Tag: Acoustic

Kiss – ‘Unplugged’ – Album Review (The Kiss Bootleg Series)

Published on by 2loud2oldmusic17 Comments

I have been doing a Kiss Bootleg Series for years. You get a review every time I add a new one to the collection. Well, after buying 38 Bootleg CDs from John Humphrey’s personal collection, I figured let’s jump right back in and do a whole lot of reviews on the Bootlegs. Oh, if you don’t know who John Humphrey is, you need to know he is a massive Kiss collector. And he is the drummer of the band Seether. John decided to sell off his entire collection…sort of…he kept all the vinyl (like 4,000 of them). He did it through an auction at Backstage Auctions and I had to have a piece of it…and I did wind up with somethings.

As it says in the liner notes, Kiss has done numerous acoustic performances over the years on radio and TV (excluding MTV unplugged). This compilation takes those performances and puts them in one disc. It covers the time periods of 1990-1994 which makes most of it having Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, Eric Singer and Bruce Kulick. But we do get Eric Carr and Ace Frehley tracks as well. The sound quality if actually pretty good and we get 12 fun and exciting tracks and wildly good time as it shows the humor of the guys as well as these are very loose and crazy performances.

The first track is from The Howard Stern show on February 25, 1993 and you can hear Howard and Robin joking it up with Paul and Gene. They play “Detroit Rock City” and Gene is a cut-up throughout the whole thing. I love it when he points out where all the explosions would be when they play it live. Paul sounds relaxed and vocally is on point. I love seeing the lighter side of the band.

Continue reading “Kiss – ‘Unplugged’ – Album Review (The Kiss Bootleg Series)” →

Def Leppard – ‘Acoustic in Vegas’ (2020) – 10″ Picture Disc

Published on by 2loud2oldmusic6 Comments

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.

Continue reading “Def Leppard – ‘Acoustic in Vegas’ (2020) – 10″ Picture Disc” →

Def Leppard – ‘Video Archive’ (1995) – DVD Review (The Def Leppard Collection Series)

Published on by 2loud2oldmusic50 Comments

On December 5, 1995, Def Leppard released yet another video compilation and I believe this is their 4th to date. This one is called ‘Video Archive’ and highlights some live performances as well as some promo videos from ‘Retro Active’ and the greatest hits compilation ‘Vault’. The video was originally released on VHS, Laserdisc and VCD. In 2001, they released it on DVD along with the video compilation called Visualize which is the copy I actually own.

The first part of the DVD we have actually talked about before only a few weeks back. If you remember the bootleg DVD I have called ‘Live Sheffield 1992‘, you will remember that the DVD is actually from June 6, 1993 not 1992 and it is in fact, the show that is on this video as well. Okay, this video is only a piece of that show which is a only a piece of the full set list. And you will remember that I loved that bootleg DVD as the picture and sound were outstanding. This proves that it was as they took that and added 8 of those tracks here and it looks and sounds as good. Maybe it looks a tad bit better.

The show kicks off with a that same old question….”Do You Want to Get Rocked?” as they kick in to “Let’s Get Rocked” off the ‘Adrenalize’ album. A cheesy but fun song live. Then they go back to the ‘Pyromania’ era and pull out “Foolin’” which is one of their best songs, period. Nothing real flashy, but done to perfection. They move up an album and bring us “Rocket” (not “Rock It”). This one has a cool solo part with Vivian and Phil goofing off a little, but making it interesting with what sounds they pull out of their guitars. A hard song to make sound like the records so why try. A great solo between the two. Towards the end the go all Zeppelin with “A Whole Lot of Love” before back to “Rocket”.

Continue reading “Def Leppard – ‘Video Archive’ (1995) – DVD Review (The Def Leppard Collection Series)” →

Def Leppard – ‘Hard Rock Cafe: Singapore, Malaysia – October 26, 1995’ – (Bootleg DVD) – DVD Review (The Def Leppard Collection Series)

Published on by 2loud2oldmusic45 Comments

On October 26, 1995, Def Leppard played an acoustic show in Singapore, Malaysia at the Hard Rock Cafe. The show was filmed and broadcast by Channel V as part of their V Series concerts. Channel V is their version of MTV. Six songs from the show were later released on the Limited Edition of the UK ‘Slang’ album.

