Tag: Phil Collen

Man Raze – ‘Surreal’ (2008) – Album Review (The Def Leppard Collection Series)

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Def Leppard’s 2008 album was ‘Songs From the Sparkle Lounge’ and it would be the last studio album from them for around 7 years. In the meantime, we would get some live albums, but mostly we got side projects. And the first one up is from guitarist, Phil Collen. Phil was in a band before Lep called Girl. From that band Girl, he rejoined up with Simon Laffy and the added veteran drummer, Paul Cook from the band The Sex Pistols. I believe you’ve heard of them. The trio started a super group called Man Raze. They actually got together back in 2005, played some live shows, even released a single or two. It wasn’t until June 3, 2008, they released their debut album, ‘Surreal’, in the States.

Now, my copy isn’t the U.S. version. No, I had to have the European version which was released on December 1, 2008. It is the better version for one reason. It contains a 2nd CD of bonus material with 5 additional tracks. I also love that they added the British Flag to the design of the cover. It gives it a slightly cooler look. What you get with this trio is an album that has elements of Phil’s current band, along with Girl, The Sex Pistols and all their influences all rolled in to one. And if you like Phil’s backing vocals in Leppard, well, he is the lead singer here and it is a welcome change of pace. Let’s see what this supergroup brings to the table.

The album kicks off with “This Is” which is a full on ball buster with nothing but angst and speed. The drums pound frantically and the guitar and bass are played at breakneck speed. It brings the punk attitude and the rock sensibility to show us that this band is ready to lay it out all on the table and hold nothing back.

And not to slow things down, they keep up that energy with “Turn It Up” which is more of the same destructive behavior. This one is even a step up with more attitude and Phil sounds even better on this one too. The gang choruses are full like Lep which add even more texture to this one. It is almost a militant drum beat with roaring guitars and a killer solo. A definite highlight of the album.

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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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Def Leppard – ‘Classic Albums: Hysteria’ (2002) – DVD Review (The Def Leppard Collection Series)

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There was a TV show that talked about all the Classic Albums and Def Leppard were given one of those treatments. It was released on UK TV on May 27, 2002 and didn’t hit the States until August 27th, 2002. It had interviews from pretty much everyone involved. New interviews for the current band members and older ones for Mutt and Steve Clark. The band’s managers were interviewed as well as Ross Halfin, Jeff Rich and Rolling Stone’s David Fricke.

It kicks off with the band talking about moving to Dublin and the first song they started working on which was ‘Animal’. It took them 3 years to complete and get it right. It became the first single in the U.K. and finally gave the band their first hit in their home country.

They were in Dublin with Mutt Lange writing songs, but Mutt couldn’t commit to it as he was busy with another project. So, on to another producer. Jim Steinman was the first producer and Joe said Jim was a songwriter not necessarily a producer. The band did not agree with him ever. Jim wanted to capture the moment while the band was so used to Mutt and they wanted it to be perfect. They ended up paying Jim off for him to leave and they paid him a lot of money.

They then went to Nigel Green who was the engineer for Mutt, but he wasn’t Mutt. But around that time, Rick Allen had his tragic car crash where he lost his arm. They didn’t go in to detail of that until later in the show. This about the time Mutt finally came back in the fold and decided to produce the album. The work could seriously begin.

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The Collection: Ep. 26 – Hysterical about Def Leppard’s ‘Hysteria’

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Welcome to a surprise episode of The Collection. Being today is August 3rd, I thought what a great time to talk the Def Leppard album ‘Hysteria’. Why? Because ‘Hysteria’ was released on August 3rd way back in 1987. The band’s biggest album to date and one of the biggest albums of all time. If you are fan of the album, stick around and check out all that I have related to Hsyteria!

So go check it out as it is live now on August 3, 2024 at Noon…because why not!! Thanks for stopping by and please click “Like” and hit “Subscribe” as it helps out the site when you do.

Cybernauts – ‘The Further Adventures of The Cybernauts’ (2001) – Album Review (The Def Leppard Collection Series)

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Welcome back. Last week, we talked about the Cybernauts ‘Live’ album that was released in 2000 in Japan only. In 2001, they released a Deluxe Version of the album in the UK and the 2nd CD was studio recordings the band had done. If you remember, the Cybernauts are Joe Elliott and Phil Collen from Def Leppard; Trevor Bolder & Woody Woodmansey from David Bowie’s Spiders From Mars and then on keyboard is Dick Decent. They came together as a Mick Ronson & David Bowie tribute band for the Mick Ronson Memorial show back in 1997.

This week, we are talking about the 2nd CD in the Deluxe Edition called ‘The Further Adventures of the Cybernauts’. The Japanese only release was in June 2001 and consists of all studio recordings the band did of these David Bowie songs. We get 7 tracks and one hidden track which is an alternate version of one of the other seven.

The first four tracks were recorded on August 8, 1997 at Bow Lane Studios in Dublin, Ireland the day after they recorded the live show we saw on last week’s post. They didn’t waste any time getting these recorded…why not, they were on fire the night before so capture some of that magic. The first track is “Manic Depression” and it is not a David Bowie track as you already guessed. Nope, this is a Jimi Hendrix one and the band gives it a little psychedelic vibe and Phil does a bang up job doing his best Hendrix. Joe’s vocals are put through something to give it that spacey feel to it. A really cool opening track. “All the Young Dudes” is up next and the Mott the Hoople track is done as it should. Some great keyboards, great vocals and those gang vocals on the chorus see a band that loves and appreciates this music.

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