Category: Album Review

Def Leppard – And There Will Be A Next Time…Live From Detroit (2017)

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Part 3 of the Def Leppard Live Series is ‘And There Will Be A Next Time…Live From Detroit’.  This the latest released from Def Leppard and sparked my reason behind reviewing all three of the Live albums they have released.  The other two are as follows:

‘And There Will Be A Next Time…’ was recorded back over the Summer of 2016 in Detroit, MI (obviously) in support of their album that was simply titled ‘Def Leppard’.  The release was in both CD form and in Blue Ray / DVD and consisted of 17 tracks.  The track listing is below:

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CD One:

  1. “Let’s Go”
  2. “Animal”
  3. “Let It Go”
  4. “Dangerous”
  5. “Foolin'”
  6. “Love Bites”
  7. “Armageddon It”
  8. “Rock On”
  9. “Man Enough”

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Def Leppard – Viva! Hysteria (2013)

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In Part 2 of this 3 Part series of the Def Leppard Live albums we are tackling Viva! Hysteria (If you want to read Part 1 just click on Mirror Ball: Live & More).

Per Joe Elliott, Def Leppard has been asked numerous times to play one of their albums in its entirety.  At the times they had been asked, they were busy supporting an album and didn’t feel it was appropriate.  Along comes the day when they are in between albums and the time felt right.

They took up residency at the Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas from March 22nd to April 13th in 2013.  From those shows comes the release of Viva! Hysteria.  The 2 CD set and DVD of the show make for a great addition to your Def Leppard collection.  I have to admit I am mad at myself for not making it out to Vegas to see this show as it would have been a special show to have seen.  I have seen them so many times, but this would probably have been the coolest.

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Def Leppard – Mirror Ball: Live & More (2011)

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If I remember correctly, there was an interview with Joe Elliott a long, long time ago asking him about Cover albums and Live albums and why Def Leppard hadn’t done any of these albums. His response was something to the effect that bands that have nothing else to give do those kind of albums (not a direct quote).  I tried finding the article, but was unsuccessful.  Well, 1 Cover album and now 3 Live albums later, I guess Def Leppard has nothing to give…Okay, we know that is wrong as Def Leppard has still put out great albums in between all these Live albums and the Cover album.  His opinion of them has apparently changed.

This post will be the first in a 3 part series discussing Def Leppard’s 3 Live Albums including ‘Mirror Ball’,‘Viva! Hysteria’, and ‘And There Will Be A Next Time…’.  We will start the series in chronological order starting with the 2011 release ‘Mirror Ball: Live & More’.

‘Mirror Ball’ is the first official release on CD for any Def Leppard recording.  I have bootlegs of live albums, but glad to see an official release of live material.  It was long overdue.  The album was a 2 CD set and included a Bonus DVD as well which I will discuss later in the post.  The CD packaging is one of those old thick plastic cases that doesn’t hold up well. I cracked the back of the case on the day I bought it.  I don’t remember what I did, but it is nicely cracked now.

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Rod Stewart – “Da Ya Think I’m Sexy?” – The 45 Single (1978)

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Off Rod Stewart’s 1978 album ‘Blondes Have More Fun’ comes one of his most memorable songs “Da Ya Think I’m Sexy”.  The song reached #1 in the US, Canada and the UK as well as 3 other countries.  It sold over 2,000,000 copies in the U.S. alone and according to Rolling Stones magazine is #308 of the Top 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

The song was a little more disco than what Rod was used to releasing.  He had previously been more of a blues rock singer.  As a result, the rock critics were not quite happy with the song.

According to wikipedia (the most reliable source on earth), the song had some legal issues due to copyright infringement cases brought against it.  The song…

incorporates elements of the melody from the song “Taj Mahal” by Jorge Ben Jor and the string arrangement from the song “Put Something Down On It” by Bobby Womack.

Regardless, it is still one of Rod’s most popular songs.  What I love about the cover, is the girl is not Blonde even though the album was ‘Blondes Have More Fun’.  I had also heard that the lady on the cover was Cher, but I couldn’t find anything that backed that up.  I will still think it though.

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King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard – ‘Flying Microtonal Banana’ – Album Review

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For those that follow my blog, they might remember one of my first Music Challenges where I listened to an album based off the band’s name, album cover or name of the album.  I picked King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard’s album strictly because of their band name.  And to my surprise, I really loved the album.  When I saw they had a new album out, I naturally gravitated toward it and gave it a spin…a lot of spins.

Their new album is called ‘Flying Microtonal Banana’ and is their 9th studio album since 2012..that is right…9th!!  They also are planning on releasing not one, not two, but FIVE albums this year. Pretty ambitious and we will wait and see if they actually able to achieve said goal.

The band is out of Australia and actually has seven members.

