Def Leppard – ‘Yeah! Live’ (2021) – Album Review (The Def Leppard Collection Series)

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. We’ve talked through the B-Sides, Yeah! II and now it is time for the final bonus album in The Collection, Vol. 3…Yeah! Live.

‘Yeah! Live’ is a compilation of 8 live cover songs the band have done over the years. They are B-Sides or recorded from tribute shows they have done and now they are all in one spot. I feel like they have to have more then this, but maybe not. What is cool is Side B as it has Brian May on most of the tracks. I guess he is the 6th member of the band now.. It is not a vast chunk of songs, but it is all quality here not quantity. What is cool is there is a couple recordings on here from the 80’s so we get Steve Clark on a couple tracks. But the rest of the guys are here too with Joe Elliott, Rick Savage, Rick Allen, Phil Collen and Vivian Campbell.

SIDE A:

The B-Side to the song “Have You Ever Needed Someone So Bad” is a live version of the Alice Cooper classic, “Elected”. It was recorded in July 1987 at Tilburg, Netherlands on the ‘Hysteria’ Tour. The crowd was really in to this show as they are screaming loud. Joe attacks the vocals with that Alice Cooper style, with grit and attitude. I wonder if the crowd noise is pumped in as they repeat some of their chants throughout. Anyway, the band rocks it out and does a fair job at this one. All I know is when it came out and I picked it up with this song as the B-Side I was happy to have something I didn’t have in my collection at the time. I’ll take new stuff any day.

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Retro Rock Reviews: Ep. 3 – Alice Cooper’s ‘Billion Dollar Babies’

Welcome to a new series I have on YouTube called Retro Rock Reviews. Each week, we are going to pick an album and do a quick review. They won’t be long shows, something quick and fun to get you through your day. For Episode 3, we are talking about one of the first Alice Cooper albums I ever heard and that is ‘Billion Dollar Babies’. Released on February 25, 1973 , it was an album that took Alice Cooper to the next level. With Bob Ezrin at the helm and a slew of great guitarists, this album went to #1 in the U.S. and the U.K. selling well over 1,000,000 copies. I hope you enjoy my review.

So go check it out as it is live now on August 22, 2024 at Noon. Thanks for stopping by and please click “Like” and hit “Subscribe” as it helps out the site when you do.

You Picked It! – Alice Cooper – ‘Billion Dollar Babies’ (1973) – Album Review

Alright…You Picked It! This one started out close, but one ended up blowing away the rest. Another one had a late batch of votes, but wasn’t enough to get close to the winner. The winner for this month’s picks ended up being Alice Cooper’s ‘Billion Dollar Babies’ and I am real excited about this one. Here are the results.

  1. Alice Cooper – ‘Billion Dollar Babies’ – 10 votes
  2. Rolling Stones – ‘Sticky Fingers – 6 votes
  3. Elton John – ‘Captain Fantastic’ – 2 votes
  4. David Bowie – ‘Diamond Dogs’ – 2 votes
  5. Led Zeppelin – ‘II’ – 2 Votes

Thanks to all for participating. The January choices will be up on Saturday! And the choices are all now from my collection and the next one will be some of the biggest albums of the 80’s. Hopefully you can help me decide which one I should review.

ALICE COOPER – ‘BILLION DOLLAR BABIES’ (1973):

I’ve been wanting to tackle an Alice Cooper album so I am glad this one won the vote. It is Alice’s 6th studio album and Bob Ezrin was still at the helm. Being a Kiss fan, having Bob as producer is a pretty big deal and I could hear a lot of Bob’s influence in the music as there is a lot on here that Kiss tried with Destroyer such as orchestration, sound effects and other magical Bob Ezrin inputs. I’m not Bob is the reason this album is so good, but it did go to #1 in both the UK and the US and sold over 1,000,000 copies giving it platinum status. Who am I kidding, it isn’t Bob that made this album #1 it is strictly Alice Cooper and this amazing band which includes Glen Buxton, Michael Bruce, Dennis Dunaway and Neal Smith.

The album was recorded in both Connecticut and in London. Band member, Glen Buxton, was sick throughout the sessions as he was suffering from pancreatitis brought on by abusive alcohol consumption. Guitarists Mick Mashbir, Dick Wagner (Kiss ghost guitarist) and the great Steve “the Deacon” Hunter who handled the guitar solos on 5 songs and pedal steel guitar on the opening track. The album was finished and released on February 25, 1973 and helped take Alice Cooper to a whole different level of success. The song is so good, that 4 of the songs are still played regularly in his live sets even today.

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