Category: Album Review

Kiss – ‘Lo Mejor De…Kiss’ (2015) – Album Review (The Kiss Review Series)

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Universal Music is still the compilation king even in 2015. For almost 10 years, they have been spitting out Kiss compilations like they were going out of style. This time around they release a single disc compilation that was only available in Spain. It was titled ‘Lo Mejor…Kiss’. For you English speaking folks, that simply means ‘The Best of…Kiss’. It is only 14 tracks that covers the 70’s and a smidge in the 80’s as we do get 3 tracks from that era. You get a handful with Gene on vocals, a smattering of Paul and a sprinkle of Peter…but no Ace songs…boo!!! The cover of the album is pretty nice with an early photo of the band. I love how the cover looks like a magazine cover and I even like the font of the logo. There isn’t much to it as the album cover opens to reveal the track listing with a few credits, but no other pictures, no write-up, nothing. Pretty basic. Another cash grab. But being that is a Spanish release, the cool factor is pretty high for me to have it in the collection.

There isn’t much else I could find on it, so we might as well talk the music. The album kicks off with the song that started it all for the band.  The start to superstardom was because of “Rock And Roll All Nite”.  This is now their signature song and it is easy to see why.  It is a pure rock anthem like no other. The ‘Alive!’ version is better though.

And then Paul shows off with a little “Oooh Oooh Oooh” that I’m not sure he could not hit today as it is so high, but it is a perfect way to kick off the song “Heaven’s On Fire” which is another Paul and Desmond song and the first single off ‘Animalize’ The song is another rocker and a very typical 80’s sounding song. It was all over MTV and helped propel the album to Platinum status. On radio, it didn’t fare as well not breaking the Top 40 and hanging around #49. The song is one of the few 80’s song to actually get occasionally played live after they went back to make-up which is cool. Now sadly, this was the only video that contains Mark as he was gone before anything else was done, but at least we have this to remember him by.

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Tennessee River Crooks – ‘Tennessee River Crooks’ (1976/2024) – Album Review

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Tennessee River Crooks was a band out of Paris, Tennessee and although they had one album, it was produced on a private press and had no major label release. RidingEasy Records licensed the album for an official release and our good friends at Noble Records had an exclusive version printed out exclusive to their store. Their version is what I have here and it was limited to 300 copies on a almost Mint Green colored vinyl. It is listed as Green, but I feel it is more mint green so there you have it.

The band consisted of Jimmy Stewart on bass, Ronnie Waters & Larry Farrar on guitars with Ricky Stewart on drums. Jimmy also handled all the vocals. One of the main song writers on here is Mike Hendrix who also contributed some guitar work and harmony vocals on a lot of song. He was in the band at one time, but only contributed to the recordings at this point. Their sound is pure Southern Rock and the album was mostly recorded with the rhythm tracks live so you would get the feel of the band and how they sounded live. It was recorded, mostly, at Sound Farm in Puryear, Tennessee betwen June and October of 1976 as it states on the back cover. All I can say is that it is another solid Exclusive offered by Noble and why I keep coming back time and again and buying his exclusive. The man knows what he is talking about.

The band’s name came from a friend of theirs name Jerry Crouch. He worked the door at a lot of their gigs and when he collected the money at the door for entry, he placed it in a cigar box for the company Tennessee River Crooks. They shortened it TR Crooks as the other was a mouthful to always say. Whatever you want to call them, you can call them talented musicians and a hell of a band.

SIDE ONE:

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Def Leppard – ‘High & Dry’ – RSD Picture Disc (2022) (The Def Leppard Collection Series)

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Yes, if you’ve been following the Def Leppard Collection Series then you know I’ve reviewed ‘High & Dry’ already; however, since this the collection series, here is the Record Store Day Picture Disc that was released back in 2022 for ‘High & Dry’. I don’t usually buy too many Picture Disc unless they are like 12″ Singles or E.P.’s because I usually already have the albums. But with Def Leppard, if I see it, I buy it…and guess what…I saw it so I bought it!! It was released on April 23, 2022 and is supposed to be limited to 6,000 copies. It states it is an RSD First which means they plan on releasing the picture disc to the general public at any time now I guess. I don’t think I’ve seen it happen yet. I have scatted the pictures in the post and you can read along to the original review from last year. Enjoy!!…

