This week we stay in the 90’s and we go with another Glam Metal / Hair Band but this album was a huge change on their image and messaging. It is Stryper’s ‘Against the Law’. It saw the band shed their Christian image from losing the Yellow and Black to dropping the Christian, God fearing lyrics. They don’t go all devil worshipping, the songs are still positive, just different. It was released August 21, 1990 and had three singles, but overall did not perform to where it should have. I think it is their best, even if Michael Sweet ranks it as the worst Stryper album. We will find out if this is worth your time or not so join me as I walk through the album song by song.
So go check it out as it is live now on October 10, 2024 at Noon. Thanks for stopping by and please click “Like” and hit “Subscribe” as it helps out the site when you do.
Out on my constant vinyl digging adventures, I found a couple Whitesnake bootlegs at the same store. They weren’t old bootlegs, rather they were released recently in 2023 out of Europe. The shows, however, are not recent. First one up is one called Washington State Wipeout and is a 2 LP set that comes in a nice gatefold with a picture of the band included. The vinyl that comes with the set are a beautiful clear color and they look stunning as you will see in one of the pictures below. It was a brand new set, unopened…well at least until I got my hands on it obviously. Now, it is open and has been played!
The 2 LPs carry a different a show for each. On LP 1, we get the Spokane Washington show that was on July 24, 1984. This would’ve been after the release of their 1984 album, ‘Slide it In’, which came out on January 30, 1984. The show was at the Spokane Coliseum and had the line-up of David Coverdale, John Sykes, Richard Bailey (no Jon Lord), Neil Murray and Cozy Powell. A stellar line-up, just wish Lord was still playing. They opened for Dio so not a long setlist and it is all captured here on LP 1. The recording was an FM Radio Broadcast.
On LP 2, we get a show that was recorded on March 1, 1984 and was another FM Radio Broadcast. It was recorded at the Apollo Theater in Glasgow, Scotland where they were the headliner with Great White opening. The full show is 16 tracks so we don’t get the whole show, but we do get 5 tracks at least. If you want the full show, pick up the Slide It In Super Deluxe Edition as Whitesnake issued it officially in that box set. I believe this show would include Jon Lord as he left the band in April. Correct me if I’m wrong.
A few years back I did a complete collection series on the Scorpions. I figured it was time to show all the vinyl off on The Collection. We will break it up in to two parts with the first being from the debut album, ‘Lonesome Crow’, all the up to ‘Blackout’ with every thing I have in between. For Part 2, next week, will cover ‘Love at First Sting’ up to their latest ‘Rock Believer’. This part covers the 70’s up to 1982 it will feature a lineup of Klaus Meine, Rudolf Schenker plus a cast of characters from Michael Schenker, Uli Jon Roth, Mathias Jab and Francis Buchholz and numerous, I mean numerous drummers. We will talk the controversial covers and the albums and the sound.
So go check it out as it will be live tonight right now, October 7, 2024 at 8pm. Thanks for stopping by and please click “Like” and hit “Subscribe” as it helps out the site when you do.
On June 11, 2021, Def Leppard finally released The Collection, Vol. 3. It had been 2 years since the released of Vol. 2 in part probably due to Covid-19. By 2021, things were slowly starting to get back to normal. This was a crucial collection because these albums were not available on vinyl prior to this. So, it is is a must have set for you vinyl collectors. Ok, not really because they are available now individually…well…except for the bonus material. This is the only place for those. And we are going to talk about one of them here now called ‘Yeah! II’.
‘Yeah! II’ is a collection of cover songs throughout Leppard’s career including all the bonus tracks from ‘Yeah!’ so no need to buy 3-4 different versions of that album as you get them all here in one set. The set includes some B-Sides and other rare tracks from Leppard and there are a total of 19 songs in this splendid collection. I love how they used a variation of the cover of ‘Yeah!’ and added the ‘II’. It is also a 2LP set and includes a gatefold with some great shots of each of the band members, Rick Allen, Rick Savage, Joe Elliott, Phil Collen and Vivian Campbell. This is a lot of cover songs that is for sure, but what an awesome treat to have them in one collection.
SIDE A:
The album kicks off with a cover for the Mick Ronson song, “Only After Dark”. Originally this song appeared as the B-Side to “Let’s Get Rocked” and it is a raw, headbanging rock song from the band. It has a great, catchy groove, a swing to it and it basically kicks ass. They did a different version for ‘Retro Active’ that added more guitar parts, but this version might be better.
After the success of their self-titled E.P., Ratt signed a record deal with Atlantic Records and that deal brought us the incredible debut album ‘Out of the Cellar’. On March 27th, 1984, the album was released and thanks to MTV, the band became a huge sensation. However, prior to the album release, the band’s first single, “Round and Round”, was released on February 19, 1984. And that single is what we are discussing today. I found my copy while I was digging down in Florida while on vacation at a place called D&J Records, I believe. It is a standard US pressing, but I do love the close-up of Tawny Kitaen on the cover even if it is a zoomed in look of the album cover. I actually found 2 Ratt singles, so next week we will talk the other.
