Bon Jovi – ‘All Time Best 1984-2024’ (2024) – Album Review (The Bon Jovi Collection Series)

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To celebrate the band’s 40th Anniversary, they have released a new Greatest Hits Compilation. And I know what you are thinking…big deal…right? Well, this one is a little different. One, it was only released in Japan…Two, the songs were hand picked by their Japanese fans. As a result, you do get the big hits, but there also some deep cuts you don’t normally see on a Bon Jovi greatest hits set.

And the band went all out with this release. It is called ‘All Time Best 1984-2024’ and was released in November 2024. I want to say it was the 6th, but with production delays, I’m not sure exactluy. My copy didn’t show up until around the 20th of the month. Whenever it was released, what a release it is. It chock full of hits and not hits, with 50 songs covering their entire career from the 1984 debut all the up to the 2024 release of ‘Forever’. All the songs are spread over 3 CDs and they even through in a Blu-Ray if you have the Super Deluxe Edition (which I do). Plus a few things more.

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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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Generation Sex – ‘Listen To This, Johnny!’ (2024) – Bootleg

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In 2023, a new Super Group was born. This one was called Generation Sex and consisted of members of both Generation X and The Sex Pistols. From Gen X we get Billy Idol and Tony James. And from The Sex Pistols we get Steve Jones and Paul Cook. The four legends toured Europe in the Summer of 2023. Of course they performed songs from both bands as that was the whole point of the Tour. And like with almost any tour, you generally can find a bootleg and I did just that.

As you know, I love Billy Idol and so any time I can find anything I don’t have I grab it. This bootleg came out on July 16, 2024 and for a show at the Liseberg Amusement Park in Gothenburg, Sweden. The title of the set is called “Listen To This, Johnny!” which is wonderful shout out to The Sex Pistol lead singer, Johnny Rotten. Maybe a giant middle finger…who knows.

The setlist for that show was a whopping 16 tracks, but we don’t get the full show here sadly. This bootleg only gives us 11 songs from that set, but those songs are great. The bootleg was done like those back in the day (70’s/80’s) which means it is a white cardboard jacket with a sheet of paper wrapped around it with the information crudely printed and xeroxed copied. In a word, awesome!! There is no extra information, just basics and the vinyl label is pretty basic with a giant A on one side and basic white on Side B. And as far as sound, a pretty damn decent audience recording and since we are here for the music, that is a good thing. Let us dive right in.

SIDE A:

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Bon Jovi – ‘Bon Jovi (Deluxe Edition)’ (2024) – Album Review (The Bon Jovi Collection Series)

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By 1982, Jon Bon Jovi re-recorded “Runaway” which he had originally recorded back in 1980 and had shopped it around with no luck. This re-recording he did with what he liked to call The All-Star Revue which consisted of guitarist Tim Pierce, keyboardist Roy Bittan, drummer Frankie LaRocka, and bassist Hugh McDonald (remember this name). The song started getting a little traction and eventually Jon Bongiovi got a record deal and changed his name to Jon Bon Jovi. He was an artist with a deal, but no band. Jon wanted a band and he was going to go with Johnny Electric, but Pamela Maher that suggested he use the name Bon Jovi since a two word name worked so well for Van Halen. No one really liked that idea at first, but eventually Jon came around and Bon Jovi was born.

So, Jon called his old buddy from his old band Atlantic City Expressway, David Bryan Rashbaum, and the ball got rolling. David called his buddy Alec John Such to handle bass and a drummer he knew by the name of Tico Torres. Alec and Tico were formerly in a band together called Phantom’s Opera. They needed a guitarist, so Jon reached out to his friend Dave Sabo (or “Snake”) who played with them for a very short time. He never actually joined the band, but thankfully he would go on to something almost quite as good with a band called Skid Row…maybe you’ve heard of them.

