Author: 2loud2oldmusic

December 2021 Purchases – Vinyl & CDs

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Welcome to the final Monthly Purchase review of 2021. Sit back because we are going out with a bang!! Not only did I score some major vinyl and CDs in my hunts, but my Christmas/Birthday presents were a lot as well. I am not going to waste anymore time and we will just jump right in.

First up this month is an RSD release that I didn’t get until after the Black Friday RSD. It is the latest Aerosmith release and will be final review in The Aerosmith Collection Series. It is the very first live recording of the band…

Then my daughter and I found out that one our digging holes was going out of business. Manifest Disc closed its doors and before they did, we hit them up for some of their deep discount deals. My daughter did some damage in the DVD section and I did some in the CDs and one vinyl. The CDs are hodge podge of stuff some of it I was hoping to find vinyl, but I have given up hope so I just bought the CDs since they were dirt cheap.

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The Top Albums of 2021

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2021 was not quite as strange as 2020 as things started to get back to normal. I got out to see a couple concerts and back to digging in the record stores and even went in to the office a few times.  Covid pushed back a lot of albums in 2020 and they finally came out in 2021. Some were worth the wait and well, some weren’t.  But there were some great releases and I am sure I missed a number of great albums and if you look around the web, there will be tons of Top Album lists you can get a pretty good idea of what you should check out in case you missed any of these.

This year I am doing things a little different.  I am only doing one list post, but that list will be centered around my Favorite Rock Albums of the year.  At the end I’ll give you my Top 5 Non-Rock Albums of the year as I didn’t listen to a ton of new releases this year as I was focused so much on my Kiss, Judas Priest, Queen and now Cheap Trick & Aerosmith Series.  That took a lot of time.

Also note, these are MY FAVORITES!!  These are not the most popular or trendy albums.  You won’t find the cool trendy bands, because they are usually here today gone tomorrow.  These are the albums that I connected with during the year and I kept coming back to again and again.  And without further adieu, here are the Top Rock Albums of 2020:

THE TOP ROCK ALBUMS OF 2021:

#10 – Eclipse – ‘Wired’:

71-t49UrImL._SX522_ Eclipse is a melodic rock / glam rock /hard rock band out of Sweden and let me tell you Sweden knows how to pump out these bands. I think there are more rock bands in Sweden then there are people.  It is just a guess.  The two original guys, Erik Martensson and Magnus Henriksson. are back with their 9th album and they keep delivering.  Erik’s vocals are killer and Magnus can lay down some riffs.  The three opening tracks, “Roses On Your Grave”, “Dying Breed” and “Saturday Night (Hallelujah)” just suck you in and you know you are in good hands and just along for the ride at this point. Continue reading “The Top Albums of 2021” →

ZZ Top – “Legs” – 12″ Maxi-Single

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I was out at a record show in Charlotte and was digging through the crates when I came across a 12″ Maxi-Single of ZZ Top’s song “Legs”. Who doesn’t want a “special dance mix” of that song. I had to have it especially since it was not the album mix. I love finding the non-album versions of the songs. I quickly snatched it up and here we are now doing a post.

The song is off the band’s multi-platinum, 1983 album “Eliminator”. This album, along with this song, put ZZ Top in to the stratosphere of success. And really we have MTV to thank as ZZ Top fully embraced the video concept and they did a trilogy of videos with these powerful women driving around in the classic 1933 Ford Coupe and it was stunning, just like the women.

“Legs” went Top 40 going all the way to #8 and saw the band incorporate electronic elements and new wave sounds in to their music. This was the first time that the band embrace synthesizers and electronic drum machines and if I’m not mistaken the bass and drums that were recorded for the song were actually replaced by the electronic equipment. I wonder how that went over the Hill and Beard.

My copy of the single is the standard U.S. 12″ Maxi-Single that included the “Special Dance Mix” of the song “Legs” and the B-Side was the album version of the song “La Grange” from the album ‘Tres Hombres’ from 1983. It is weird to think that this Texas Blues Rock Band would have a “Dance Mix” of a song, but in the 80’s, anything was possible. It was a dramatic change for the band that brought them a completely new audience. To think, these guys were old as far as the MTV generation was concerned, but they somehow pulled off a miracle thanks to videos and brought a fun, good time rock & roll vibe to the audience and they ate it up.

