul’s story. It was great before, but now it is one of the best songs I think he has ever done.

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Friday New Releases – May 10, 2024

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Happy Friday! And it is time for another batch of new releases and that always make Friday’s the best day of the week. We have around 30+ this time around so hopefully there is something for you. Me, I’ll try the new Sebastian Bach and maybe Judah & the Lion and if I find time, I’ll try out some more later down the road. Let me know what you want to hear this week or what we may have missed. Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have a wonderful weekend.

  • Sebastian Bach – Child Within The Man – (Reigning Phoenix Music)
  • Kings of Leon – Can We Please Have Fun – (LoveTap Records / Capitol Records)
  • Powerman 5000 – Abandon Ship – (Cleopatra Records)
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Def Leppard – ‘Vault: Def Leppard Greatest Hits 1980-1995’ (1995) – Album Review (The Def Leppard Collection Series)

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After five albums and another long delay between records, the band and label decided it was time to release a greatest hits package even though they were in the process of working on their nexxt album, ‘Slang’. This would also wrap-up the era pre-Vivian Campbell. From here on it was a different band and a new era. The greatest hits compilation is called “Vault: Def Leppard Greatest Hits 1980-1985 and was released in the UK on October 23, 1995 and finally in the US a week later on October 31, 1995. And has done pretty good over time going 5X platinum in the US and platinum and gold in numerous other countries as well. Grunge might be king at the time, but Leppard still sold some records.

A cool thing the band did to promote the album was play 3 acoustic shows on the same day…the catch was that it was on 3 different continents. The shows were in Tangiers, Morocco in Africa, London, England, UK in Europe, and Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada in North America. The feat also made the Guinness Book of World Records. Pretty crazy.

The album also had two different covers. This one you see above and there is one with an eye on it and the picture of the vault in the eye. I need to find that one. If that wasn’t enough, there were three versions of the album. Although most of the songs were the same, North America had “Miss You In A Heartbeat (Acoustic), while Europe had “Action”, “Make Love Like a Man” and “Heaven Is” and Japan had “Rock! Rock! Till You Drop” and a new track “Can’t Keep Away From the Flame”. A real fan would have all three versions…oops, guess I’m not a real fan. Okay, let’s get in to the songs, that is enough chit chat.

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The Collection: Ep. 12 – The 45’s (Part 1)

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This week on The Collection, we are going to start going through my Box of 45’s. We will only go from AC/DC to Cinderella this time around for Part 1. You will see some from Bon Jovi, Cheap Trick, Billy Idol and many more so I hope you enjoy. We even have a rare Billie Eilish Single, you read that right.

I have been collecting 45’s since I started collecting vinyl and I love the ones from the 80’s with the picture sleeves. We have a few from the 70’s as well, but the 80’s rock ones are my sweet spot. And when I see them out in the wild, I will rescue them and adopt them in to my collection.

So go check it out as it is live now on May 6, 2024 at 8pm. Thanks for stopping by and please click “Like” and hit “Subscribe” as it helps out the site when you do.

Bon Jovi – ‘Lost Highway’ (2007) – Album Review (The Bon Jovi Collection Series)

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After the success of the song “Who Says You Can’t Go Home” with Jennifer Nettles, the band wanted to do a Nashville Influenced album. Heck, they had a #1 song on the country charts, won a Grammy for that song as well, why not try and repeat that success…and that my friend is the problem with this album. They were chasing that country hit. But don’t worry, the whole album doesn’t sound country, but that are a handful of tracks that you can definitely hear that influence.

The album came out on June 8, 2007 and debuted at #1 on the Billboard charts while also going Platinum status. The band was still finding success. The album is the band’s 10th album and the title, “Lost Highway”, was taken from the Lost Highway Records in Nashville. They recorded the album in Nashville with John Shanks back at the helm and Dan Huff who handled the country aspects of the songs. Now, it wasn’t all Nashville as they did spend time in Hollywood and Los Angeles recording some songs too…but this basically came out as a Country Record.

Jon and Richie wanted to write with some Nashville writers, but in the end, they weren’t that inspired so most of the songs on here are actually done by Jon, Richie and John Shanks. They did get a couple of Country artists to appear such as Big & Rich and LeAnn Rimes. The songs are influenced by a lot of what was going on in their lives with both Richie and David Bryan going through divorces, parents dying and basically life happening. And all that is inspiring, but did it translate in to inspiring songs? We will have to walk through the songs and find out.

