This is a big week for me. Two of my favorite artists are releasing 40th Anniversary Editions of their biggest albums. First, Def Leppard and ‘Pyromania’ and Billy Idol with ‘Rebel Yell’. Yes, I ordered both and they are on their way. Can’t wait to dive in to this and here the previously unreleased material. If those don’t shake your tree, there are ton more new releases this week that are actually new releases. Let us know what you want to hear or what we may have missed. Thanks for stopping by and I hope you all have a wonderful weekend.
Welcome to another Friday New Releases. We have a bunch here for you this week, I mean a ton…over 50 coming your way. I am sure there will be something for everyone on this one. Have a few I want to hear and I will mark those in Blue. Let me know what you want to hear this week and what we may have missed as that does happen believe it or not. I’m not as perfect as you think I am…really!! Thanks for stopping by and I hope you all have a wonderful weekend.
And this one won’t have videos for all them as the time I’m writing, I’m still recuperating and still uncomfortable.
 Skid Row – The Gang’s All Here – (earMusic / Edel Music & Entertainment): Skid Row is doing something they haven’t done since Sebastian Bach left the band and that is have people optimistically anticipating a new album. That is all because they now have Eric Gronwell (formerly of the band H.E.A.T.) as their lead singer. Hell, I want to hear it now as I love Eric. Can’t wait for this one.
 Alter Bridge – Pawns & Kings – (Napalm Records): Mark Tremonti and Myles Kennedy return with another album. I will admit, I have been a little bored lately with their releases. Now, I love Tremonti releases and Myles solo stuff, but Alter Bridge has left me with a feeling somethings missing. Hopefully this will recapture some of the early magic.
Finally!! A week where there is a ton of music I want to hear. There are over 20 releases that I felt were worth mentioning, but I am sure there are a bunch more that I don’t have so let me know in the comments what I may have missed that you think the people should know. Frontiers Records has a big release day with at least 6 releases which honestly I think is way too many for a record company to release on the same day. I don’t feel it is fair to your artist to spread the support so thin and definitely not to the fans who can’t afford to buy all those albums at one time. I personally think you should re-think that strategy. Enough of that talk, my choices are highlighted in Blue. Tell me what you want to hear this week. Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend!!
W.E.T. – Retransmission – (Frontiers Records): Now here is a band I think everyone should listen to this week. It has the great Robert Sall (Work of Art), Erik Martensson (Eclipse) and Jeff Scott Soto (Talisman) bringing you the name W.E.T. This is the band’s fourth and I think they keep getting better. What I thought would be only 1 album, now has a pretty decent catalog. I am a huge fan of Soto’s voice and even Martensson has a great voice. This is melodic rock at its finest.
The Dead Daisies – Holy Ground – (Universal): I really enjoyed this band with John Corabi as lead singer, but he is no longer there. Now they have a new singer who is none other than the Voice of Rock, Glenn Hughes, who I love. I am eager to listen to this to see what they got with Glenn at the helm. This album was supposed to come out right around when Covid hit if I’m not mistaken so I am glad to finally dive in.
Welcome back to The Original vs. The Cover. We are now going to look at the classic David Bowie song “Heroes” that was recorded by Bowie back in 1977 during his Berlin era. The cover song we are battling against is The Wallflowers’ version they recorded for the movie “Godzilla” back in 1998. Two powerhouse performances going up against each other and which one will win? We will see.
The song was written by David Bowie and Brian Eno and was inspired by Bowie’s producer, Tony Visconti as he embraced his lover as they were standing next to the Berlin Wall. The song is about two lovers coming together when one was from the East side of the Wall and the other from the West. They will let nothing stop them from being together, not even the Berlin Wall. It is a beautiful sentiment. Now the song was released in 1977 and the song did fairly well going to #12 in the UK and was platinum status in the UK as well. It didn’t really do much in the States, but I still remember hearing the song. It has made many lists as one of the greatest songs of all time (which doesn’t bode well for The Wallflowers, but we will see.
DAVID BOWIE
David’s version was inspired musically by The Velvet Underground’s song “I’m Waiting for the Man” as the tempo and rhythm of the song plod along in the same fashion. The song and a lot of David’s music from the Berlin Era is very experimental. The drums, the keyboards and the guitars are arranged to be a little noisy in an anthemic sense to give it a rich, full texture, but the coolest part of the song is how they recorded the vocals.
