Def Leppard – ‘Definitely: The Official Story of Def Leppard’ (2023) – Book Review (The Def Leppard Collection Series)

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In 2023, Def Leppard felt it was time to tell their story, in their words. ‘Definitely: The Official Story of Def Leppard’ is a personal account of Def Leppard from their formation all the way up to 2022’s last studio album ‘Diamond Star Halos’. The book was released in 2023 and there were several versions you could buy. By the time I got around to buying it and the only option available to me was the Publisher’s Edition which is strictly the book. There were other options you could’ve purchased as well.

There was the Deluxe Copies which was Editions Numbered 1 to 350. The Deluxe copies are fully bound in black vegan leather, with an inset aluminium plate on the front, printed with a portrait of the band, and the Def Leppard logo blocked on the back. Every Deluxe copy is signed by Joe Elliott, Phil Collen, Rick Savage, Rick Allen and Vivian Campbell. Presented in a clamshell box, the interior holds the specially pressed 7″ single. The red and black marbled vinyl presents two previously unreleased live recordings: the A-side is ‘Animal’ (performed at the Royal Albert Hall, 2018), and the B-side is ‘Slang’ (recorded in Las Vegas, 2019). A compartment under the book includes five Diamond Star Halos guitar picks in a small cloth bag and three replica tour passes. A large pull-ribbon, printed with the Def Leppard logo, lifts the book.Exclusive to the Deluxe copies is a signed and numbered photographic print of Def Leppard on stage at the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert, Wembley Stadium, 20 April 1992. Suitable for framing, the print is signed by Joe Elliott, Phil Collen, Rick Allen, Rick Savage and Vivian Campbell. Completing the Deluxe boxed set, a second recess under the book contains a collectable cassette of the band’s latest studio album, Diamond Star Halos.

The Collector’s Copies were Numbered 351 to 1,500. The Collector copies are 3/4 quarter bound in black vegan leather, with a portrait of the band printed on an aluminium plate front cover and the Def Leppard logo blocked on the back cover. The 296-page book is finished with colour foil blocking on the spine, and red page edging. Every copy in the edition is signed by Joe Elliott, Phil Collen, Rick Savage, Rick Allen and Vivian Campbell. Presented in a clamshell box covered in a montage of images with an inset Def Leppard logo sticker and tour pass, the interior lid holds a specially pressed 7″ single. The red and black marbled vinyl presents two previously unreleased live recordings: the A-side is ‘Animal’ (performed at the Royal Albert Hall, 2018), and the B-side is ‘Slang’ (recorded in Las Vegas, 2019). A compartment under the book includes five Diamond Star Halos guitar picks in a small cloth bag and three replica tour passes. A large pull-ribbon, printed with the Def Leppard logo, lifts the book.

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Kiss – ‘Legends of Rock’ (2009) – Album Review (The Kiss Review Series)

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Universal Music was at it again in 2009 with yet another compilation. This one was called ‘Legends of Rock’ and was exclusive to Canada like so many others. They were pumping these out and trying to grab as much cash as they could since Kiss was no longer on their label. I do like the old photograph from the ‘Dressed to Kill’ era that was the cover. It was a decent set with 15 tracks, but nothing really special or unexpected. Same old, same old, you’d say. It is a bare bones set, but at least they had some write-up in the liner notes. It says it is a 4 page booklet, but don’t let that fool you into thinking there is anything cool in there because there is not. The only thing of interest is the songs and even those are not that interesting since most of the tracks are on every other compilation out there. What songs are on it? Let’s go through it and see.

First up is “Heaven’s On Fire” which is Paul Stanly and Desmond Child song and the first single off ‘Animalize’. 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  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.

“Lick It Up” is the band’s first single and first video without make-up and the song only went to #66.  It opens with a nice little riff and a little scream from Paul.  Paul’s second song on the album and it was meant for the radio.  This is a pure 80’s, melodic rock song and no wonder it still gets played a lot.  The video was so 80’s as well.  Real cheesy and had the band in a post-apocalyptic world.  It is a little comical watching it now.  The song, however, is about a guy trying to talk his girlfriend in to doing the nasty so doesn’t really fit with the video. Really cool they kicked things off with 2 80’s songs, but that is all we get. The rest are from the 70’s.

The first song of their debut, “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.  The song has a great opening drum fill by Peter and is an uptempo rock song that was inspired by all the sexy women in New York.  There is a great bass riff by Gene why Ace belts out the solo. Paul sings the song and shows all the confidence a lead singer should show.