This bootleg DVD I have was recorded from teh show on the Television. It is a little grainy because TVs were not 4k back then. The sound quality is really great. There is an audience recording of this show out there somewhere that has two additional unreleased songs (at the time). The two songs were from the upcoming ‘Slang’ album. The songs were “All I Want Is Everything” and “Where Does Love Go When It Dies”…I’d like to hear those two pre-Slang songs.

The stage is small and intimate. Vivian Campbell, Rick Savage, Joe Elliott and Phil Collen are lined-up and everyone has acoustic guitar…welll Rick has a bass (not acoustic though). Rick Allen is banging away behind them on the drums. They kick it off with a high energy performance of “Pour Some Sugar on Me”. The band is having fun and the crowd is loving it. Between each song, we get short little interviews and I normally don’t like the show to be interrupted, but this was a TV show, not an actual concert so I can be okay with it.

Continue reading “Def Leppard – ‘Hard Rock Cafe: Singapore, Malaysia – October 26, 1995’ – (Bootleg DVD) – DVD Review (The Def Leppard Collection Series)” →

My Sunday Song – “TV” by Billie Eilish

Published on by 2loud2oldmusic13 Comments

For My Sunday Song #369, we get Morgan’s 9th Choice and this time we have Billie Eilish’s song “TV” from her 2022 E.P. called ‘Guitar Songs’. The E.P. only has two songs and they thought about including them on her 3rd album, but instead she felt they needed to be heard immediately so they released them. The song “TV” was written by her and her brother, Finneas O’Connell who also produced the song.

The song is about depression and it talks about a lot of issues including abandonment which makes her want to curl up on the couch and watch TV. She wants to watch Survivor so she can see other people suffer. There is a strong desire to numb the pain and get away from all that plagues the world. There also seems to be worry about her celebrity and the effect that has on her relationships. There is a lot of loneliness coming from this song. And be the end, she blames all of her issues on herself and watching TV and all the problems flashed on that tiny little screen. Celebrities suing each other, the downfall of Roe v Wade and so many more world events playing out on TV.

The song is an acoustic performance and damn, it is sad and depressing just like the lyrics. There is a darkness to it and a loneliness. It opens with a soft, lonely acoustic guitar and Billie’s haunting vocals. The bass, keyboards and drums come in later (all played by Finneas) and it picks things up, but the drone of the music still has that melancholy feel which never goes away in the song, but during the last lines of the song “Maybe, I’m the problem”, there is a cheering crowd that brightens things up a little, only a little. The crowd sound was sampled from the the crowd noise from her debut performance at Manchester.

Continue reading “My Sunday Song – “TV” by Billie Eilish” →

Matt Nathanson – ‘Slow, But Speeding’ E.P. – Album Review

Published on by 2loud2oldmusic1 Comment

In my endless search for music I don’t have by Matt Nathanson, I always get excited when I find something that I didn’t actually have and this is one of those items. In 2007, Matt released a promotional E.P. on CD called ‘Slow, But Speeding’ for his upcoming 2007 album ‘Some Mad Hope’. I have that album, so why is this E.P. worth getting if it is a promo of the album is something you might ask and I will tell you . There are 3 songs on here and they are all acoustic versions of the new songs on the albums. This one is not extremely rare to get and not overly pricey either which makes it even better. The songs were recorded at Play Records in San Francisco, CA and they are stripped down to their bare essence with just an acoustic guitar and Matt.

The first track is “Gone” as well as the songs on here are written by Matt Nathanson and Mark Weinberg. What I love about Matt is when he sings he really feels the songs. They feel personal to him and a part of him and that is even more prevalent when he does them acoustic. This one has Matt giving up on love after his most recent heartbreak. He is really aching and feels so lost and you can hear the heartache.

Continue reading “Matt Nathanson – ‘Slow, But Speeding’ E.P. – Album Review” →

Needtobreathe – “Brother” – 7″ Limited Edition Single

Published on by 2loud2oldmusic22 Comments

In my quest for getting everything on vinyl for Needtobreathe, there were four 7″ Singles I had to get and I am glad to say, I now have 3 of them. There is still one elusive one that I need for the song “Keep Your Eyes Open”, so if you see it let me know. For now we are going to talk about this single for the song “Brother”. The song is actually off the album, ‘Rivers in the Wasteland’ from 2014. However, the songs on this disc are not on the version on the album.

