Tag: Joe Elliott

Down ‘N’ Outz – ‘My Regeneration’ (2010) – Album Review (The Def Leppard Collection Series)

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We are in a time in Def Leppard’s career where there is a 7 year break between studio albums. To help fill that gap, the boys in the band kept busy. We’ve seen the Phil Collen side project Man Raze and now we have Joe Elliott’s side project called Down ‘N’N Outz. And during this stretch we don’t get only one album from each, we will actually see two albums from each before the next Leppard studio album. Hey, if I can’t have Def Leppard, I’ll take this stuff just as well.

The Down ‘N’ Outz were formed thanks to Mott the Hoople. Mott the Hoople was doing a reunion show, well a week’s worth of reunion shows. They asked Joe to be a part of it. One thing led to another and with the help of drummer Phil Martini, Ronnie Garrity from Raw Glory, and Paul Guerin, Guy Griffin, and Keith Weir from The Quireboys, the Down ‘N’ Outz were born. They performed as the opening act. The twist was they would be playing songs by bands or artists associated with Mott the Hoople, but not actually Mott the Hoople songs. They even recorded a show and released it on DVD, which I need to one day obtain.

After the gig, the band were having so much fun, they actually recorded an album. There is a 10 song edition that was released first on June 23, 2010 as part of an edition of Classic Rock Magazine (I want that one!!), but the final album actually had 13 songs, one of which was an original by the band. If you liked Joe & Phil’s band the Cybernauts, then this will be right up your alley. On July 13, 2010, their debut album ‘My ReGeneration’ was released. Don’t think it ever charted, but who cares. If you are fan of Mott the Hoople and all their side projects, a fan of Def Leppard or a fan of the Quireboys, then you need this. Let’s get to it! Wait…FYI…the band even started their own brand of beer…thus the bottle cap in the album pictures below.

The opening track is the classic “Golden Opportunity” which is an Ian Hunter cover from his album ‘Overnight Angels’. What is cool about this one is when it starts up you hear a needle dropping and some static like this was vinyl, but my version is a CD. A cool little trick. The band sticks to the essence of the song (and all the songs), but they can’t help put their own little flair on it. When the song is as cool and iconic as this one, how could they screw it up. The musicianship is stellar and Joe sounds awesome! The energy is electric and you can feel the excitement they have for playing this music. A great opening track.

Next up is “Storm” which is a Mott cover (Not a Mott the Hoople cover – just Mott). This one is from the album ‘Shouting and Pointing’. It fades in from the opening track and the tempo is fast. The riffs are cool, the keyboards are slamming as are the drums. Another fun, high energy track that keeps the party going. I have to say I wasn’t overly familiar with this one which I think helps my enjoyment as it feels new to me. The band is swinging and again I can’t get over their playing…these guys are really good.

Then it is time for another Ian Hunter song and this one is the title track to his album “Overnight Angels”. Man, I love this song and the Boyz bring down the house with this one. The gentle guitar riff opening with the heavy bass and drums are a slick contrast. Joe’s vocal delivery is slow and deliberate, well paced. The grit of his vocals adds so much to the song. I think this album so far has been a headphone album as there is so much going on musically and it all sounds like a smorgasbord of tastiness.

Okay, I’ve realized something…the Ian songs I know. The Mott songs I don’t. This next one was new to me as well. It is the song “Career (No Such Thing as Rock ‘n Roll)” from the ‘Shouting and Pointing’ album. It opens with a biting piano with some keyboards that sound like horns. It has this grand, epic tone. Joe’s vocals are more reserved to match the music. It is really beautiful in its presentation. I might need to be checking out these Mott albums. I have Mott the Hoople stuff, but no Mott.

It is time for “Cleveland Rocks”…oops sorry that is The Drew Carey Show theme song. This is actually “England Rocks” the Ian Hunter song that the Drew theme song is based. It is a rambunctious rocker that celebrates the England Rock & Roll scene. A fun singalong song.

It is back to Mott and this time we get the title track to the album that has two other songs here and that is “Shouting And Pointing”. The piano keys are fast and furious on this one. Then it gets dark and powerful. Joe’s attitude is matched in the music. I like the changes and different directions in the song as it keeps it interesting. Another really cool track and man, this Mott band must be something.