  • Stu Mackenzie – lead vocals
  • Ambrose Kenny Smith – keyboards/synthesizer
  • Joey Walker – lead guitar
  • Cook Craig – rhythm guitar
  • Lucas Skinner – bass guitar
  • Eric Moore – drums
  • Michael Cavanagh – drums

The current release has nine tracks and is as wild and experimental sounding as the last release.  Where the last release was one continuous song basically broken up into 9 parts and the music never stopped playing, this album went a little more traditional where you could tell when one song ended and the other began.

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“My First Time” with The Police’s ‘Synchronicity’

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My First Time is about the ‘first’ album I received or bought for a band and sadly, my first album for The Police was ironically their last.  MTV had played their previous songs quite often and I loved “Don’t Stand So Close To Me” and “Every Little Thing She Does is Magic”, but it wasn’t until “Synchronicity II” that I finally decided to actually buy one of their records.

I picked up the cassette for ‘Synchronicity’ back in 1983 and later I did pick up their entire collection on CD by buying their box set which had all their albums.  I have since sold all the previous copies and when I was out vinyl shopping last year, I found ‘Synchronicity’ and snatched it up.  It cost $8 which was about the same price I paid for the cassette back in the ’80’s.

The Police were not an ordinary pop rock band.  For me, their lyrics were intelligent and not the bubble gum crap that was on the radio.  The songs made you think and look deeper into what they were saying.  At least they did for me.  It was the first time I felt music could be smart.

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John 5 & the Creatures – ‘Season of the Witch’ – Album Review

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John 5 is one of my favorite guitarists and there isn’t much of his work I don’t have.  I came across him while listening to Rob Zombie and from that point I was hooked.  I now have all his solo albums and a lot of his work with Marilyn Manson and of course, all his Rob Zombie albums.

He has done so much more with guest spots on so many albums including a couple on Ace Frehley’s last album, ‘Origins, Vol. 1’.  His real name is John William Lowery, but goes by John 5 thanks in large part to the stage name given to him while working with Marilyn Manson.  The name stuck and he has used it ever since.

He is now on his 8th solo album and this one is entitled ‘Season of the Witch’.  The darkness, morbid sound he had with both Rob & Marilyn is still prevalent on this album as well.  Once you are in the darkness, it must be hard to get out…however, you don’t want him to get out.  This is his speciality.

His band The Creatures consists of Ian Ross and Rodger Carter and together these 3 musicians take you on a nightmarish musical journey that is ‘Season of the Witch’.  The 13 track instrumental album takes you from metal all the way to evil bluegrass.  Strap yourself in and be prepared for the terror of John 5 & the Creatures.

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‘Album Cover Album’ Edited by Storm Thorgerson & Roger Dean – Book Review

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I have had this coffee table book for at least 7-8 years.  My wife knows of my love for music and she got me this book on album covers that mostly covers the 50’s to the 70’s. Thankfully, there aren’t that many words and it is mostly a picture book as that is all I can really handle.

Album artwork was really at its peak in the 70’s and the book commemorates that era with this great collection of album covers. The collection was first released in 1977 and has been updated many times since.  This edition from 2008 was the newest edition at the time. They included a Preface by Peter Gabriel and an additional Foreward by John Wetton of King Crimson.

One of the coolest things about the book is it is edited by two of the masters of album artwork.  First you have Storm Throgerson, the founder of the company Hipgnosis and they were famous for their album covers for Pink Floyd among others.  He also does an additional Foreward.

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Jack Russell’s Great White – ‘He Saw It Comin’ – Album Review

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Through the tragedies (Rhode Island night club fire), the legal battles over the band name, and even the health scares, Jack Russell has persevered.  Jack Russell’s Great White delivers a stellar album with ‘He Saw It Comin’.

The album is a huge surprise as I wasn’t expecting much, but man did Jack and the band exceed all expectations.  If you are expecting Great White, this is not that band.  Jack Russell has gone his own way.

The album doesn’t have a heavy sound throughout, but takes you on a journey through many different styles that cohesively fit together.  Jack raps briefly on “She Moves Me”, they completely rock out on “Spy Vs. Spy” (a throwback to MAD magazine?), have total fun with “Crazy”, and they doo-wop on “Godspeed”.

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Steve Martin’s “King Tut” – The 45 Single (1978)

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When I was going through the box of vinyl that inspired my series “Turntables & Vinyl”, there were quite a few 45 singles.  One of those singles was from a comedian that released a single about King Tutankhamun (King Tut).  That person was Steve Martin.  The “Wild & Crazy” guy is quite talented and he can kill it on the banjo.  He can also sing (don’t let this song be the judge of that singing though).  There is no banjo playing on this version sadly, but on the flip side you will here it.

The song was a satire of how the King Tut artifacts were turned into a traveling museum that went around the world back in the 1970’s for people to see and experience.  Apparently, Steve found this funny at how popular the exhibit was and how commercialized it had become.  I guess he thought he might as well capitalize on its popularity as well.

The song was released in 1978 and actually did quite well as it sold over one million copies and charted as high as #17 on the Billboard Hot 100.  One cool fact is the band backing him were members of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and they called themselves the Toot UnCommons for this project (get it!!).

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