The disc is a limited edition release with only 2,000 copies and I have one so there are only 1,999 left out there for you to find (yes, I know how to subtract). It is on a very beautiful transparent blue vinyl and it is gorgeous. It comes in a lovely jacket with a cool picture of Bear Rineheart on the front and his brother Bo Rinehart on the back which is significant which we will discuss later.

The package also comes with an insert with details about Side A and Side B and it is formatted in that same flowery motif. It is quite nice.

Continue reading “Needtobreathe – “Brother” – 7″ Limited Edition Single” →

Kiss – ‘Unplugged’ (1996) – Album Review (The Kiss Review Series)

Published on by 2loud2oldmusic80 Comments

Welcome back to Kiss Review Series and this time around we will discuss the album ‘Unplugged’ or is it ‘MTV Unplugged’, I wasn’t really sure. I stuck with ‘Unplugged’ as that is what it says on the spine of the vinyl cover. But it was recorded for MTV so didn’t know the right way to label this post. But enough of that garbage, let us get back to the Kisstory.

Kiss seemed in no hurry to do an album. It had been several years since ‘Revenge’. They have been putting out product as we have reviewed it, but yet no studio album. And with this review, still no studio album. In 1995, the band set out and did these Convention Tours as around this time, Kiss Konventions had started popping up. Kiss would go play these and they were all done as acoustic performances. They would even get some special guests to join them and one time Peter Criss showed up and jumped on stage with them. Kiss started to play lesser known songs at the audience requests and they seemed to be enjoying themselves. Well, around that time MTV came a calling and asked if they wanted to do an episode of MTV Unplugged and the band agreed.

Continue reading “Kiss – ‘Unplugged’ (1996) – Album Review (The Kiss Review Series)” →

Kiss – All The Way At The Ball Room (Bootleg Series) – Album Review

Published on by 2loud2oldmusic119 Comments

This piece of Kiss Bootleg I found at my local independent record store called Lunchbox Records.  It is Kiss from February 7th, 1995 and was recorded at the Hilton Hotel Ballroom in Melbourne, Australia while they were down under on tour.  The album is an acoustic show and this is a collection of outtakes from that show.

The line-up is Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons of course and since this is pre-reunion, it also includes Bruce Kulick and Eric Singer.  A great non-makeup lineup.  The band sounds great and even Paul is singing his heart out.  The recording I believe is an audience recording only due to the loudness of the crowd, but let me tell you it sounds freaking awesome.

The crowd is really in to and at times it feels like a campfire singalong.  The band is definitely enjoying themselves as they are interacting with the crowd and seem to be having a blast.

IMG_0762

The set is a single LP and includes a full size poster in with the album. The picture is of the front cover so not something different from what you already see…

Continue reading “Kiss – All The Way At The Ball Room (Bootleg Series) – Album Review” →

Needtobreathe – ‘Acoustic Live, Vol. 1’ – Album Review

Published on by 2loud2oldmusic7 Comments

There are only a few bands in your lifetime that come along and touch you in ways that nothing else can.  I have been fortunate enough to have that happen on a few occasions.  Needtobreathe is one of those bands for me.  Their music speaks to me and makes me feel things that have made them a part of my life.  I have only seen them live 3 times now and each time they get better.  I have all their studio albums on vinyl and now their 2 live albums.  The latest to the collection is the release ‘Acoustic Live, Vol. 1’.  And that is what we are going to talk about here today.

Back in 2017, Needtobreathe went on their first ever acoustic tour.  They played smaller venues and stripped it down bare to make the shows as intimate as they possibly could.  Sadly, I had to miss the show due to my work schedule and let me tell you how much that sucked.  I hate that work gets in the way of life.

Back to the album…the cover art was drawn by none other than Bo Rhinehart, lead guitarist.  He is one talented MF.  He also designed the videos shown during their most recent tour that my wife and I caught this past Summer (read about HERE).  The rest of the artwork is really strong giving the album this vintage, retro look of say the early 1900’s.  It is really cool.

IMG_1447

Continue reading “Needtobreathe – ‘Acoustic Live, Vol. 1’ – Album Review” →