Ratt – Ratt E.P. – Album Review

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Back in 1976, there lived a band fronted by Stephen Pearcy called Mickey Ratt.  With limited success and numerous line-up changes over the years, including the great Jake E. Lee on guitar, the band eventually found the line-up that would work.  By 1982, that line-up be complete.

In 1981, one of the most crucial pieces was another songwriter to work with Stephen.  That role was filled by the late Robin Crosby on guitar. Also in 1981, a young guitar great, by the name of Warren DeMartini, joined the band courtesy of Jake E. Lee’s recommendation.  He would leave as he was in college and was afraid to quit school for a band with only moderate success.  He returned in 1982.  Finally, the band would add Bobby Blotzer on drums (ex Vic Vergeat) and Juan Crucier (formerly with Dokken) on bass and the band was complete.

Everything was in place and the band finally got a record deal in July 1983 with an independent label called Time Coast Music.  The band released their first E.P. as Ratt and it was simply called Ratt.  The E.P. included 6 tracks; however, the European release would give you 7 tracks which was an early version of “You’re In Trouble” that was later released on ‘Out of the Cellar’.  My version on vinyl is the U.S. release.  My version is also a re-release that was done in 1984 after the success of ‘Out of the Cellar’ which included a picture of the band with their more current look and was released by Atlantic Records.

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My Sunday Song – “Photograph” by Def Leppard

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For My Sunday Song #75, I am bringing you the song that started it all for me…”Photograph” by Def Leppard.  It was the first single off the massive hit album ‘Pyromania’ and it was the song that started my obsession with Def Leppard.  From that point on, music took a whole new direction in my life.  It was my passion.  I tried to play guitar (rather unsuccessfully) and I couldn’t sing, but I could listen to music.

The song was perfect in my book.  The video was mesmerizing.  The two together captured my attention like nothing ever had.  The song has such a melodic melody and the guitar solo and background vocals were all spot on thanks to Mutt Lange behind the boards.  The guitar riff on the song that is played throughout is instantly recognizable.

I had heard of Def Leppard as my brother had one of their albums, but it was this song and this album that made me a fan…no a fanatic with this band.  I had to have the albums, the singles, the shirts, the posters, the pins…you name it, I had to have it.  And it still goes on today.  They release a video and I own it; a live album and I gotta have it; a deluxe version of an album I already have, yep, I get that as well.  It doesn’t matter.

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Def Leppard Tour Dates & Other News

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Friday, January 19th was a big day for Def Leppard Announcements. First, Def Leppard’s entire catalog is now available for streaming on Spotify and Apple Music.  Finally!!!  It didn’t really matter to me as I already had everything they have ever put out (and then some), but now they have stepped into the modern times and are opening their music up to so many more people.  And as a special treat, you get a new release called The Lost Sessions…

thelostsession

It has the following track listing:

DEF LEPPARD – THE LOST SESSION LIVE EP

  • 01 – Let It Go (Live) – (5:09)
  • 02 – Rock On (Live) – (2:48)
  • 03 – Foolin’ (Live) – (4:43)
  • 04 – Promises (Live) – (3:58)
  • 05 – When Love & Hate Collide (Live) – (4:13)
  • 06 – Bringin’ On the Heartbreak (Live) – (4:38)

If you would like to purchase, just click on the iTunes link below…

Def Leppard also announced a co-headlining tour with Journey.  The tour starts on 5/21 and goes through 10/6 and will hit both the US and Canada.  The tour will be making a stop in Charlotte, NC and I WILL BE THERE!!!! Well, as soon as I buy the tickets.  My wife, oldest daughter and I are going to try and go.  I can’t wait.  I have only seen them 6-7 times.  Tour dates below…

