Category: Rock

Billy Idol – Funko Pop! Rocks

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Community! With this website, I have discovered that there are a lot of people out there that love to talk music. That group of bloggers/writers that I have met have made me feel at home and I’ve found a real sense of Community among them. One person in particular seems to epitomize that feeling of Community above all others. That would be Aaron over at KeepsMeAlive. He has sent me something before and this one was completely out of the blue. He apparently was strolling through a store and saw this thing all by himself and felt it needed a good home.

What he found was the Funko Pop! of Billy Idol. Aaron knew I was a Billy fan because of the Billy Idol Series I did a couple years ago (and because he sent me a Generation X album as well a couple years back too!!. He might be one of the nicest guys in the world (at least in North America anyway). Aaron is in Canada and I’m in the U.S. so I know this took some effort to get it shipped across the border (especially in this Covid World). It was much appreciated. So, Thank You Aaron!! You found Billy Idol a good home.

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Friday New Releases – February 4, 2022

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Can you believe January is already over and it is now February? That was fast. We are to another Friday New Releases and although not as many as last week, there is still a good number of releases and a good chance you will find something that you want to listen to this weekend. Unfortunately for me, there is nothing I am dying to hear, but hopefully you will find something. Let me know what you want to hear and what release I may have missed as I am sure there is something I didn’t see. Thanks for stopping by and I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!! Happy Listening!!!

  • 71hTIyuTCsL._AC_UY436_FMwebp_QL65_  Korn – Requiem – (Loma Vista Recording)
  • 81pF591sDaL._AC_UY436_FMwebp_QL65_  Saxon – Carpe Diem – (Silver Lining Music)
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Aerosmith – “Dude (Looks Like A Lady)” (1987) – 7″ Single & 12″ Maxi-Single (The Aerosmith Collection Series – Bonus Edition)

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We have a little break here from the album reviews in the Aerosmith Collection Series. As it turns out, I have 4 singles from ‘Permanent Vacation’ and we are going to go through those over the next few weeks. First up is the second single from the album “Dude (Looks Like A Lady)” and this one is a two for the price of one treat as I have both a 7″ Single and a 12″ Maxi-Single of the song. Since I don’t want to completely bore you to tears with two separate posts on the same song, I decided to them both together in one giant treat.

7″ Promo Single:

First up we will tackle the 7″ Single. My version is the the Promo Copy of the song so the A-Side and B-Side are the same song. Since this is 1987, both versions are the stereo version and not one of them being a Mono like in the earlier years. The song was released as a single on September 22, 1987 and did really well for the band. It brought them back to the mainstream after years of filling up the discount rack. The song went to #12 on the Billboard Top 40 and was a regular on MTV.

The song started out as a song called “Cruisin’ for a Lady”, but thanks to help from co-write Desmond Child, we got “Dude (Looks Like a Lady)”. The song is about a man that goes in to a strip club and falls for one of the dancers. They go back stage and she whips out her gun and is actually a man. The song inspiration actually came from the band seeing this blonde beauty at the far end of a bar and it turning out to be Vince Neil from Motley Crue.

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Cheap Trick – “The Flame” (1988) – 7″ Single (The Cheap Trick Collection Series – Bonus Edition)

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Welcome to a bonus edition of The Cheap Trick Collection Series. In my crate digging, I occasionally come upon 7″ Singles and when I find one from a band I like, I usually buy it and this was no different. The single was for the song “The Flame” from the band’s album ‘Lap of Luxury’ from 1988. It was sort of a comeback album for the band as the prior few albums didn’t do very well and they were starting to disappear from the scene. This song saved them from going the way of the Dodo. The album ended up going Platinum thanks to this song and their other singles “Don’t Be Cruel” and “Ghost Town”.