We stay with Mott, but now we are on to his ‘Drive Now’ album and the first song is “By Tonight”. This one feels different, a more guitar heavy song less piano/keyboards. While it still sounds good, it doesn’t feel as glam as the prior songs. I was really digging the piano on these songs. But the guitar work on here is stellar so I don’t want to take away from that at all. Overall, I’m not as in to this one, but it is still a really good track.

“Apologies” is up next from ‘Drive Now’ as well and this one is only 1 minute long. It is acoustic with just a guitar and Joe’s vocals. Joe sounds really cool, the guitar is smooth and a nice change of pace. Something completely different. I like it.

Ian Hunter is back with his song “Who Do You Love”. Leppard covered this one for “Yeah! II”. It is a high energy song and the piano is back in full force. They do a good job with this one, but it is not one of my favorites. It wasn’t on the Lep album either.

This time around we get a British Lion song called “One More Chance to Run” off their self-titled album. The Down ‘N’ Outz tackle this one with some major gusto. The guitars are lethal on this one, the heaviness of the opening riff, the crisp, biting notes of other notes. The energy is up to 10 and they dominate the song.

Back to an Ian song with “3000 Miles From Home” which is another acoustic song with the guitars and Joe on vocals. There is a gentleness to it and a sadness. It is a great song, but a little too one-dimensional with the same riff throughout the song.

“Good Times” is up next and this is a cover of The Easybeats classic done by Mott. It is a high energy, rocking track and a total blast…But…it isn’t as good as the Jimmy Barnes and INXS song as their version is the standard a I hold all other versions too. Joe is great and the music is awesome, but you can’t touch Michael Hutchense and Jimmy together. Sorry Joe. Still, I wouldn’t skip this one if it came on.

The final track is an original from the band. It is “The Flipside of the Shameless Whelk”. It feels incomplete, mostly instrumental and doesn’t seem to have any direction. It feels like an outro or something the band was jamming and threw in for good measure. You hear parts of other songs in it to. It is pretty much nonsense for me.

Track Listing:

  1. Golden Opportunity – Keeper
  2. Storm – Keeper
  3. Overnight Angels – Keeper
  4. Career (No Such Thing As Rock ‘n’ Roll) – Keeper
  5. England Rocks – Keeper
  6. Shouting and Pointing – Keeper
  7. By Tonight – Keeper (1/2 Point)
  8. Apologize – Keeper
  9. Who Do You Love – Keeper (1/2 Point)
  10. One More Chance to Run – Keeper
  11. 3000 Miles From Here – Keeper (1/2 Point)
  12. Good Times – Keeper (1/2 Point)
  13. The Flipside of the Shameless Whelk – Delete  

The Track Score is 10 out of 13 Tracks or 77%.  Let me tell you the production on this is incredible as all the instruments and effects are crystal clear and so full and vibrant.  It is a party in your ears.  Do all the songs work?  No, but the majority of them are pure enjoyment and although not normally a covers band fan, I really dig this one. I am sure most of it is Joe as I love me some Leppard, but the musicianship on here is what really made this so much fun.  They seem to really love what they were doing and appreciate these songs.  It isn’t perfect, but it is worth a listen if you are a fan of anything Mott the Hoople adjacent.  My Overall Score is a 4.0 out of 5.0 Stars.  

NEXT UP: MAN RAZE – ‘PUNKFUNKROOTSROCK’ (2011)