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My Sunday Song – “Dorianna” by Paul Laine

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For My Sunday Song #411, we are back to me picking the songs after a year of other people picking tracks. This next 10 song set will highlight songs from throughout the career of one of my favorite singers, Paul Laine. He has a new solo album coming out this year, so I figured it was time to celebrate Mr. Laine. We will go through his solo stuff and his work with Danger Danger, The Defiants and so much more. First up is the ballad “Dorianna” off his debut album ‘Stick It In Your Ear” which was produced by the late, great Bruce Fairbairn. The song was released in 1990 and was the first single from the album. The song went to #76 in his home country of Canada, but did not chart down here in the states. And it should’ve had.

The song was written by Paul Laine and seems to talk about the loss of relationship. One filled with promises made and never kept. A heartbreaking look at a love that ended suddenly and he is having a hard time excepting it. He misses her greatly and is holding on now to a memory. He will always love her, but it wasn’t meant to be.

“Dorianna” is the first of several ballads on the album. This ballad brings the power to the power ballad. It opens with the church organ keyboards before Paul’s stunning vocals come softly in with the first verse. He pulls out all the emotion the song requires and you will feel the love he has lost. The guitar work on this is amazing as well and it has a solo that fits the song perfectly. There is a dramatic break towards the end of the song that has some cool keyboard effects accompanying the guitar that take the song over the top and the drums on this thing are so powerful as you feel every beat. Whenever you get to the chorus, you can’t help but scream out her name as well. The song has a great groove and is very catchy and will stick in your head for days.

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Friday New Releases – May 3, 2024

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Can you believe it is already May? Man, these months keep flying by. Luckily each month and Friday brings us new releases and we have a handful for you today. The only one for this week that I want to hear is the new P.O.D. album ‘Veritas’. For you Pop fans, you have new Dua Lipa and Sia so that should make you happy. Let me know what you want to hear this week or what we may have missed. Thanks for stopping by and I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

  •  P.O.D. – Veritas – (Mascot Label Group)
  • Dua Lipa – Radical Optimism – (Warner Records)
  •  Sia – Reasonable Woman – (Atlantic Records)
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Def Leppard – ‘Hard Rock Cafe: Singapore, Malaysia – October 26, 1995’ – (Bootleg DVD) – DVD Review (The Def Leppard Collection Series)

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On October 26, 1995, Def Leppard played an acoustic show in Singapore, Malaysia at the Hard Rock Cafe. The show was filmed and broadcast by Channel V as part of their V Series concerts. Channel V is their version of MTV. Six songs from the show were later released on the Limited Edition of the UK ‘Slang’ album.

This bootleg DVD I have was recorded from teh show on the Television. It is a little grainy because TVs were not 4k back then. The sound quality is really great. There is an audience recording of this show out there somewhere that has two additional unreleased songs (at the time). The two songs were from the upcoming ‘Slang’ album. The songs were “All I Want Is Everything” and “Where Does Love Go When It Dies”…I’d like to hear those two pre-Slang songs.

The stage is small and intimate. Vivian Campbell, Rick Savage, Joe Elliott and Phil Collen are lined-up and everyone has acoustic guitar…welll Rick has a bass (not acoustic though). Rick Allen is banging away behind them on the drums. They kick it off with a high energy performance of “Pour Some Sugar on Me”. The band is having fun and the crowd is loving it. Between each song, we get short little interviews and I normally don’t like the show to be interrupted, but this was a TV show, not an actual concert so I can be okay with it.

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The Collection: Ep. 11 – Wrap-Up April 2024

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I can’t believe it is time for another monthly wrap-up of what we added to The Collection. This time around, it is April 2024 and we added a ton of stuff. Somethings we added were actually in their own episode like the Record Store Day purchases and some Kiss Bootlegs. The rest of what we added are on here.

We hit up the local record stores here in Charlotte and even down in Wilmington, North Carolina when we were on our Spring Break trip. We picked up stuff from Discogs, eBay and even from Amazon as well. It is a lot of stuff and so much in fact, there are things still unopened and haven’t been listened to yet. I think that is a sign I bought too much. But like traffic signs, I’m ignoring it too!!

So go check it out as it is live now on April 29, 2024 at 8pm. Thanks for stopping by and please click “Like” and hit “Subscribe” as it helps out the site when you do.

And for those that wanted the BIG picture we used to put at the bottom of the post with everything in it, here you go…it is back as requested…