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Run DMC – “Walk This Way” – 12″ Single (The Aerosmith Collection Series – Bonus Edition)

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After ‘Done With Mirrors’, the band was not in a good place with fans, the label and themselves. The drugs use was real bad and it was time to sober up. First Steven got sober and then the rest of the band did and by 1986 they were ready for the next big thing. They needed a break. Something to get them back in the public eye. And it came in the most unexpected way.

The big break for Aerosmith came about because of Rick Rubin. Rick was working with Run DMC on their 1986 hit album, “Raising Hell”. Rick pulled out ‘Toys in the Attic’ and told Run DMC they should cover ‘Walk This Way’. Not a crazy thought as the band had free-styled over part of the song in their live shows anyway. They weren’t too keen on the idea at first, but Jam Master Jay was digging it.

But Run DMC wasn’t going to just sample the album. Why not get the band to come in and play and sing. So, a few calls were made, the band was convinced and Joe Perry and Steven Tyler went in to the studio to help out on the song. Joe played that famous riff and Steven sang the chorus and they even changed one line from “Give me a Kiss” to “Give me Head”…okay! Not what I was expecting.

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My Sunday Song – “Every Night I Wake Up Screaming” by Rick Springfield

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For My Sunday Song #279, we are going with “Every Night I Wake Up Screaming” by Rick Springfield. This is the second track in the series from my favorite Springfield album called ‘Shock/Denial/Anger/Acceptance’ which came out on February 24, 2004 and it is freaking brilliant. This is another of my favorite tracks from the album obviously. It was not a single and I don’t believe charted, but that doesn’t take away from its greatness.

The song is about how the world is gone to hell. The song feels like Rick is suffering from Anxiety with all the turmoil going on the world from terrorists to any other bad stuff you can think of. The “breathe” comments lead me to believe it is a panic attack and that the nightmares are occurring while he is awake. The line “everything looks better with my eyes close” that he can’t take watching it anymore. He sees it while sleeping and while awake and it is frightening. The song was 17 years ago and I don’t feel anything is better. In fact, I think things are worse, but that topic could be talked about for hours.

Musically, it starts of with some quiet guitar notes and a more quiet, reserved first verse before the song explodes and the volume gets turned up to 11. The song is heavy, it is angry and Rick attacks it with the ferocity that is needed. It goes back and forth between the quiet and the heavy. The drum beats during the quieter verses still give it that ominous vibe that things aren’t all rosy and then all hell breaks loose again. It is one of the heaviest songs I think he’s done.

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Have Yourself a Metal Memes Christmas!!

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I wanted to take a second and wish everyone a very Happy and Merry Christmas! And Happy Holidays to those that don’t celebrate Christmas. Thanks for all your support over this past year and I appreciate all the comments as I enjoy what everyone thinks of the albums and songs we talk about here on 2 Loud 2 Old Music. I don’t have any long speech, but instead I will leave you with some Memes to hopefully bring a smile to your face. Thanks again!!

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Kiss – ‘Black Diamond: Lafayette Music Room, Memphis, TN April 18th, 1974 – FM Broadcast’ – Album Review (The Bootleg Series)

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In my quest to get as many Kiss Bootleg’s I can, I found this one in a local record store, new and sealed. And cheap. This is actually an easy one to get if you are collecting Kiss Bootlegs. I think I paid $25 for it. There is nothing really special about this one, no inserts, no picture sleeves and no surprised in the package like I have received in a lot of my bootlegs. This one is rather generic. For historical reasons though, it is pretty cool. The recording is an FM Broadcast from April 18, 1974 in Memphis, TN at the Lafayette Music Room and is one of the earliest recordings of the band.

Soundwise…well…let’s just say there is sound. This is a recording off a radio broadcast on to a tape. That tape was then copied, which was then copied, which was then copied, which was then copied and keep going for another dozen copies. There is a massive tape drag at several points during the show which slows the song down and it is quite noticeable. That proves that the source material was from an old tape that had been copied many times. Yes, the sound sucks at times and might be on the low end of some of my bootlegs, but I am still okay with it and because I collect them I will buy regardless.