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Friday New Releases – January 31, 2025

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Man, we are already to the end of January and the month flew by. Luckily for you, we have another large batch of releases for you to peruse. I thought about the W.A.S.P. box set but at $126 for the CD and $250 for the Vinyl, not sure I’m that big a fan. Other than that, I don’t really have anything I want to grab…maybe stream only. Let me know what you want to hear this week or what we may have missed. Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful weekend.

  • W.A.S.P. – 7 Savage: 1984-1992 (Box Set) – (Madfish Records)
  • Joe Satriani, Eric Johnson & Steve Vai – G3: 25th Anniversary Tour – (EarMusic)
  • Dio – The Very Beast of Dio Vol. 2 – (Niji Entertainment Group / BMG Rights Mgmt)
  • Saliva – Revelation: Retold – (Judge & Jury Records)
  • All That Remains – Antifragile – (All That Remains)
  • The Weeknd – Hurry Up Tomorrow – (XO / Republic Records)
  • Kim Wilde – Closer – (Wildflower Records / Cherry Red Records)
  • The Night Flight Orchestra – Give Us The Moon – (Napalm Records)
  • Rory – Restoration – (Sadcore)
  • Pentagram – Lightning In a Bottle – (Heavy Psych Sounds)
  • Great American Ghost – Tragedy of the Commons – (Sharptone)
  • The Hellacopters – Overdriver – (Nuclear Blast)
  • moe. – Circle of Giants – (Fatboy Records / ATO Records)
  • Kilmara – Journey To The Sun – (Roar)
  • Robert Ascroft – Echo Still Remains – (Hand Drawn Dracula)
  • Lilly Hiatt – Forever – (New West Records)
  • Penny & Sparrow – Lefty – (I Love You / Thirty Tigers)
  • Rumer — In Session – (Rumer/Ciancia Management)
  • Everyone Says Hi – Everyone Says Hi – (Prediction Records / Chrysalis)
  • Ambrose Akinmusire – Honey From A Winter Stone – (Nonesuch)
  • L.S. Dunes – Violet – (Fantasy Records)
  • Jonathan Hulten – Eyes of the Living Night – (KScope / Snapper Music)
  • Tayne – Love – (Inside Job / MNRK Records)
  • Maribou State — Hallucinating Love – (Ninja Tune)
  • Canty — Dim Binge – (Full Time Hobby)
  • Bonnie “Prince” Billy — The Purple Bird – (No Quarter)
  • Brooke Combe — Dancing at the Edge of the World – (Modern Sky UK)
  • Charlie Houston – Big After I Die – (Arts & Crafts Productions)
  • Eddie Chacon – Lay Low – (Stones Throw Records)
  • Frànçois & the Atlas Mountains — Âge Fleuve – (InFiné)
  • Jaye Jayle — After Alter – (Pelagic Records)
  • Johnny Lloyd — Punchline – (Xtra Mile Recordings)
  • Eterna — Debunker – (section1)
  • Pink Chameleons — Harmony – (Soliti)
  • Prison — Downstate – (Drag City)
  • N NAO — Nouveau Langage – (Mothland)
  • Pentire — Love on TV EP – (Pentire)
  • Damon Locks — List of Demands – (International Anthem)
  • Thorbjorn Risager & The Black Tornado – House of Sticks – (Mascot Label Group / Provogue)
  • Jan Arden – Mixtape – (Universal Music)

The Police – ‘Synchronicity Tour (1983)’ – Tour Program

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The Police is one of the few bands in music history to go out on top. After only 5 albums and the release of their biggest album to date, they called it quits. The album was ‘Synchronicity’ which came out on June 17, 1983. The album had 5 singles and sold over 10 million copies worldwide. However, before they called it quit, they did tour the album. The tour lasted from July 23, 1983 through til March 4, 1984 and consisted of 105 shows which break out to 66 shows in North America, 36 in Europe and 3 in Australia.

If you are curious, the average show had the following setlist…

  1. “Voices Inside My Head”
  2. “Synchronicity I” / “Synchronicity II”
  3. “Walking in Your Footsteps”
  4. “Message in a Bottle”
  5. “Demolition Man” (some shows)
  6. “Walking on the Moon”
  7. “O My God”
  8. “De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da”
  9. “Wrapped Around Your Finger’
  10. “Tea in the Sahara”
  11. “Spirits in the Material World”
  12. “Hole in My Life”
  13. “One World (Not Three)”
  14. “King of Pain”
  15. “Every Breath You Take”
  16. “Murder by Numbers”

Encore

  1. “Roxanne”
  2. “Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic” (some shows)
  3. “Can’t Stand Losing You” / “Reggatta de Blanc”
  4. “Next to You” (some shows)
  5. “So Lonely”

A pretty impressive setlist and would’ve loved to have seen this tour, but I missed it. While out digging at one of my local record stores, I cam across the Tour Program from the 1983 leg of the tour and had to have it. I mean, I do collect Tour Books when I can find them. On a side note, the store had several autographed tour books fro Motley Crue, Skid Row, Metallica and a couple others but they all ran from around $275 and up. Not in my budget, sadly.