Original Review:

While touring in support of their debut album, ‘On Through the Night’, Def Leppard opened for one of the biggest bands at the time, AC/DC. Famed producer, Robert John “Mutt” Lange, who produced AC/DC’s massive album “Back in Black”, took notice of the band and he was very impressed. So much so, he agreed to be their producer for the band’s sophomore album ‘High ‘N’ Dry’. A move that would change the course of history for this band and catapult them in to the stratosphere of rock stardom. But first, they had to do an album and this album saw the band head to a more melodic phase, however, the edge and rawness of the debut was still present.

The songwriting was more refined, everything seemed more purposefully composed, it was cleaner yet it was still powerful, engaging and after over 40 years with it, it is one of the best rock & roll albums of all time. Well…it is for me. The band, who was Joe Elliott, Steve Clark, Rick Savage, Rick Allen and Pete Willis, recorded the album between March and June of 1981 and it was released a very short time later on July 11, 1981. A short 16 months after the debut. Man, if they could’ve only kept that pace of releases, how much could they have released over the years. The album would go to #38 in the U.S. and #26 in the UK. Not a massive success, but enough of one thanks to the ballad “Brinin’ on the Heartbreak” which saw massive airplay on MTV, that the band was setup nicely for the next album.

Their third album ‘Pyromania’ was so big, so successful and so amazing, that ‘High ‘N’ Dry’ was re-released in 1984 with 2 additional tracks. One was a re-mix of “Bringin’ On the Heartbreak” which added synthesizers and piano overdubs to make it sound more like what was done on ‘Pyromania’. The other track was “Me & My Wine” which was the B-Side of the original release of “Bringin On the Heartbreak”. It too was re-mixed for a more modern sound. This re-release helped sell more albums which has since seen the album go double platinum. They even did new videos for it with Phil Collen on guitar who was not on this album at all as Pete Willis was at the time. The copy we are reviewing today is the original release without the 2 new tracks, the way it should be heard. Let’s get to it.

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Kiss – ‘HoriPro Music Publishing Collection: Disc 1’ (2007) – Promo CD (The Kiss Review Series)

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In my hunt for Kiss compilations, I came across this single disc cd from 2007 that was actually a promo CD of a larger collection that had 8 CDs, only one of which was Kiss. The info on it is as follows:

KISS/VARIOUS Horipro Music Publishing Collection (2007 US promotional only 120-track 8-CD album set issued by the music publishing arm of the Horipro Entertainment Group to illustrate the diversity of their song catalogue, comprising four various artist compilations of hit country songs and classic rock songs, individual discs dedicated to the ‘Emerald Forest’ subsidiary, Jerry Reed and REO Speedwagon, plus a 13-track Kiss collection exclusive to this set. Custom printed discs and full colour picture sleeves, housed in a card picture slipcase with 16-page booklet including artist biographies).

I do not have the whole set, but only the Kiss CD that I picked up on Discogs. I would love to grab the whole set one day, but for now, I’m happy with the Kiss CD at the very least…which is all I really wanted anyway. It is a simple collection with 13 tracks and the inside album sheet had the songs listed and where they wound up on the Billboard Charts and the year. However, not all the songs charted. A very simple set with nothing else included and heck, it didn’t even have the normal Kiss Logo. But it did have a great selection of tracks.

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Dryewater – ‘Southpaw’ (1974/2024) – Album Review

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Our local record store here, Noble Records, has its own record label. They released the album from Underground Fire a couple months back and now it is time for their second release. This time around, it is actually another North Carolina band called Dryewater. They were based out of Charlotte, North Carolina and the album originally came out back in 1974 which was called ‘Southpaw’. The band on that album was only together for around a year and consisted of Richard Drye on guitar and lead vocals plus his wife Shaye Drye on keyboards. That wasn’t all, you had Robert Blair on bass and Garland Walker Stidham on drums. The original album had only 500 copies and was mostly given away by the band so if you want a hard to find album, this is probably one of them.

