No Foolin' Around

Today is one of the best holidays known to man, April Fools Day. I tried to think of something funny to say or a vid clip that could fit, but came up empty. So here's an off the cuff playlist of songs with the word "Fool" in it. As Scotty once said, "Fool me once shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me." Just for the hell of it, I'll call this feature the Playlist Of Pooh.

1. Def Leppard - Foolin'


2. Chris Rea - Fool (If You Think its Over)


3. The Beatles - Fool On The Hill


4. Foreigner - A Fool For You Anyway


5. Van Halen - Fools


6. Tesla - Mama's Fool


7. Elvin Bishop - Fooled Around And Fell in Love


8. Michael Bolton - Fools Game


9. The Cardigans - Lovefool


10. The Doobie Brothers - What A Fool Believes


11. Soul Asylum - April Fool


12. Styx - Fooling Yourself

And of course...

If anyone out there in cyberspace can remember other songs with the word "Fool" in it, feel free to let me know. I've had a beer and this is all I can think of.

Took a walk with my wife and mentioned this post, she listed a bunch of real obvious ones that I didn't remember.

1. Whitesnake - Fool For Your Loving
2. Robert Plant - Ship Of Fools
3. Foghat - Fool For the City
4. Steve Perry - Foolish Heart

Yep, I missed some of my favorites including "The Voice". Doh!

Old Timers Day

Classic rockers did their best to not let Rock and Roll die, spending the decade releasing new music to their shrinking fan bases. Some proved they still had something relevant to say while others looked like they were going thru the motions.

The Future Past Of Rock And Roll

Probably the most visible (and biggest following) performer to make my list is The Boss, Bruce Springsteen. He was prolific, putting out like five albums. Of those, the one to impress me was 2007's Magic where I felt he had a good batch of songs ("Radio Nowhere", "Livin In The Future" and "Long Way Home" were highlights) and recaptured some of the 'ol E Street magic (I thought they sounded stiff on 2002's The Rising which is otherwise a good disc). The Boss's idol, or The Bosses Boss if you will, Bob Dylan, issued the excellent Love and Theft in 2001. Dylan's album had a ramshackle well worn feel alongside vibrant material (like the relaxing "Sugar Baby"). Meanwhile, Sir Paul McCartney came up with a winner on his Chaos And Creation In The Backyard (2005) by having quality tunes and a nice homemade feel. "Jenny Wren" had a great classic Beatles feel to it.

Let Your Freak Flag Fly

More prolific was Neil Young who should win the award for most faithful recreation of a 60's event by spitting out a vitriolic anti war album in Living With War (2006) which doesn't make my list for song quality yet deserves mentioning just for intent. Maybe the only 60's liberal rock survivor I can think of that used his flower power era anti establishment cred for something other than a marketable cache of cool. Agree or disagree with him, Young showed guts to stand behind his established politics even as it just made him seem that much more like a walking antique. But in terms of the actual music, I liked the acoustic Prairie Wind (2005) on which Young muses on fleeting personal mortality.

John Mellencamp also went acoustic and a little somber on Life, Death, Love and Freedom (that's probably not the right title but too tired to look up right title) the disc that turned around decades of hatred...for me that is. I hated John Mellencamp's music since 1982 yet this album grabbed my attention. This disc made me feel like American values of fairness and freedom for all were slipping through my very fingers. Impressive album.

Jackson Browne (a personal favorite of mine) also went anti war in a more low key way (because he is Jackson Browne after all) in 2008's Time The Conqueror. Browne's songwriting was as eloquent and So Cal with its laid back urgency (oxymoron alert!) as ever in an enjoyable way. And though John Fogerty made an anti war statement on the weak Deja Vu All Over Again (2004) CD, he turned it around musically by reviving his Creedence sound on Revival (2007). By getting back to his old swamp grounds Fogerty's anti Bush rants like "Gunslinger" carried more weight.

Peaceful Easy Feeling

Speaking of laid back So Cal urgency, Browne's fellow scenesters also dished out plenty of harmony driven goodness. Fleetwood Mac's Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks had nice solo turns with Under the Skin (2006) and Trouble In Shangri La (2001) respectively, outshining their one Mac disc together the spotty Say You Will (2003). Buckingham went the acoustic route with rewarding results. The minimal instrumentation gave a break from Buckingham's usually dense production style adding freshness to head boppers like "Show You How". Ms. Nicks pumped up her resume' with a polished disc containing older songs written in her songwriting prime. Hence the outstanding numbers "Sorcerer" and "Planets Of The Universe" saw the light of day with strong results.