I thought I would show you what the Tour Program looked like from back in the day so here we go…and the cover is above, here is the rest…

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Def Leppard – ‘Drastic Symphonies’ (2023) – Picture Disc (The Def Leppard Collection Series)

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I know, I know…I reviewed this album last week. But this is The Collection Series and since a Picture Disc is very different from the normal vinyl and other items, I figured it deserved its own post. So bare with me…

In 2023, Def Leppard did something they hadn’t done in years. Give us a new album a year after the last studio album. In 2022, we were given ‘Diamond Star Halos’ and in 2023, ‘Drastic Symphonies’. Now, ‘Drastic Symphonies’ isn’t technically a studio album. And it isn’t technically a greatest hits compilation. Instead, what we are given is a remix album. Yes, Def Leppard chased the trend (although rather late) and gave us a Symphonic album. They remixed or reworked their songs and added classical music orchestration to it. The album was released on May 19, 2023, one week shy of the one year anniversary of the prior album. In my opinion, they should’ve taken much more time with it and got it right. Why? Let me explain.

A proper Symphony album is done live as that is where you really notice the difference. This is not a proper Symphony album. Instead, Def Leppard did one of two things with the songs. They either completely re-worked the song with the symphony dramatically added in a well thought out manner (sometimes it works, sometimes not). Or…they took a song and put in some symphony in places on the original track. The second way is pure and utter laziness and never works. Wiki says they completely redid all the songs with the exception of the vocals…but listening to it…I disagree. Some of these songs sound exactly like the original with symphony added and all I can say to that is “What is the freaking point!!”

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Kiss – ‘Greatest Hits’ (1997) – Album Review (The Kiss Review Series)

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In 1997, Kiss was enjoying the renewed attention with the make-up back on and a reunion in full swing. Ace and Peter were back so they released a compilation around the world called ‘Greatest Kiss’ which was full of songs from the early years with the original four members. Strangely enough, the UK released another compilation in 1997 called ‘Greatest Hits’. It was a UK exclusive but why release it when they released the other compilation around the same time that was released all around Europe so easy to get. Made no sense to me.

Who knows why. What I do know is I finally have a copy of the release. It was from Polygram TV which was a division of Polygram records so a legit release. It had 20 songs like the ‘Greatest Kiss’ release; however there were a few songs that were different. This UK release actually had some songs from Kiss that did not have Ace and Peter with some of the 80’s tracks. There are no unreleased tracks or anything new, these are all album cuts so you already have these songs if you own all the albums.

Now, Wikipedia states that this was released on June 28, 1999, however, that is wrong…unless the date on the back cover of 1997 was a misprint or this was held for two years after printing them out. And another thing…if you aren’t sure what the track listing is, don’t you worry. It is printed a total of 4 times throughout the booklet. On the back cover, the back of the booklet and if you open the booklet it is there again in case you forgot. And if that wasn’t enough, it is also on the CD. Whew! I’m so happy they did it so many times because I’m sure I would’ve have forgotten. Also, inside is a chance to win a portable CD player. In 1997, that would’ve been really cool.

The music is the most important part anyway, so let’s get to it. “Here’s a little song for everybody other there”…The first track is “Crazy Crazy Nights” which was a big hit in the UK so understandable it was on here. The song was written by Paul Stanley and Adam Mitchell who Paul and Gene have both worked with quite a bit. It was a different opening track for the band as was really upbeat, kind of pop sounding yet anthemic at the same time. It wasn’t an out and out rocker like most of their albums. Paul didn’t sing so much as speak the verses and is overall it is quite cheesy.  It is the only song that the band has played live after this tour. They picked it back up due to demand back in 2010 and started adding it to shows.

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Friday New Releases – January 24, 2025

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Happy Friday and we have a ton of releases for you today including some really big names like Teddy Swim, Kane Brown, Eric Clapton and The Weeknd to name a few. There is nothing really for me this week…I might tryout Larkin Poe’s new one but that is probably it. Let me know what you want to hear this week or what we may have missed. Thanks for stopping by and I hope you all have a great weekend.