The band almost didn’t get an opportunity to sing the song as it was initially offered to blues artist, Elkie Brooks who turned it down. Which is a good thing because I doubt it would’ve had the success it ended up having with Cheap Trick. There was a story going around that Rick Nielsen really hated the song and pulled it out of the tape deck and ground it in to the floor with his foot. He has later denied disliking the song entirely and said it had its moments. The problem is Rick hated that the song was written by outside writers that were forced upon them by the label.

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Def Leppard – ‘Adrenalize: The 7-Day Weekend Tour’ (1992/1993) – Tour Book

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Def Leppard released their album ‘Adrenalize’ on March 31, 1992 to massive success. The album sold 4 million copies and went to #1 in the US, the UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and in Swtitzerland. It spawned 6 singles and in a time when 80’s Rock was dying out, somehow, Def Leppard still succeeded.

It was the first album without Steve Clark on guitar and would be the first tour without him as well. The tour kicked off with a club show in Dublin, Ireland on April 15, 1992 and was the first with Vivian Campbell on guitar. It was also a warm-up for the massive Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert on April 20, 1992 which would see Def Leppard perform to over 70,000 people and technically introduce the world to Vivian Campbell. It was a rip roaring success. The tour then officially started on May 19, 1992 in Madrid, Spain and would last the rest of 1992 and not end until September 1993.

Some of the opening acts were Ugly Kid Joe, Thunder and Terrorvision (who I know nothing about). It was a massive success as usual as the performed In the Round again and as you’d expect, I did catch the show on November 24, 1992 at the Omni in Atlanta, Ga.

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January 2022 Purchases – Vinyl & Cds

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Welcome to the first round of purchases for 2022. Yes, I know, it never seems to end…my wife and wallet keep telling me that, but I don’t listen…obviously. And this week was another stellar month and a few really good deals as well…at least I think so. The first set of purchases were from gift cards left over from Christmas that I hadn’t spent and it was tough to decide. First I went with a vinyl I had been wanting for awhile and finding an original vinyl pressing was going to be expense so I went withe re-issue from Music on Vinyl for Extreme!!

The other items I picked up on those gift cards were the studio albums I was missing for Robbie Williams…I figured no time better than to complete that collection so I did. There were four left and here they are… Now I just need to the rare stuff that I am missing…challenge accepted!!

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My Sunday Song – “The Fall” by SOTO

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For My Sunday Song #284, we are going to discuss the song from Jeff Scott Soto’s metal band called Soto. The song is called “The Fall” and was written by Jeff along with fellow TSO member Tony Dickinson. The album is ‘Inside the Vertigo’ and the song were released in 2015 and was originally intended to be a solo album, but since the album had a band vibe and the sound was so much heavier than anything he had done recently, he went with SOTO as a band.

“The Fall” is an angry song. Someone has hurt him badly and stabbed him in the back and he isn’t having it. He is fighting back and letting them know he has it out for them and he can’t wait for them to fall from the graces and fall flat on their face. It sounds like it was someone famous as the line “Fame and Fortune/Big Star Everywhere/One more big talk millionaire” leads me to believe that. I don’t know who it is and can’t find where he has said but I wonder if it is Neal Schon who dropped him from Journey and I don’t know if they talk anymore. But I am purely speculating and have no real clue. Purely a guess. It could be anyone.

Musically, the song is just as angry. It is some of the heaviest work Jeff has done. There is a very modern metal vibe with hints of Marilyn Manson in the guitar which is handled by Chris Feener and Tony Dickinson. Jeff’s vocals are as aggressive as the music. You can hear the anger and his screams are intense and powerful. If you need an album to wake you up, this one would do it. It is balls-to-the-wall aggression and when you are done you are ready to punch someone in the face!!

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Kiss – ‘Monster Tour – Simpsonville 2013’ – Blu-Ray Review (Bootleg Series)

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I was out a Record Show and I found a table that had a lot of Kiss memorabilia but nothing much I really wanted as I generally stick to the music. I did find something I didn’t realize existed and that was Kiss Blu-Ray Bootlegs. This guy was selling a lot of them. I came back to the table and looked again and decided, you know, I want to try it out. When he then offered that I could get two for $15, I jumped at the chance. $15 was worth the risk. So I grabbed one from the End of the Road tour and one from the MonsterTour as I saw at least the End of the Road Tour, just not that show.

