Down ‘N’ Outz – ‘The Further Adventures of…’ (2014) – Album Review (The Def Leppard Collection Series)

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. And that was what the first album, ‘My Regeneration’ covered was songs associated with Mott the Hoople, but not Mott the Hoople songs.

This time around on ‘The Further Adventures of…’ they focus entirely on Mott the Hoople songs and what a joy it is. On April 21, 2014, they released their second album with the same line-up, a little more playing together under their belt and a fresh set of old songs. They set out on a tour and years later would release a live album & DVD of a show from the tour called ‘The Further Live Adventures of…’, but I don’t have that one yet so not sure we will get to that during this series. For now, we will focus on this album so we might as well get to it.

My copy is a standard release, no deluxe edition. But what is really cool is when you open the enclosed booklet and fold it out you get a whole comic book story as you will see below. They even turned themselves in to comic book characters. A fun, different approach and a great packing job. Joe and company are doing these releases right!

The album kicks off with the classic 1969 Mott the Hoople hit “Rock And Roll Queen” which was off their self-titled album. The band is slamming and Joe sounds great. The punchy piano breathes so much life in to the song and the song completely rocks. A great opening track to set the tone.

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Katy Perry – The Albums Ranked Worst to First

I know, I know…if you read this blog regularly you know this is completely out of left field for the site. Katy Perry actually has a special place in my heart. Her first three Katy Perry albums were when my kids were really little. They loved her and would act out the songs almost daily and we have some great videos capturing those special moments. And when we were in the car, they would sing at the top of their lungs when her songs came out. As a result, when I hear those songs today, it takes me back to those amazingly fun times with my kids. She has been able to imprint a memory with her songs and that is hard to do. My oldest is away and at college and I have to say I miss her terribly. So to keep her in my thoughts, I figured why not rank all Katy’s albums from worst to first.

You might not know that Katy Perry came out with her first album back in 2001 when she was Katy Hudson and a Christian singer, then she became a sugary, sweet pop princess and for awhile she ruled the airwaves. Now she’s a judge on American Idol and she still puts out albums, but the massive fame and craziness has slowed down a little (at least on the radio). Like her or not, she was the driving force in the industry and what she did, people noticed and paid attention.

We are only going to go through her studio albums, no live albums or E.P.’s or any compilations (which I am not sure she has one yet). So sit back, relax and I hope you enjoy and maybe learn something new.

THE WORST: Katy Hudson (2001):

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