Luckily for us, Noble Records contacted the remaining band members and obtained the license to distribute this album again. Once they obtained the rights, they needed a copy of the album to master and re-issue, but the problem was there was no master tape of the album. As a result, using a very clean copy of the vinyl, the did what you call a needledrop mix of the album. Test pressings were run and you could hear the album as it was originally released. And being the hardcore supporter I have been with Noble Records, Dillon was kind enough to give me one of the test pressings. This test pressing was back from September 18, 2023.

I note the date because after he received the test pressings and before it went to print, guess what happened. They found the master tapes from the recordings. And if that wasn’t all, they found an unreleased song and an extended version of one of the original songs that had not been released either. So, we now had two unreleased tracks. Lo and behold, the tapes were great and they were mastered for a new pressing. I bought one of the test pressings he had for this next run as well. This time around, the date was January 9, 2024.

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Def Leppard – ‘Diamond Star Halos’ (2022) – Album Review (The Def Leppard Collection Series)

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Def Leppard are known for taking long gaps between albums, but this might the longest. It has been 7 years since the last studio album, the 2015, self-titled gem, ‘Def Leppard’. Now, the band is back with an album that pays tribute to the era of glam rock with the likes of David Bowie, T. Rex and so many more. In fact, the title of their 12th studio album, ‘Diamond Star Halos’, is taken from the T. Rex 1971 song, “Get It On”. This is something Joe Elliott has been exploring with his Down ‘N’ Outz side project, but now that has leaked in to the Def Leppard camp…well, not really, as it has always been there. As Joe Elliott, Rick Allen, Rick Savage, Phil Collen and Vivian Campbell were all influenced by the great music of the 70’s.

‘Diamond Star Halos’ was released on May 27, 2022 and went all the way to #10 on the Billboard 200 album chart and even #5 in their UK home. Not a bad position for a band that have been around for over 40 years. And of course, I bought this album 4 times!! You read that right. I have the Target Exclusive vinyl with the yellow/red translucent vinyl and tarot card litho, but that is not all. I have 2 Japanese CDs as well. Why 2? Well, each one comes with 2 different bonus tracks so I had to have them both. And we don’t stop there. I even bought the cassette…yes, they put out a cassette with this one too. I had to have every format. Wait…hold the presses, I almost forgot. I also have the SDE Surround Sound version on Blu Ray and Dolby Atmos. So, I guess I have bought this album 5 times…yes, I have a problem.

Enough about my problems, let’s talk the album. It opens with the song “Take What You Want” which I swear is a throwback to ‘Pyromania’ era Leppard. I heavy rocker (well, as heavy as they get nowadays). Gang vocals, gritty riff, catchy chorus, it is all there. Then they glam it out with “Kick”. A poppy rock song that harkens back to T. Rex and Mott the Hoople. I admit, I like this one. Damn, is it catchy and gets stuck in your head.

“Fire It Up” cranks up the rock with some slamming riff, heavy bass from Sav and pounding drums from Allen. Joe almost raps the vocals and the chorus is layered with vocals as they are known to do. Their choruses are always huge. I have a love/hate with this one. Musically, killer…the rapping style lyrics, not so much.

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Ratt – ‘Out of the Cellar’ (40th Anniversary – 1984/2024) – Album Review

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After the success of their self-titled E.P., Ratt signed a record deal with Atlantic Records and that deal brought us the incredible debut album ‘Out of the Cellar’.  On March 27th, 1984, the album was released and thanks to MTV, the band became a huge sensation. And here we are over 40 years later with an Anniversary Edition of the album that even gives us one previously unreleased track. Now, it isn’t on the album if you got the vinyl per se but is with the CD version. The vinyl version instead received a 7″ Single with that song included which is called “Reach For The Sky” and if that sounds familiar, the band actually used it as an album title years later.

The band’s line-up was unchanged from the E.P, consisting of the following members:

  • Stephen Pearcy – vocals
  • Robbin Crosby – lead guitar
  • Warren DeMartini – lead guitar
  • Juan Croucier – bass
  • Bobby Blotzer – drums

With the incredible dual guitar combo of Crosby & DeMartini and the bluesy, raspiness of Pearcy’s vocals, the band had an arsenal of great songs that took them to the pinnacle of rock and selling millions and millions of records.  It also didn’t hurt that they looked the part which was crucial for the MTV world that was exploding on the scene at the time.