THE DEF LEPPARD COLLECTION SERIES

  1. Def Leppard E.P. – 7″ Single (1979)
  2. First Strikes 1978-1979 (Bootleg CD)
  3. Girl – Sheer Greed (1980)
  4. On Through the Night (1980)
  5. When the Walls Came Tumbling Down (April 26 1980) (2020)
  6. High & Dry (1981)
  7. Too Many Jitterbugs – B-Sides And Rarities (2020)
  8. Raw – Early BBC Recordings (2020)
  9. Girl – Wasted Youth (1982)
  10. Pyromania (1983)
  11. “Photograph” 7″ Single (1983)
  12. “Too Late For Love” 12″ Single (1983)
  13. Live at the L.A. Forum 1983 (2018)
  14. Seattle, August 3, 1983 (Bootleg CD)
  15. Pyromania TV Collection (Bootleg DVD)
  16. Hysteria (1987)
  17. “Animal” 7″ Single (1987)
  18. “Women” 7″ Single (1987)
  19. “Pour Some Sugar on Me” 7″ Single (1987)
  20. “Hysteria” 7″ Single (1987)
  21. “Armageddon It” 7″ Single (1988)
  22. “Love Bites” 7″ Single (1988)
  23. “Rocket” 7″ Single (1989)
  24. Animal Instinct – The Def Leppard Story – Book Review (1987)
  25. Rarities – Volume One (2018)
  26. Live in Mountain View – August 17, 1988 (Bootleg DVD)
  27. Historia – DVD (1988)
  28. Live: In the Round, In Your Face (CD Video / DVD) (1989)
  29. Adrenalize (1992)
  30. “Have You Ever Needed Someone So Bad” – Cassette Single (1992)
  31. “Tonight” CD Single (1993)
  32. Live Sheffield 1992 (Bootleg DVD)
  33. Retro Active (1993)
  34. Visualize DVD (1993)
  35. Hard Rock Café – Singapore, Malaysia October 26, 1995 (Bootleg DVD)
  36. Vault: Def Leppard Greatest Hits (1980-1995) (1995)
  37. “When Love & Hate Collide” – CD Promo Single (1995)
  38. Video Archive (1995)
  39. Slang (1996)
  40. Montreal: The Classic 1996 Broadcast (Bootleg CD)
  41. Live Bites: FM Broadcast (Bootleg CD)
  42. Live in Argentina 1997 (Bootleg DVD)
  43. Euphoria (1999)
  44. Rarities – Volume Two (2019)
  45. Rarities – Volume Three (2019)
  46. Tokyo 1999 (Bootleg CD)
  47. Cybernauts – Live (2000)
  48. Cybernauts – The Further Adventures of the Cybernauts (2001)
  49. X (2002)
  50. Hysteria: Classic Albums DVD (2002)
  51. Best of Def Leppard (2004)
  52. Rock of Ages: The Definitive Collection (2005)
  53. Yeah! (2006)
  54. Yeah! Bonus CD with Backstage Interviews (2006)
  55. Songs from the Sparkle Lounge (2008)
  56. Man Raze – Surreal (2008)
  57. B-Sides (2021)
  58. Yeah! II (2021)
  59. Yeah! Live (2021)
  60. CMT Crossroads – Taylor Swift & Def Leppard (2009)
  61. Down ‘N’ Outz -My ReGeneration (2010)
  62. Man Raze – PunkFunkRootsRock (2011)
  63. Down ‘N’ Outz -The Further Adventures of… (2014)
  64. Def Leppard (2015)
  65. The Lost Session (2018)
  66. Personal Jesus 7″ Single (2018)
  67. Down ‘N’ Outz -This is How We Roll (2019)
  68. Hits Vegas: Live at Planet Hollywood – Vinyl (2020)
  69. Hysteria: Live – Vinyl (2020)
  70. Def Leppard Acoustic Vegas – 10″ Vinyl (2020)
  71. Down ‘N’ Outz – The Music Box E.P. (2020)
  72. Diamond Star Halos (2022)
  73. High & Dry – Picture Disc (RSD) (2022)
  74. Drastic Symphonies (2023)
  75. Drastic Symphonies – Picture Disc (2023)
  76. Definitely: The Official Story of Def Leppard (2023)
  77. Def Leppard – ‘One Night Only: Live at The Leadmill’ (RSD) (2024)
  78. “Just Like ’73” – 7″ Single (2024)

PREVIOUSLY POSTED:

  1. The Def Leppard E.P. (1979/2017)
  2. Def Leppard: Interview Picture Disc (1982?)
  3. “Bringin’ On the Heartbreak” – 12″ Promo Single (1984)
  4. Live at the Top (Bootleg) (1987)
  5. “Pour Some Sugar on Me” –  5″ Shaped Picture Disc (1987)
  6. Hysteria U.S. Tour 1988 – Tour Book (1988)
  7. “Make Love Like a Man” – 12″ Single (1992)
  8. “Let’s Get Rocked” – 12″ Single (1992)
  9. Adrenalize: The 7 Day Weekend Tour (1992/1993)
  10. X: World Tour (2003)
  11. Mirrorball – Live & More (2011)
  12. Def Leppard: The Definitive Visual History – Book Review (2011)
  13. Viva! Hysteria (2013)
  14. And There Will Be A Next Time…Live from Detroit (2017)
  15. Hysteria: 30th Anniversary Box Set (2017)
  16. The Story So Far – The Best of (2018)
  17. The Collection, Volume 1 (2018)
  18. Hysteria: The Singles Box Set (2018)
  19. Live at Abbey Road Studios (2018)
  20. Def Leppard: Concert Review – Charlotte, NC June 9th 2018 (2018)
  21. The Story So Far – The Best of Volume 2 (2019)
  22. The Collection, Volume 2 (2019)
  23. London to Vegas (2020)
  24. Rock & Roll Hall of Fame 29 March 2019 (2020)
  25. The Early Years ’79-’81 (2020)
  26. The Collection, Volume 3 (2021)
  27. Def Leppard Funko Pop!

CMT Crossroads – Taylor Swift & Def Leppard (2009) – DVD Review (The Def Leppard Collection Series)

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CMT (Country Music Television) had a great show called CMT Crossroads. The show would bring together two famous acts, one being a country artist and the other either Rock, Pop or whatever they felt would work together. One of those episodes that aired on November 7, 2008 brought together and a young rising country star named Taylor Swift and a band she grew up listening to thanks to her parents, Def Leppard. A dream come true for her and a strange match-up for me. But it was Leppard so I watched. And when the DVD was released, I bought it.

The DVD came out on June 16, 2009 and was exclusive to Wal-Mart stores here in the States. The DVD contained the entire show that was broadcast as well as some bonus material. That bonus material was three bonus songs that were performed and not aired. You also get a bunch of interviews. In total, you get 75 minutes of Country Rock Crossover. Honestly, I wish there was a CD for the show, I’d like that in the collection. Now, was the show good? Let’s find out.

The show kicks off with “Photograph” from Def Leppard and a good one to start as it is one of their most famous songs. Phil Collen breaks out that famous riff while fully dressed and still some hair; and Taylor sings the first verse. Dang, she is so young here. She has a great voice, but she can’t muster the power needed for this song but she can hit some of those notes Joe can’t. Joe Elliott takes on the second version and that is they way this song should be sung. They share the choruses. The band is all the Lep folks and even Taylor’s band so we get two drummers and numerous guitarists and bass players. I even see a keyboard player in the background there. The bands sound awesome and they do play the song to perfection. Who knew it would actually work so well.

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

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

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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.

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Def Leppard – ‘B-Sides’ (2021) – Album Review (The Def Leppard Collection Series)

Published on by 2loud2oldmusic21 Comments

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.

SIDE 1:

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Def Leppard – ‘Songs From The Sparkle Lounge’ (2008) – Album Review (The Def Leppard Collection Series)

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We are now to the 10th Studio album and you’d think that ‘X’ would’ve been a good title for this one, but they already used that title with their 10th album release including compilations. Nope, this time they named the album ‘Songs From the Sparkle Lounge’. A name in reference to a room at each of their live shows they used for tuning, for writing and overall creativity. It had a Christmas lights strewn about around the room along with some equipment such as a drum kit, some amps and even a tape recorder. Apparently, most of the songs, if not all, were written while on the road touring for the ‘Yeah!’ album.

This album saw the band try something new and have their first song featuring an outside party. They brought in Country singer Tim McGraw to assist on a song and yes ,the song has a country flair and we will bash the hell out of it later. I guess they needed to try something new. The album saw the light of day on April 25, 2008 and went all the way to #5 on the Billboard 200 selling around 55,000 copies out of the gate. They did reach #1 on the Hard Rock And Rock Album charts as well. Def Leppard still has some life left in them even after all these years. Joe Elliott, Rick Savage, Rick Allen, Phil Collen and Vivian Campbell were still going strong. But is the album strong or does it have any life left in it? We are about to find out.