But the band still needed a guitarist. Jon had seen, and was impressed, by a guitarist by the name of Richie Sambora. Richie had played with Joe Cocker and was in a band called Mercy. Hell, Richie even auditioned with Kiss to replace Ace Frehley, but that didn’t go well. Jon asked him to join and now the band was complete. The band had a new manager by the name of Doc McGhee and with his help, they went off to record their debut album.

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Def Leppard – ‘Hysteria: Live’ (2020) – Album Review (The Def Leppard Collection Series)

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In 2020, Def Leppard released a really cool box set called London to Vegas. It had 2 shows, one from the 02 in London where they played the entire Hysteria album live and the other called ‘Hits Vegas: Live at Planet Hollywood’ where Def Leppard did another residency. The set had CDs for the shows as well as Blu Ray (or DVD) so you could watch it too. But that wasn’t all. They also released the albums individually and I bought each one as well, but this time on Vinyl.

Up this week is the band’s appearance at London’s O2 Arena back in 2018 where they played the entire ‘Hysteria’ album from beginning to end in order.  Yes, they have done this before with the ‘Viva! Hysteria’ release from the Vegas Residency, but they had never done the album in full in their home country before so they wanted to document that show as well. In 2020, they released the 2 LP set on vinyl with a beautiful gatefold album jacket. The vinyl itself is a really cool clear translucent color. Is clear a color? Anyway, the packaging was done very well and the whole package looks great.

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Kiss – ‘Icon 2’ (2010) – Album Review (The Kiss Review Series)

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Back in 2003, Kiss released, okay, the record company released a greatest hits compilation called The Millennium Collection: The Best of Kiss (1973-1979). It was the first of three volume set. Well, then in 2010, the label issued the ‘Icon’ Series with two volumes. The first volume is the exact same track list as ‘The Millennium Collection: The Best of Kiss’…well…it is and it sort of isn’t. 11 of the tracks in order are from Vol. 1 of The Millennium Collection while the last song from that collection is moved to kick off Disc 2. In its place is a live song from ‘Alive II’. Disc 2 kicks off with a song from ‘Dynasty’ and picks one song from every album after that up to ‘Pyscho Circus’…well that is if you exclude ‘Carnival of Souls’ and any of the live or compilation albums.

However, as the collector in me, I had to have ‘Icon 2’. Even though I have ‘Icon’ on CD and have the brand new, first time on vinyl version of Icon as Walmart has just released an Exclusive Silver Black Splatter vinyl. And since I collect everything vinyl for Kiss, I had to have it for my collection wouldn’t be complete. Okay, my collection is not complete anyway as I am missing a couple pieces that are extremely pricey, but that is for another time. Yes, I have a problem. Both ‘Icon’ and ‘Icon 2’ were released by Universal in 2010. Universal started vomiting greatest hits compilations for Kiss ever since they left the label. And I mean vomit…there are at least a dozen in about a 10 year span from around the world. It is nuts.

Let us go through this set and talk about the songs since we are here.

DISC 1:

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FRIDAY NEW RELEASES

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There are no more Friday New Release posts for the year as there are so few and so insignificant of releases that it is not worth posting anything. Instead, I wanted to remind everyone that at the top of every page is a “NEW RELEASE” button that will take you to a list of all releases that I know about that are coming out in the next several months. In fact, I even have one out listed that is May 2025. A bunch are already announced and a ton more to go. Please click on that and check it out. It will probably be January 10th or even 17th before we come back with Friday New Releases.

Thanks for the support and see you back here soon.

Mammoth – ‘Mammoth’ (1981/2024) – Album Review

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Noble Records had three exclusives in October and they were all great, but this one stood out the most for me. It is from a band called Mammoth (not to be confused with the early Van Halen band or even Wolfgang’s Mammoth WVH). These guys were a Southern Rock band out of Florida and the album was recorded in 1981 at Relayer Studios in Deland, Florida. If you like Lynyrd Skynyrd and that Southern Rock sound, than Mammoth will be right up your alley. It is the first Exclusive Noble Records has done where I had actually heard of the band and had always been curious about them. The Noble Exclusive was limited to only 300 copies on a really cool purple colored vinyl. It sold out rather quickly.