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Cheap Trick – “Tonight It’s You” (1985) – 7″ Single (The Cheap Trick Collection Series – Bonus Edition)

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The Cheap Trick Collection Series is about all things in my collection that are Cheap Trick related and this time around we are looking at a 7″ Single I picked up over the past year. The single is for the song “Tonight It’s You” off their album ‘Standing on the Edge which we reviewed last week. The song was the only single off the album and sadly, it didn’t break the Top 40, stalling out at #44. The song was written by Rick Nielsen, Robin Zander, Jon Brant and the song doctor Mark Radice who we talked about during the album review.

The Single is an edited and re-mixed version of the album cutting off over a minute of run time. The album version sits at around 4:47 and the Single edit is at 3:10. Basically they cut off a lot of the end that is repetitive as well as tightening it up to fit the short attention spans of the radio listener. The B-Side is off the same album and is the final song called “Wild Wild Women”.

My version is the standard U.S. Single, nothing special. I do love the cover and how it is the album cover but using the orange tint. Not original, but still looks good.

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‘Red: My Uncensored Life in Rock’ by Sammy Hagar with Joel Selvin – Book Review

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I know, I know. I am a little late to this book as it came out way back in 2011. But I’m finally here, I’ve finally drenched myself in to the pages and I am ready to tell you all about it. Thanks for being so patient with me. Sammy Hagar! What is there to say about Sammy. I remember seeing “I Can’t Drive 55” on MTV and really starting to discover who he was. I found out he was the lead singer of the band Montrose from the 70’s and then around 1985, I remember he was named the new lead singer of Van Halen. That was when I really started to find out who he really was. I picked up some Sammy albums and definitely bought the Van Halen albums and I really liked him. Then in the 90’s after leaving Van Halen, he started up his solo stuff again. Eventually he turned in to what I felt was the Jimmy Buffet of Rock & Roll. He had this laid back, surfer dude, all sunshine, relaxation and Tequila. He has always seemed like such a cool dude! And this book proved that to be the case, but I discovered so much more.

The book has Sammy really focusing on his rock & roll life with nuggets of his early childhood, but thankfully he stuck to the music mostly. Well, almost thankfully, as I would’ve loved to hear more about his business side as he only touched on it (except for Cabo Wabo and the Tequila) a little and that seems to be the area where he made most of his money and let me tell you, the man looks like he made more money on the business side of his life then the music side and I find that fascinating. Hell, he sold his Tequila brand for around $100 million…DAMN!!! He had a fire safety sprinkler company before there as really such a thing. He’s had his bar Cabo Wabo which is now bar’s’ with an ‘s’. He seems to invest in the right things at the right time and I have never been that lucky.

But the main reason to read the book for any Sammy fan is the Va Halen stories and they don’t disappoint. I’ve heard that he was really harsh on Eddie Van Halen and he regrets that a little, but I don’t think it was that harsh. I don’t think it is anything we didn’t expect or know. Eddie was an addict and his behavior over the years has shown that. I think Sammy was being honest with how he interpreted the stories and that is what I want in a book. I can read other people’s books to get their side and then draw my own conclusion, but Sammy’s seemed authentic to me. The sunshine and roses of how he got with the band seems to coincide with what Ted Templeman said in his book which is all good. But the downfall is where it got interesting. The little things they did to each other, the backstabbing, the drugs and alcohol and just the shitty way things went down was outright riveting to me. Sammy laid it all out there for you to read. So go do it.

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Survivor – ‘High On You” – 45 Single

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For the past several months, we have been talking about singles that I found at this cool place called House of Vinyl down in Fernandina Beach, Florida. Well, this is not one of them. But it is from that same trip. I found this in a little antique store just down the road. I bought a lot of singles on that trip and I love them all.

“High on You” by Survivor was the second single of their album ‘Vital Signs’, which is the VERY FIRST CD I ever bought with my own money!! So that album holds a special place in my heart. The single was release in December 1984 and was written by the writing partners of Survivor, Frankie Sullivan and Jim Peterik. The song went to #8 on the Billboard charts and help the album go platinum and reach #16 on the Charts as well.

The song title had been sitting with Peterik since 1977 when we was at CBS Convention. At the show, Sly and the Family Stone was performing and Sly was so stoned that when he ran out on stage, he told everyone that he said “I want you to know people, I’m high on you”. (from Songfacts). That wasn’t the only thing he was high on. Survivor liked to jam a lot and the song itself came about from one of those jam sessions.

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