Take that and add a beautiful woman on the cover your album and there was denying this band.  Tawny Kitaen graced the cover of the debut album as she was the then girlfriend of Robin Crosby.  She also graced the cover of their E.P. but that was just her beautiful legs.  This time, you got the whole package.  For those that didn’t know, Tawny is the video vixen that was dancing on the pair of Jaguars in the Whitesnake videos in the late 80’s when she was dating David Coverdale. With these new version, we get a new cover…sort of…this time is a lenticular cover with Tawny on it which sees the background change from the yellow fiery cover to a blue tinged background. And throw the music on a red & black splatter vinyl and it is one sweet package.

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Down ‘N’ Outz – ‘The Music Box E.P.’ (2020) – Album Review (The Def Leppard Collection Series)

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Back in 2020, Record Store Day was spread out over several months due to this little thing called Covid. The pandemic slowed things down since people couldn’t gather in the same way we had in the past. But by October 20, 2020, this Record Store Day item was finally released. It was an E.P. from Down ‘N’ Outz that was created to compliment the release of their album ‘This is How We Roll’ which we reviewed a few weeks back. This limited edition release was called ‘The Music Box E.P.’ and was limited to only 1,500 copies. Thankfully, I grabbed one. It contains 4 tracks, one of which was previously unreleased. The other three were extended versions or different edits of tracks from the album.

Down ‘N’ Outz, for those that don’t remember, was a side project from Def Leppard’s Joe Elliott that was originally created as a tribute band to Mott the Hoople & Ian Hunter. It turned in to original songs with occasional covers. The rest of the band was Paul Guerin, Guy Griffin, Keith Weir, Phil Martini and Share Ross. It is a stellar line-up and a full of players that love their craft.

THAT SIDE:

This Side kicks off with an extended version of “Music Box” and the original version, I didn’t care for. It was a musical interlude that Joe had written back in 1978. He dusted it off and it turned it to more vaudeville. We have a fairground organ, a recorder, a bass drum and a harp. It is cute and all, but really adds nothing to the album in my opinion. A full flushed out song would’ve been better. I guess this is the full flushed out version. It still feels like a carnival, but much slower and not as lively. I guess these are the sad clowns. Like the original, this does nothing for me.

The next track is the explicit version of The Tube’s song “White Punks On Dope”. And what a killer track. It has the angst and energy of the original. I love the energy, the honky tonk piano, the blistering guitars and bombastic drums. And then there is Joe, he sounds great. Being the explicit version, the “F” word is used where it wasn’t in the original version they did. Ooohh!! So explicit…these virgin ears can’t take it!! (Sarcasm btw).

THIS SIDE:

That Side kicks off the another extended version and this one is the 2nd “Music Box” song from the original and is called “Music Box Reprise (Griff’s Lament)“. This is another brief musical interlude and like the original music box, does nothing for me or the album.

The final track is a Roxy Music cover of “Virginia Plain”. Now, I am not a fan of Roxy Music so I do not know this song at all. It is an upbeat rocker, with a fun little bounce to it (that doesn’t sound like Roxy Music to me). It sounds like a very glam era rocker and it isn’t too bad. Still doesn’t make me want to run out and

The collector in me had to have it, but honestly, I haven’t listened to it since i bought it originally. I only pulled it out for this review and that is enough. I don’t think I will ever listen to this again…sorry boys. The “Music Box” songs aren’t worth the time, and the original non-explicit version on the album of “White Punks On Dope” is fine with me if I listen to that album. The only reason to have this is Roxy Music’s “Virginia Plain” and it doesn’t move me enough to hear that again…probably. My Overall Score is a 1.0 out of 5.0 Stars as this is strictly for collector’s and completists.