Journey / Def Leppard 2018 Tour Dates

5/21 – Hartford, CT, XL Center
5/23 – Albany, NY, Times Union Center
5/25 – Hershey, PA, Hersheypark Stadium
5/26 – Buffalo, NY, KeyBank Center
5/28 – Cleveland, OH, Quicken Loans Arena
5/30 – Cincinnati, OH, U.S. Bank Arena
6/1 – Toronto, ON, Rogers Centre
6/2 – Pittsburgh, PA, PPG Paints Arena
6/5 – Raleigh, NC, PNC Arena
6/6 – Knoxville, TN, Thompson-Boling Arena
6/8 – Bristow, VA, Jiffy Lube Live
6/9 – Charlotte, NC, Spectrum Center
6/11 – Philadelphia, PA, Wells Fargo Center
6/13 – New York, NY, Madison Square Garden
6/15 – Newark, NJ, Prudential Center
6/16 – Baltimore, MD, Royal Farms Arena
7/1 – Atlanta, GA, SunTrust Park
7/3 – Noblesville, IN, Ruoff Home Mortgage Music Center
7/4 – Milwaukee, WI, Summerfest
7/6 – Memphis, TN, FedExForum
7/7 – North Little Rock, AR, Verizon Arena
7/9 – Tulsa, OK, BOK Center
7/11 – Louisville, KY, KFC Yum! Center
7/13 – Detroit, MI, Comerica Park
7/14 – Chicago, IL, Wrigley Field
7/16 – Wichita, KS, INTRUST Bank Arena
7/18 – Sioux Falls, SD, Denny Sanford PREMIER Center
7/19 – Lincoln, NE, Pinnacle Bank Arena
7/21 – Denver, CO, Coors Field
7/23 – Des Moines, IA, Wells Fargo Arena
7/25 – Kansas City, MO, Sprint Center
7/27 – Minneapolis, MN, Target Field
7/28 – Fargo, ND, Fargodome
8/11 – Boston, MA, Fenway Park
8/13 – Virginia Beach, VA, Veterans United Home Loans Amphitheater
8/15 – Columbia, SC, Colonial Life Arena
8/17 – Ft. Lauderdale, FL, BB&T Center
8/18 – Tampa, FL, Amalie Arena
8/20 – Birmingham, AL, Legacy Arena @ The BJCC
8/22 – Columbus, OH, Schottenstein Center
8/24 – St. Louis, MO, Busch Stadium
8/25 – Nashville, TN, Bridgestone Arena
8/27 – New Orleans, LA, Smoothie King Center
8/29 – Dallas, TX, American Airlines Center
8/31 – San Antonio, TX, AT&T Center
9/1 – Houston, TX, Toyota Center
9/5 – Albuquerque, NM, Isleta Amphitheater
9/7 – Phoenix, AZ, Talking Stick Resort Arena
9/8 – Las Vegas, NV, T-Mobile Arena
9/21 – San Francisco, CA, AT&T Park
9/23 – San Diego, CA, Petco Park
9/25 – Salt Lake City, UT, Vivint Smart Home Arena
9/26 – Nampa, ID, Ford Idaho Center Arena
9/28 – Portland, OR, Moda Center
9/29 – Seattle, WA, Gorge Amphitheatre
10/1 – Vancouver, BC, Rogers Arena
10/4 – Sacramento, CA, Golden 1 Center
10/6 – Los Angeles, CA, The Forum

They had a third announcement that as well. They will be touring the UK and performing their album “Hysteria” live in its entirety for those stops.  I asked my wife if we could go to that as it would be a nice 50th Birthday present.  We will see.  Here are the dates…

DECEMBER 2018 
Dublin 3 Arena – Sat 1st
Belfast The SSE Arena – Sun 2nd
Cardiff Motorpoint Arena – Tue 4th
London The O2 – Thu 6th
Nottingham Motorpoint Arena – Sat 8th
Newcastle Metro Radio Arena – Sun 9th
Glasgow The SSE Hydro Arena – Tue 11th
Manchester Arena – Wed 12th
Sheffield FlyDSA Arena – Fri 14th
Liverpool Echo Arena – Sat 15th
Birmingham Arena – Mon 17th

What a day of announcements for Def Leppard.  I know a lot of people posted about it, but they are my favorite band so I am not going to NOT talk about it too!!

 

 

Friday New Releases – January 19th

Published on by 2loud2oldmusic23 Comments

Another Friday, another set of new releases. There isn’t a whole lot, but some I am really interested in getting a hold of and those are highlighted in Blue.  As the year gets ramped up it will keep getting better and better each week (hopefully).  Let me know what interests you this week.  Have a wonderful weekend listening to the new music.