The album opens with “Go” and it has a massive guitar riff that sounds menacing and powerful. The heavy track explodes with a metal energy and might be one of the best opening tracks the band has ever had. It harkens back to High ‘N’ Dry vibe where the riff was king. It also has a killer guitar solo and shows the talent of these two dynamic guitar heroes. Joe sounds great as well on vocals, but you can’t escape those guitars…damn this is exciting and has me desperate to hear the rest of this album.

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Def Leppard – ‘Yeah! Bonus CD with Backstage Interviews’ (2006) – (The Def Leppard Collection Series)

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In 2006, Def Leppard released their 9th studio album, ‘Yeah!’. It was a covers album and had 14 tracks on it. The band, however, recorded a ton more songs that were not used. Some wound up on the Japanese Edition as bonus tracks, others as Best Buy bonus tracks, Target and even iTunes. You would literally need to buy 5 versions of the album to get all the tracks. Well, you don’t really need to buy the Japanese edition because the Wal-Mart edition had the two Japanese Bonus Tracks as well as 3 more songs and a selection of interviews with the band. This version has the most bonus tracks of any of the other offers and is a great buy. It would’ve been released on the same day as the album which was May 23, 2006.

The opening track is the only song that breaks the band’s rule about all being British songs. It is cover of the Tom Petty & The Heartbreaker’s “American Girl”. I want to say that all these songs are the demos because they aren’t played with all the band members. This one has Joe on vocals, but it is Vivian Campbell on all instruments except Marc Danzeisen on drums. Additional backing vocals with Jesse Sheely. The song captures the energy of the original, the guitar sound like they should and the harmonies are great. A fun, energetic song and a great choise.

The first interview with the band, “Backstage Interview #1”, sees the band talking about the most recent tour with little snippets from each member. They all say it has been great, but Rick Allen says travel was hard. They also talk about how the audience seems to change with each tour.

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Def Leppard – ‘Yeah!’ (2006) – Album Review (The Def Leppard Collection Series)

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If you follow Def Leppard at all, you know they really are a 70’s band. Their influences were definitely 70’s and the whole glam rock scene. You can hear it in their songs as well and their side projects like Cybernauts where it is really obvious they have a passion for that style of music. Def Leppard now felt it was time for a covers album. The label brought it up to them, but Joe Elliott had already wanted to do one so it was an easy decision to agree on. Wow! Has a label and band ever agreed on anything before? This must be a first.

They had a few rules, the songs had to be hits and had to have been released prior to the band signing their record deal. And, the songs had to be British. They didn’t stick with that rule entirely as we will see on the next review, but for this album they did. Each band member brought a list of 20 songs each so they had 100 songs to choose from. I imagine they had some overlap which would easily help narrow the selection if more than one person picked it. And what a wide variety of artists they picked and what a great set of songs. I am not a massive fan of cover albums, but there are a few I have liked and luckily this turned out to be one of them. The album came out on May 23, 2006 and the album did okay. It did chart at #16 on the Billboard 200 and the singles charted on these types of charts I am not familiar with but they can say it charted.

One really cool thing about this record is the packaging. Inside you had individual pictures of each band member recreating an iconic image from a 70’s album. They are as follows:

  • Rick Savage – Freddie Mercury from the album Queen II
  • Vivian Campbell – Marc Bolan from T. Rex’s Electric Warrior
  • Joe Elliott – David Bowie from the rear cover of The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars
  • Rick Allen – Lou Reed, Transformer
  • Phil Collen – The Stooges, Raw Power

The pictures are down below. I love that you also get the original Def Leppard triangle logo with light shining through it giving the rainbow affect from Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon. I love when some thought actually goes in to the packaging and this one is A+ material. Now, does the music match the packaging? Let’s find out.