So, first up we was the End of the Road Tour and it was filmed at the PPL Center in Allentown, PA on February 4th, 2020 just a month before COVID shut the whole touring scene down. Kiss was a full year in to the tour at this point and in fine form. Check out that review. This Bootleg is from the Monster Tour from the show on August 13, 2013 at the Charter Amphitheatre at Heritage Park in Simpsonville, SC.

I have to say the video quality is much better than I expected and even better than the other bootleg that I had. There wasn’t as much washout from the lights and the angles were even better. The shots from the front of the stage were perfectly clear and killer. The explosions were so freaking loud it was like you were there. The vocals on a couple songs were a little low at times, but overall everything was crystal clear. The problems with the show were not from the video. But for $7.50 a piece, pretty darn acceptable.

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Picture This: A LeBrain Train Picture Disc special with 2Loud2OldMusic!

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The LeBrain Train: 2000 Words or More with Mike and John

Episode 96 – Picture Discs Show & Tell

Mike had so much fun showing off his 7″ singles collection a few weeks ago!  When brainstorming for ideas to do this week, I suggested picture discs.  Great idea!  At least Mike thought so, and as a result, I will be joining Mike Ladano tonight for a guaranteed fun time, a show and tell show.  We’ll be rediscovering what we own in picture disc form, since we buy so many records, We can’t remember them all.  10″, 12″, and shaped vinyl will be on deck for us tonight.  And if we’re lucky, maybe we will see some Kiss and Def Leppard….

We will also be including etched discs from our collections.

If the 7″ singles show was any indication, then this will be a blast.  Make sure you catch it live to participate!

Friday January 21, 7:00 PM E.S.T. on YouTube, Facebook and also Facebook!

Upcoming LeBrain Train Schedule (From Mike’s post):

DO NOT miss next week!  A special Saturday evening show replaces the usual Friday night as we chat with…

AARON AND JAMES FROM THE KMA!

If you are reading this, then you are a part of the community!  The Keeps Me Alive guys were here first!  Geoff from 1001 Albums, Scott our Heavy Metal Overlord, and LeBrain all came after.  I consider James and Aaron to the founders of the community.  Saturday February 5 at 7:00 PM, we will sit down and chat with Aaron and (for the first time ever) James about their history with music and writing about it.  This show has been a long time coming!  I have wanted to spotlight the KMA for a year and a half now.  Next week will be a party, I promise you.

We will also have a 10 Year Anniversary of Record Store Tales and a 2 Year Anniversary of the LeBrain Train, both coming in March!  If you would like to participate in either, drop us a line.

Friday New Releases – January 28, 2022

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We end the first month of 2022 with our final Friday New Release post for January. And we go out with a bang as there are over 50 albums this month. I would say things are looking up. This week there are a couple I am really excited to hear and a couple that have me intrigued. I have highlighted those in Blue. Out of the over 50 albums, I am hoping there is something you will be interested in hearing so let me know which ones they are and also let me know what I may have missed. As always, thanks for stopping by and I hope you have a great weekend.

  • 71SGRt+AyAL._AC_UY436_FMwebp_QL65_  Steve Vai – Inviolate – (Favored Nations / Mascot Label Group): Steve Vai…what is there to say. He is a legend on the guitar and there are not many that can match his skill. With his albums though, it is hit or miss with me. I either love it or I am not sure what the hell is going on. As with all his albums, I will give it a spin and we will see which reaction we get.
  • 91vgEuZ1hKL._SX522_  Earthless – Night Parade of One Hundred Demons – (Nuclear Blast): Man, I can’t wait for this one. This Psychedelic Rock band that does mostly instrumentals is so much fun to listen to that I might be dropping the needle on this one first. There is so much going on you just get lost in the music.
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