  • A1xq1wGYAGL._AC_UL115_  Whitesnake – The Purple Tour (Live) – (Rhino Records):  Whitesnake did The Purple Album to celebrate all things Deep Purple and then they toured it.  Here is the end result of that tour.  A CD and DVD of the tour is something worth getting a hold of for sure.  Whitesnake have been releasing a lot of live albums lately and I love they are doing that.  It is nice getting things from each era of the band.  Check out the video for Burn and then grab hold of the album.

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The Top 10 Overused Song Titles

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I was going through my iTunes music library and damn there are a lot of repeat song titles.  Always looking for new post ideas, it hit me.  What are the most over used song titles?  Now I have a post idea and so I am going to bring you the Top 10 Overused Song Titles in music…or at least my musical library.

Now there were several that barely missed the cut.  They were the following titles: “Free”, “Forever”, “Without You”, each with 12 titles in my library.  And several with 11 songs including “Stand Up”, “Someday”, “Scream” and “Save Me”…a lot starting with “S” apparently.

10. “You”:  I have 12 different songs in my library with this title.  The artists are rather varied with The Afters, Black Stone Cherry, Bonnie Raitt, Buckcherry, Candlebox, Collective Soul, Elliott Yamin, Gotthard, Marvin Gaye, Richie Kotzen, Safetysuit and Keith Urban.

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Hired Gun – Documentary Review

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I have been wanting to see Hired Gun since it was announced as a documentary in the Summer of 2017.  Thanks to Netflix, I finally got that chance.  If you don’t know what it is, I will tell you.

‘Hired Gun’ is a documentary about those musicians singers and bands hire to be in the band whether to help make an album or to do a tour.  They are the “hired guns” and they aren’t actual members of the band.  For me, that sounded like a very interesting story to be told.  What do these musicians/artists go through to get the gig and to actually keep that gig.

The people they interview are incredible musicians.  You might not know them all by name, but you would probably recognize a lot their work.  They are as follows:

  • Liberty Devito (Billy Joel)
  • Jason Hook (Five Finger Death Punch)
  • Phil X (Bon Jovi)
  • Eric Singer (Kiss)
  • Ray Parker, Jr. (Ghostbusters)
  • Justin Derrico (P!nk)
  • Rudy Sarzo (Ozzy Osbourne)
  • Steve Lukather (Michael Jackson)
  • Kenny Arnoff (John Mellencamp)
  • Jason Newsted (Metallica)

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My Sunday Song – “I’m Not Alright” by Sanctus Real

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My Sunday Song #74 is “I’m Not Alright” by Sanctus Real.  This is the 2nd time Sanctus Real has made this list and it is another impactful song.  This song is off their 2006 release called ‘The Face of Love’.  It was a #1 song for them on the Christian charts and garnered them a Dove Award nomination for Rock/Contemporary Recorded Song of the Year.  Sadly, they didn’t win.

The song spoke to me in the fact that we aren’t all alright.  We are all broken in mind and spirit.  We are sinners.  The song is his confession that he is broken and that only through God, he is healed and he feels safe.  I can so relate to this song.  I think we all feel broken sometimes.  I know for me when I feel this way, I find that Christian music and God help me get through it.  Sanctus Real delivers songs that are meaningful and relatable.  They are going through the same thing I am going through and it has helped me so many times.

In an interview with 1cubed.com, the band talked about the recording of the song and how the song was originally titled “I’ll Be Fine”.  They felt they were lying to themselves and being fake.  They felt the need to be honest with themselves and everyone that you won’t always be fine.  It turned into this wonderful confession.

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Friday New Releases – January 12th

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Happy New Year and welcome to the first Friday New Releases of 2018.  Why is this the first since it is the 2nd Friday of the new year?  Well, it is the first week with any new releases worth mentioning.  And there are a few worth mentioning…at least for me.  The ones I want are highlighted in Blue.