The vocals are done in what is known as gating. Three microphones were placed at different intervals from David. The first at 9 inches from David, the second at 20 feet and the third at 50 feet. As David sang each verse, a different microphone would be used and as each verse came, the first microphone would be shut off and the second opened. As he sang each verse he had to sing louder and with more energy giving the song the effect it as if each verse was more important and sung more powerful as the song builds and builds. It makes David’s vocal so effective in their delivery in bringing emotion and power to the song. I have to say it is quite brilliant.
THE WALLFLOWERS
David’s song is one of his most covered songs, but I think the most famous is probably done by The Wallflowers. The band kept that same plodding pace, but the sound of the instruments is brought to the 90’s and modernized with a fuller band sound and a I think the drums and guitar are even more robust sounding then the original. They seem more alive and gives the song a more rock sound.
On the vocals, Jakob Dylan doesn’t use the same technique as David, but he is able to project his voice with each verse driving the song to be more powerful and emotional as it went on. Jakob and the band didn’t really change much on the song as they understood the importance and gravity of the song and were able to capture that feeling and yet I felt they made the song their own and make it sound like a Wallflowers’ song.
THE VERDICT
I have to admit they are both fantastic versions of the songs. As much as I love the musical stylings of The Wallflowers and Jakob Dylan’s vocals, there is no denying David Bowie’s legendary vocals. David Bowie is my choice of the winner for the best version of this song. I mean, it is David Bowie no less. He is a legend for a reason. Plus the pain staking efforts they went through to get the sound they wanted alone makes this song the best version. David Bowie, Brian Eno and Tony Visconti brought us one of the greatest songs of all time so naturally it is my pick. Now, if you like The Wallflowers version, I can see why you’d pick it as it is great in its own right.
I am really interested in hearing what everyone else thinks of these two songs. Let me know which version you like the best and why. Feel free to leave a comment and talk about the song and tell me how right or wrong I am on this one. Thanks for stopping by and have a great day.
LYRICS:
“”Heroes””
I, I will be king And you, you will be queen Though nothing will drive them away We can beat them, just for one day We can be Heroes, just for one day
And you, you can be mean And I, I’ll drink all the time ‘Cause we’re lovers, and that is a fact Yes we’re lovers, and that is that Though nothing will keep us together We could steal time, just for one day We can be Heroes, for ever and ever What d’you say?
I, I wish you could swim Like the dolphins, like dolphins can swim Though nothing, nothing will keep us together We can beat them, for ever and ever Oh we can be Heroes, just for one day
I, I will be king And you, you will be queen Though nothing will drive them away We can be Heroes, just for one day We can be us, just for one day
I, I can remember (I remember) Standing by the wall (by the wall) And the guns shot above our heads (over our heads) And we kissed, as though nothing could fall (nothing could fall) And the shame was on the other side Oh we can beat them, for ever and ever Then we could be Heroes, just for one day
We can be Heroes We can be Heroes We can be Heroes Just for one day We can be Heroes
We’re nothing, and nothing will help us Maybe we’re lying, then you better not stay But we could be safer, just for one day
Def Leppard – Pyromania 40th Anniversary Box Set – (Mercury Records)
Billy Idol – Rebel Yell (40th Anniversary Expanded Edition) – (Universal Music)
 Pet Shop Boys – Nonetheless – (Parlophone Records / x2 Recordings Ltd)
 Skid Row – The Gang’s All Here – (earMusic / Edel Music & Entertainment): Skid Row is doing something they haven’t done since Sebastian Bach left the band and that is have people optimistically anticipating a new album. That is all because they now have Eric Gronwell (formerly of the band H.E.A.T.) as their lead singer. Hell, I want to hear it now as I love Eric. Can’t wait for this one.
 Alter Bridge – Pawns & Kings – (Napalm Records): Mark Tremonti and Myles Kennedy return with another album. I will admit, I have been a little bored lately with their releases. Now, I love Tremonti releases and Myles solo stuff, but Alter Bridge has left me with a feeling somethings missing. Hopefully this will recapture some of the early magic.
2 Loud 2 Old Music 