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Def Leppard – ‘Rock of Ages: The Definitive Collection’ (2005) – Album Review (The Def Leppard Collection Series)

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The compilations are coming fast and furious. First we had the UK greatest hits compilation called ‘Best of Def Leppard’ which came in a 1 CD and a 2 CD version. The U.S. did not get that release. Instead, about 6 months later, the States got a slightly different collection called ‘Rock of Ages: The Definitive Collection’. This was released May 17, 2005 about 7 months later and went to #10 on the Billboard 200 chart selling over 1 million copies in the States alone. Canada bought about 200,000. So, it did well.

How does this one differ from “Best of”? Not by a whole lot. The biggest, noticeable difference is the artwork is really spruced up and more vibrant with the Union Jack used as background. Some of the pictures are the same and the liner notes I think are identical. This time, Disc 1 is identical to ‘Vault’ with the only change adding 2 songs. Disc 2 is pretty close to the same as well. There is a different New song. Instead of the cover of The Kink’s “Waterloo Sunset”, we get a Badfinger cover of “No Matter What”. We do get 18 tracks on Disc 2 instead of 17 with “Paper Sun” and “Mirror Mirror (Look Into My Eyes” being different. The dropped “Make Love Like A Man”, thankfully. And lastly, the track order is shaken up on Disc 2 as well. Let’s be realistic, they aren’t that different.

DISC 1:

The album opens with the biggest song of their career, “Pour Some Sugar on Me”. It was the third single off ‘Hysteria’ in the UK, but the fourth in the States. And it was do or die time for the band. They need to sell way more and this song did it for them. Yes, the song is about sex, but it is it the energy of the song that make this one so good. This is the ‘Historia’ Video Edit version which opens with “Love is a like a Bomb” and is actually longer then the album version.

Then with no mercy, we get “Photograph”.  First…the song is NOT about Marilyn Monroe.  The song is about an obsession with a woman and all you have of her is that photograph.  The Marilyn Monroe part was added for the video to help tell the story.  And it captures it perfectly.  As the video shows that obsession going a little too far. The song was perfect in my book and the video was mesmerizing.  The two together captured my attention like nothing ever had before and every time MTV showed, I turned up the volume! 

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Def Leppard – ‘Best Of Def Leppard’ (2004) – Album Review (The Def Leppard Collection Series)

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Up to this point, Def Leppard really only had 1 greatest hits album and that was 1995’s ‘Vault: Def Leppard Greatest Hits 1980-1995’. Since that last compilation, they have released a couple more albums so it was time to update the Greatest Hits package and this time it is called ‘Best of Def Leppard’, easy enough. There is a single disc version which is basically the same tracks as the ‘Vault’. Well, close enough. They did remove two tracks and add two more recent ones then they added two more tracks on that one to give us 17 tracks instead of 15. And I am okay with the choices they made.

There is also a 2 CD set which is what I have. It came with a slip case (my copy doesn’t have that piece) and a second disc with more of a diverse selection. While the first mostly ignores the first albums (exception being “Bringin’ On the Heartbreak”), this adds a few more tracks plus gives us more of the newer albums. And even better a new song…well new to Def Leppard as it is a cover of The Kink’s song “Waterloo Sunset”. This was a preview of what was to come with the band’s next studio album ‘Yeah!’ which is a covers album. I like that second disc since it is the usual Leppard standards.

The CD came out on October 25, 2004 and it did sell 300,000 copies in the UK and went to #6 on the albums chart. It charted in other countries as well, but it didn’t chart in the U.S. as it was not officially released here in the States. That would come the next year with a new compilation called ‘Rock of Ages: The Definitive Collection’ which we will review next week. Now, since this set is 34 songs over 2 CDs, this review could take awhile. I’ll get started.

DISC 1:

The album opens with the biggest song of their career, “Pour Some Sugar on Me”. It was the third single off ‘Hysteria’ in the UK, but the fourth in the States. And it was do or die time for the band. They need to sell way more and this song did it for them. Yes, the song is about sex, but it is it the energy of the song that make this one so good. This is the ‘Historia’ Video Edit version which opens with “Love is a like a Bomb” and is actually longer then the album version.

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