  • Kane Brown – The High Road – (Sony Music Nashville)
  • Eric Clapton – Meanwhile – (Surfdog / Eric Clapton)
  • Larkin Poe – Bloom – (Tricki Woo)
  • Teddy Swims – I’ve Tried Everything But Therapy: Part 2 – (Warner Records)
  • The Weeknd — Hurry Up Tomorrow – (XO Records/Republic)
  • Thin Lizzy — Acoustic Sessions – (Universal Music)
  • Joey McIntyre – Freedom – (Bowen Arrow Productions)
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Fraction – ‘Moon Blood’ (1971/2024) – Album Review

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Noble Records has been anticipating this release for a long, long time. What started well over a year ago took forever, it felt like, to come to fruition. RidingEasy Records took painstaking effort to capture the essence of the original album including the incredible cover with the red cellophane look that turns the black inner sleeve with the white moon into a moon of blood. A cool effect that adds to the excitement of the release. What is the release? It is from a band called Fraction whose album ‘Moon Blood’ is a holy grail for many heavy psych rock fans. If you want to find an original copy, expect to pay in the thousands of $ for it. Now, with this reissue you can get it for around $50 bucks. Well, that was if you bought it when it was first released. Limited to 1,000 copies, I believe Noble Records sold out in around 24 hours…insane. Luckily, I got one.

The band, Fraction, recorded this album in 3 hours or so. All the songs were done in one take with zero over-dubs. This was done with basically no budget, but what was captured was pure magic. The stellar band was the incredible Jim Beach on vocals, Don Swanson and Bob Meinel on guitar, Vic Hemme on bass and banging those skins was Curt Swanson. The band deliver an acid rock, wah-wah guitar filled album that will simply blow your mind. Only 5 songs, but what more do you need when they are this good.

SIDE 1:

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The Collection: Ep. 42 – What’s In The Box? (CD’s / DVD’s / Books – Dee Snider, George Lynch, Jani Lane, Night Ranger and so much more!!!)

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I was on Facebook Marketplace just goofing around when I stumbled across a picture of someone selling a bunch of CD’s & DVD’s. I zoomed in on the picture and though I couldn’t see everything, I made out a bunch of CD’s that I would want. I checked the price it was only $50, plus $10 for shipping. I thought to myself, that looks like a good deal…so I took a chance and bought it. There are around 75 CDs, 13 DVDs and 3 books. Everything music related. And did I get a good deal? Watch the show and find out. If you like George Lynch, Dee Snider, Dimebag Darrell, Jani Lane, Firehouse, Nickelback and so many more bands, you will think I hit the motherlode!!

So go check it out as it will be live tonight, January 20, 2025 at 8pm. Thanks for stopping by and please click “Like” and hit “Subscribe” as it helps out the site when you do.

Def Leppard – ‘Drastic Symphonies’ (2023) – Album Review (The Def Leppard Collection Series)

Published on by 2loud2oldmusic10 Comments

In 2023, Def Leppard did something they hadn’t done in years. Give us a new album a year after the last studio album. In 2022, we were given ‘Diamond Star Halos’ and in 2023, ‘Drastic Symphonies’. Now, ‘Drastic Symphonies’ isn’t technically a studio album. And it isn’t technically a greatest hits compilation. Instead, what we are given is a remix album. Yes, Def Leppard chased the trend (although rather late) and gave us a Symphonic album. They remixed or reworked their songs and added classical music orchestration to it. The album was released on May 19, 2023, one week shy of the one year anniversary of the prior album. In my opinion, they should’ve taken much more time with it and got it right. Why? Let me explain.

A proper Symphony album is done live as that is where you really notice the difference. This is not a proper Symphony album. Instead, Def Leppard did one of two things with the songs. They either completely re-worked the song with the symphony dramatically added in a well thought out manner (sometimes it works, sometimes not). Or…they took a song and put in some symphony in places on the original track. The second way is pure and utter laziness and never works. Wiki says they completely redid all the songs with the exception of the vocals…but listening to it…I disagree. Some of these songs sound exactly like the original with symphony added and all I can say to that is “What is the freaking point!!”

Not all the songs were that way though. So it is worth going through them regardless what I think about the songs and the album overall. First, the orchestration on the album was done by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra with the arrangements done by Eric Gorfain and they do a fantastic job overall. No fault of theirs for what is wrong with the album. They recorded their parts at Abbey Road Studios in London, so that is pretty cool. On to the music.

“Turn to Dust”, from ‘Slang’, opens the album and all I can say is…”This is how the album should have been done with EVERY song!”. They completely re-worked this song and what was a really cool song on ‘Slang’ is actually taken up a notch with this one. The orchestration mixed with the Eastern style music is a match made in heaven. By far, the best song on the album as it is purposeful and mindful on how orchestration can enhance and even improve a song. And if that wasn’t good enough, “Paper Sun” is done exactly the same way…well thought out and executed. The two best songs on the album for sure!!

Continue reading “Def Leppard – ‘Drastic Symphonies’ (2023) – Album Review (The Def Leppard Collection Series)” →