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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Friday New Releases – December 6, 2024

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This is the final Friday New Release post of 2024. There are fewer and fewer releases as we get closer to the end of the year and not enough each week to do a post (<10 per week). If you want to see everything coming out…go to the New Release tab above and bookmark it. It even has a nice list started for 2025.

We have a handful you this week and nothing I have to have. I might stream The Rolling Stones and Tori Amos ones, but that is it for me. Let me know what you want to hear this week or what we may have missed. Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend.

  • The Rolling Stones – Welcome to Shepherd’s Bush – (Mercury Studios)
  • Tori Amos – Diving Deep Live – (Decca Records / Universal)
  • Sabrina Carpenter – Fruitcake – (Island Records)
  • Dua Lipa – Dua Lipa Live From The Royal Albert Hall – (Warner Records)
  • Jethro Tull – The Jethro Tull Christmas Album: Fresh Snow at Christmas – (InsideOutMusic)
  • Hozier – Unreal Unearth Unending – (Rubyworks / Columbia Records)
  • Until I Wake – Renovate – (Fearless Records / Concord)
  • Lucinda Williams – Sings the Beatles from Abbey Road – (Highway 20 Records)
  • Interpol – Live at Third Man Records – (Third Man Records)
  • Powell-Payne – Voila – (Frontiers Records)
  • Tarja – Rocking Heels: Live at Hellfest – (earMusic / Edel Music & Entertainment)
  • Gleemer – End of the Nail – (Other People Records)
  • Neckbreakker – Within the Viscera – (Nuclear Blast)
  • Magic Kingdom – Blaze of Rage – (Sharptone)
  • Rose – Rosie – (Atlantic Records)
  • Lauren Mayberry – Vicious Creature – (EMI / Universal)
  • The Blasters – Over There: Live at the Venue, London The Complete Concert – (Liberation Hall)
  • Dax – From A Man’s Perspective – (Records Label, LLC / Columbia)

The Collection: Ep. 39 – November 2024 Wrap Up

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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 November 2024 and we have lots of vinyl and CDs. So much to go through including a ton of Noble Record Exclusives, Voice of America Archive Albums as well as another addition to the Rock Candy collection, the Kiss collection and a Box Set collections. 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, December 2, 2024 at 8pm. Thanks for stopping by and please click “Like” and hit “Subscribe” as it helps out the site when you do.

Down ‘N’ Outz – ‘This Is How We Roll’ (2019) – Album Review (The Def Leppard Collection Series)

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We are on the third studio album for the band Down ‘N’ Outz. A band that was created by Joe Elliott to cover Mott the Hoople and Ian Hunter songs and they did that job gloriously. For this third time, they decided to do something different. They created an album that was almost all original material penned by Joe Elliott himself. There is one cover on it and that is perfectly fine. The band line-up is slightly different. We do still have Paul Guerin, Guy Griffin, Keith Weir and Paul Martini, but they have a new bass player with the wonderful Share Ross from the band Vixen. She is a great addition to this ragged bunch of guys.

The album came out on October 11, 2019 and was produced by Ronan McHugh and the engineer on the album is an old Def Leppard friend by the name of Phil Collen. Cool he lended a hand to the production. We get 12 tracks on a single LP which is a very nice gatefold with the lyrics inside. The album sleeve has some great pictures of each of the band members and the vinyl itself is simply black. I don’t know if this thing charted or any sales figures, but a project like this is done for the love of music, no expectations to be a massive chart success. Joe’s had that, this is a passion project. And let’s see how that passion plays out.

SIDE 1:

The album opens with the first song Joe wrote for the album, “Another Man’s War”. Joe was going for something that was not Def Leppard but more Mott, Bowie and that 70’s glam. and I would say he did a bang up job with that goal. The piano is the driving force on this one while the guitars give it just enough bite to rock the song out. A pure 70’s style gem and Joe’s vocals honor that era greatly. A stellar opening track that sets the mood.

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