NEXT UP: DEF LEPPARD – ‘DIAMOND STAR HALOS’ (2022)

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. Cybernauts – The Further Adventures of the Cybernauts (2001)
  49. X (2002)
  50. Hysteria: Classic Albums DVD (2002)
  51. Best of Def Leppard (2004)
  52. Rock of Ages: The Definitive Collection (2005)
  53. Yeah! (2006)
  54. Yeah! Bonus CD with Backstage Interviews (2006)
  55. Songs from the Sparkle Lounge (2008)
  56. Man Raze – Surreal (2008)
  57. B-Sides (2021)
  58. Yeah! II (2021)
  59. Yeah! Live (2021)
  60. CMT Crossroads – Taylor Swift & Def Leppard (2009)
  61. Down ‘N’ Outz -My ReGeneration (2010)
  62. Man Raze – PunkFunkRootsRock (2011)
  63. Down ‘N’ Outz -The Further Adventures of… (2014)
  64. Def Leppard (2015)
  65. Personal Jesus 7″ Single (2018)
  66. Down ‘N’ Outz -This is How We Roll (2019)
  67. Hits Vegas: Live at Planet Hollywood – Vinyl (2020)
  68. Hysteria: Live – Vinyl (2020)
  69. Def Leppard Acoustic Vegas – 10″ Vinyl (2020)
  70. Down ‘N’ Outz – The Music Box E.P. (2020)
  71. Diamond Star Halos (2022)
  72. High & Dry – Picture Disc (RSD) (2022)
  73. Drastic Symphonies (2023)
  74. Drastic Symphonies – Picture Disc (2023)
  75. Definitely: The Official Story of Def Leppard (2023)
  76. Def Leppard – ‘One Night Only: Live at The Leadmill’ (RSD) (2024)
  77. “Just Like ’73” – 7″ Single (2024)

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!

Kiss – ‘Star Boulevard’ (2012) – Album Review (The Kiss Review Series)

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Universal Music was spitting out Kiss compilations faster than Gene and Paul were badmouthing Ace & Peter. Man, that is fast. This time around, we get a German only compilation from 2012 that was only available at the retail store Rossman. It is a 2 CD set with 30 songs and a bonus track as well. But is it really a bonus track if this is the only version released. No vinyl, no cassette, only a CD. That to me seems like it is a 2 CD set with 31 songs. Maybe it is because all the songs on here are album cuts except for this 31st song…who knows. Regardless, cool to get this one in the collection and I love that it has the German Kiss logo with the different SS’s.

The songs are mostly focused on the 70’s with a small taste of anything from the 80’s and when I say small, I mean only like 4 songs out of the 31. But there are some cool choices on here that you don’t normally see on a Kiss compilation and being 2 CDs, gives you a great taste of the band especially if you like the 70’s.

CD 1:

The album kicks off with the song “Strutter”.  The song was written by both Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons and over the years, this would be a rare experience as they would wind up writing songs by themselves.  The music of the song was based off an old Gene song called “Stanley the Parrot” which was recorded even before there was a Wicked Lester.

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Def Leppard – ‘Acoustic in Vegas’ (2020) – 10″ Picture Disc

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A couple weeks back, we discussed the ‘Hits Vegas: Live at Planet Hollywood’ show that Def Leppard released on vinyl. It was taken from the bands 2019 Sin City Residency. Well, what we have for you this week is a special snippet of that show. This is a 10″ E.P. that covers the acoustic portion of that show. And the nice thing about it is that it is a picture disc as well. You get 4 songs, all done acoustically, in a limited edition packaging. I believe this was also a European only release and put out some time in 2020. What songs do we get? Well, let’s see.

On Side A, it kicks off with “Let Me Be The One” off the 2002 album ‘X’. One of the best ballads the band has ever done and one that do not play live ever, sadly. Viv and Phil’s acoustic work is always superb and this one is no different. The band’s harmonies on the backing vocals are pretty great live (not studio quality, but who can).

If that wasn’t cool enough, they pull out “We Belong” from the 2015 self-titled album. What is cool about this is it has all 5 guys taking turns singing, which is a first for the band. One of my favorite songs from that album and here they just slay. Everyone sounds incredible and it is as if it was from the studio album it is that good. This time around, we get drums as they were absent on the first track so glad to Rick Allen get involved on the acoustic portion. This had never been played live ever until the Residency.

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