  • 511sBdx2nNL._AC_US218_  Joe Satriani – What Happens Next – (Sony Music):  The Satch man is back and I couldn’t be happier.  Well, I could if someone sent this to me in CD or vinyl form.  Since that won’t happen, I will stream it for now.  He is my favorite guitarists and I love how is able to make the guitar sing in each song.  He is amazing.  Looking forward to more great stuff especially since this album features Glenn Hughes on Bass and Chad Smith on Drums.  This should be awesome!!

  • 51tYnOokeJL._AC_US218_  Black Rebel Motorcycle Club – Wrong Creatures – (Abstract Dragon):  The American rock band out of San Francisco returns for the 8th studio album.  I love their retro, gritty, distorted guitars with a punk edge.  The song I have heard sounds like what I expect and I expect great things!

  • 51HdK4bnAQL._AC_US320_QL65_  Anderson East – Encore – (Elektra Records):  I heard the song “All On My Mind” that was written with Ed Sheeran and I liked what I heard.  Not real familiar with him, but if the album is anything like the song, sounds like it could be great.  Plus, the man is dating Miranda Lambert!!  Damn!!

  • 61wl74tSw7L._AC_US436_QL65_  Dr. Demento Covered in Punk – Various Artists – (Demented Punk):  Ok, I heard the Cramp’s song “Garbageman” performed by William Shatner and it is fucking awesome!!!  Excuse my language, but it is!!!

  • 51eq-HJ-G-L._AC_US436_QL65_  BØRNS – Blue Madonna – (Interscope Records):  I really enjoyed his last album for its uniqueness, his voice and the songs.  I am hoping for a step up with this release.  His music is labeled as many things including indie pop, psychedelic pop, synth pop, electronica pop and alt rock and it is every one of these labels.  Not my usual cup of tea, but I dig it!!

  • 81vupQOdcKL._SX522_  Camila Cabello – Camila – (Simco Ltd)

  • 61pq+-U8L6L._SS500  Bob Marley – Kingston Sessions: Vintage Years – (JA Records)

  • 61d--C0G8ML._AC_US436_QL65_  Tinsley Ellis – Winning Hand – (Alligator Records)

  • 51Y-lsZ6qhL._AC_US436_QL65_  Corrosion of Conformity – No Cross No Crown – (Nuclear Blast Entertainment)

  • 61kb1KK1gSL._AC_US436_QL65_  Leaves’ Eyes – Sign of the Dragonhead – (AFM Records)

  • 61XwZ9-Di1L._SS500  Black Veil Brides – Vale – (Republic Records)

Turntables & Vinyl #11 – The Holiday Treasure Trove

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Oh the Holidays!  The end of the year.  Christmas time.  The time John is not supposed to buy any albums since it is the holidays and it is my birthday time period so no record purchases as people need to have something to give me as a gift.  Well, that didn’t quite work this year.

I did set aside a list of albums people could buy for me for Christmas and/or my Birthday and I made sure that anything I picked up was not from that list.  December turned out to be a treasure trove of purchases, gifts and free stuff.  I definitely hit the jackpot with a crap load of albums to listen to and some day write about.

It all started mid-November when the Coke reward program was giving away $5 Amazon gift cards for every 10 bottle caps redeemed.  Well, I had been collecting them at work as I do drink one Coke product everyday and on really stressful, busy days, maybe two.  The $5 Amazon Gift cards were actually $10 because they allowed you to redeem it twice.  After setting up a several more accounts with different email addresses, I was able to redeem $40 worth of caps (I would have done more, but I ran out of caps).  What did I get with the $40 from Amazon?  Music of course.  I picked up the following:

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Apple Music vs Spotify

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Back a few months ago, I did a comparison of Apple Music vs. Amazon Music Unlimited.  Apple Music won that battle for as the better overall service.  Now it is time to test that service against Spotify.  Spotify is offering 3 months for only $0.99 which I figured for that price, it was worth a try. Now, it is time to see how Spotify compares to Apple Music.

Apple Music vs. Spotify

 There are definite differences between the two and one edges out the other, but will it change how I listen to music?  That is the question. First, lets talk about what each service offers and which is the better service for that item.

Music Selection

There are two features that I think are the most important. The first feature is music selection. What artists and songs does each service offer? Are they artist I like? Is the selection enough to satisfy me? Here is what I have found:

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