A-SIDE:
“Round And Round” is the band’s biggest single. Instantly, the song pulls you in and you can tell it is something special as it reached #12 on the Hot 100. And over time has been ranked as one of the greatest Heavy Metal Songs of all time as Rolling Stone ranked it at #20 on their 100 Greatest Heavy Metal Songs of All Time! And that was back in 2023. I wonder if that ranking is in small part due to its heavy usage in the Geico Insurance commercials. Who knows.
October is finally here, Fall is kicking in, temperatures are starting to cool, but the new releases are still heating up with over 50 releases. This week I have a couple of these on pre-order and a bunch I want to hear. The Wild Feathers and Texas Hippie Coalition are on pre-order. I might order the Twisted Sister one and I will listen to the new James Bay. I’m not sure I care anymore about Motley Crue as they are losing me as a fan with their behavior and the fact they came back after saying they wouldn’t. 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 wonderful weekend.
The Wild Feathers – Sirens – (New West Records)
James Bay – Changes All The Time – (Mercury Records / UMG)
This week we talk move on to the 90’s and first up is a Glam Metal / Hair Band era little nugget. It is the epitome of everything that was wrong with the era, but does that mean it was bad…check it out to see. It is the 1991 release for Danger Danger called ‘Screw It!’. Does Ted Poly, Bruno Ravel, Andy Timmons, Steve West and Kasey Smith suffer from the Sophomore Slump or do they hit it out of the park? This rock era was about to die a fast sudden death and I hated to see it die, but it need to die I guess. We will find out if this is worth your time or not so join me as I walk through the album song by song.
So go check it out as it is live now on October 3, 2024 at Noon. Thanks for stopping by and please click “Like” and hit “Subscribe” as it helps out the site when you do.
In my quest for interesting, unique and rare albums for bands I like, I found this bootleg of an old Motley Crue concert from 1986. It says it was recorded at Fresno & Boston in 1986. It was released on Toasted Records in 1988 out of Australia, so pretty cool I found a copy here in the States. The show, as I said, states it is 1986. The label on each of the 2 LPs included in this set have a copyright of 1985 which is impossible if the show didn’t take place until 1986. Actually, the 1985 is probably correct as the Fresno, California pieces of this disc are from November 25, 1985 and the Boston, Massachusetts parts of this show are from a 1984 show.
But Bootlegs are never known to be very accurate. Just take a look at the cover above. That picture is from at the very least the ‘Girls, Girls, Girls’ era which was 1987. And the picture on the back looks more like ‘Shout at the Devil’ which is probably where the Boston piece of this show was recorded. A 1985 show (Fresno) would’ve been ‘Theatre of Pain’ era. Based on all this we have two eras in one with this bootleg. And from what else I can find on this album, two of the songs are from the US Festival in 1983. Sound quality of the release isn’t bad. It doesn’t sound like a soundboard, but I’ve read it is and an FM broadcast, but the quality isn’t a normal soundboard if it is. There is a little hollowness to it, but still very listenable.
As we end another month, it is time to go back and see what 2 Loud 2 Old Music added to the collection. This is September 2024 and we have vinyl, CDs and a brand new 7″ Single. So much to go through including a Noble Record Exclusives and to top that off we have another addition to the Rock Candy, the Kiss collection and a Box Set collection. Lots of great albums to go though and show for this month so I hope you enjoy the show!!
So go check it out as it will be live tonight right now, September 30, 2024 at 8pm. Thanks for stopping by and please click “Like” and hit “Subscribe” as it helps out the site when you do.
On June 11, 2021, Def Leppard finally released The Collection, Vol. 3. It had been 2 years since the released of Vol. 2 in part probably due to Covid-19. By 2021, things were slowly starting to get back to normal. This was a crucial collection because these albums were not available on vinyl prior to this. So, it is is a must have set for you vinyl collectors. Ok, not really because they are available now individually…well…except for the bonus material. This is the only place for those. And we are going to talk about one of them here now called ‘B-Sides’.
I love the cover is they made it look like the cover for ‘X’ which most of these tracks are from (well – bonus tracks and radio edits from. The back cover also has a cool drawing of the band as well. All a simple white and black shade. “Now”, here is a little gripe that would not have that “Long Long Way to Go” to make this a perfect set. This is a 2LP set and there are two things wrong. One, no gatefold as that would’ve been a sweet add to give us more info or pictures of the band. Two, no slick album sleeves with pictures. It is just basic white paper sleeve. A little more effort would’ve been great. I get there is a cost issue, but come on…give us a little.