The band consists of Bill Abell (Rhythm guitar), Ron Herman (Drums), Joey Costa (Bass) and Buzz Fetters (Lead Guitar) and apparently they all lent a hand to vocals as they don’t have a defined lead singer. Instead, the blend the vocals into each track that works to perfection. These guys are in your face, rocking it hard and are 100% authentic in their delivery. Hold on tight and get ready for a band that should’ve been bigger as they had the songs, the sound and the style. Riding Easy Records reminds us again of another great band that we all missed back in the day.

SIDE ONE:

The album kicks off with “Change the Run” and it simply explodes out of the speakers. The riffs are slick, fast and frenzied and the vocals are powerful and full of attitude. The guitar tones are in that sweet spot with wicked licks and ever so slight distortion. The drums and bass drive a rhythm section that pushes the song forward at a controlled, fast pace…oh yeah…and there is cowbell!! There is never enough cowbell!! But the highlight is that guitar and the solo..wow! What a blistering opening track.

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Def Leppard – ‘Hits Vegas: Live at Planet Hollywood’ (2020) – Album Review (The Def Leppard Collection Series)

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In 2020, Def Leppard released a really cool box set called London to Vegas. It had 2 shows, one from the 02 in London where they played the entire Hysteria album live and the other called ‘Hits Vegas: Live at Planet Hollywood’ where Def Leppard did another residency. The set had CDs for the shows as well as Blu Ray (or DVD) so you could watch it too. But that wasn’t all. They also released the albums individually and I bought each one as well, but this time on Vinyl.

This thing is impressive folks.  You get 28 songs and they are full of deep cuts as well as the classics.  This show is 2 1/2 hours long…2 1/2 hours…you heard that correctly.  Now the actual show was about 4 songs less so you know they added a few songs from other shows to give you most, if not all the songs they played.  The set is a 3 LP set in a beautiful gatefold packaging that include 3 beautiful transparent blue vinyl. They are really nice. However, since the cover has the U.S. flag on it and being 3 LP’s…wouldn’t a red, white & blue have been even cooler!? The answer is yes.

In a nutshell, the show was fantastic. Joe as you know is not as spot on with the vocals as when he was younger and that is not a problem here as the band does assist heavily with the harmonies and background vocals to help smooth that out.  I would say after a couple songs, you don’t even notice and you just enjoy the show. I mean by the end, I thought everyone sounded great. It was very enjoyable.

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Kiss – ‘Superstar Series: The Best of Kiss’ (2009) – Album Review (The Kiss Review Series)

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Universal Music was spitting out Kiss Compilations like candy in the 2000’s. There are numerous ones to speak about (and we have been). This time around we get a Canada only release for a Compilation Series that spanned numerous artists. Of course, this one is on Kiss or why else would I be talking about it. This is a very generic series and with only 7 songs, very skippable…and I mean skippable unless you are certifiably insane like me and have to have everything! There are no liner notes and no thought was put in to this release at all. But since we are here, what songs are on it?

It kicks off with “Shout It Out Loud” which was the first single off ‘Destroyer’. It was trying to capitalize off the success of the live version of “Rock and Roll All Nite” that was released previously.  The title of the song comes from the Hollies song “We Want to Shout It Out Loud” which Wicked Lester demoed years earlier. The song is sung by both Paul and Gene  and that chorus of “Shout it, Shout it, Shout It Out Loud” is pure rock gold.

“I Was Made For Lovin’ You” was written by Paul Stanley, Vini Poncia and the great Desmond Child makes his first of many appears with the band. This is from ‘Dynasty’ and the story goes that Disco was really big at the time and the record company wanted the band to be a little more commercial. Paul thought any idiot could write a disco song and a bet was made and a few hours later, the song was written and Paul proved his point. The song went to #11 on the Billboard Hot 100.

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