Meanwhile Hell froze over again thanks to The Eagles double disc smackdown Long Road To Eden (2007). While far from an astounding album, it's solid and a firm reminder of their best qualities.

Gotcha Covered

Because writing new compelling material is the ultimate challenge for every rock and roll artist, watching established performers turn to cover albums became a regular event. Of these, my favorite was the first Matthew Sweet / Susannah Hoffs team up Under The Covers Vol 1 (2006). They had a nice heartfelt vibe in paying tribute to power pop's past. Jack Blades (Night Ranger) and Tommy Shaw (Styx) also teamed up well on their paean to the early 70's with Influence (2007). Shaw / Blades had the best cover of Yes' "Your Move" ever (Sweet / Hoffs covered it in '09). In this list of Marvel Comics Team Ups I've got to throw in The Black Crowes with Jimmy Page Live At The Greek (2000) for tearin' it up on Led Zep covers. Let's face it, unless you were one of those Billionaires at the one and only Led Zep reunion show this is as close as you're gonna get to Valhalla. Bean town's Aerosmith rocked hard and well on their "blues" covers album Honkin On Bobo (2004) including a nice zipping take on "Baby Please Don't Go". Lastly, Def Leppard's best effort in the 21st Century was 2006's Yeah. Lep even got me to enjoy "Rock On", a song I personally loathe for just plain sucking in general.

Next, I'll run a catch all thru the remaining genres before naming my favorite album of the new millennium.

Midnight Madness - Donny And Marie Christmas

I was talking to my wife and reminiscing about the old Christmas specials that used to be on tv as a kid and one title that stood out in my mind was Donnie and Marie. The toothy twosome were on tv all the time and I used to watch weekly to discover that she was a little bit country and he was a little bit rock and roll. I don't remember a thing about this Christmas special, but here's a tribute to all the old Christmas shows gone by into the forgotten heap of ancient memory. Sometimes I miss the safe patter, canned laughter and earnest cheesiness of the 70's.

Rollin With The Homies - Sad passing of young actress Brittany Murphy, who I knew mainly from her role as the outsider being made over in the teen movie Clueless and the voice of Luanne in King Of The Hill. I wasn't a huge fan or anything, just appreciated that she had talent and a likable presence.

Last Christmas - I thought the overplayed Christmas song this year was "Santa Baby" but in the past few days cover versions of the Wham! classic "Last Christmas" have overtaken it. In the last 48 hours I've heard four different versions of this song including one with a rap. A rap!

Desperate Times - Amy Winehouse has been arrested for assault. I swear every punch with her is just another career move at this point.

Tried To Send Me Back To Rehab - Steven Tyler boldly goes where he has gone before, rehab for his addiction to painkillers. Does this mean no more Brand Tyler?

Fantastic...Amazing...Unbelievable... - Tried to watch Snooze Along With Gordon Ramsey, the famously irritable chef's attempt to appear happy and friendly on tv. The only fun to be found was watching visibly nervous Ramsey fill in dead air with these random words in between the scripted segments. Agh, it's stuck in my head! Fantastic...Amazing...Unbelievable...

I'm (sob) Sensitive! - This won't win me any macho points, but I was a sucker for Tori Amos debut album Little Earthquakes. There's a great track by track dissection of the album by Tori Amos on Rolling Stone magazine's web site. If you like the disc it's a fine read. Now I'm going to curl up in a ball on the couch with some fancy tea and watch Oprah.

Tik Tok - This song by Ke$ha (yes, the dollar sign is in her name) is the #1 song in the land. I remember this was a free download on Itunes one week, the video was about being a drunk slut in front of your family or something. Not that I'm a prude, part of this track's appeal is probably the coarseness that puts me off it. Unbelievable...Fantastic...Amazing...

Super Friends - Def Leppard is developing a cartoon about themselves. No, that's not a joke they really are doing this.

.

By The Way - Guitarist John Frusciante has left the Red Hot Chili Peppers again though this time not abruptly. Judging from how they fared without him the last time, I don't think RHCP will be able to maintain the quality of their music now. And with drummer Chad Smith having another successful band to jump to if he wants I wonder about the future of the group. Because even mediocre RHCP is better than none.

Merry Christmas - I don't know if I'll post tomorrow, so Merry Christmas to all!

And now, because you didn't ask for it, the rap version of "Last Christmas"!

Cheap Shots

One trend I liked in the early 90's was Beavis and Butthead, the crudely animated teenage metalheads who passed judgement on whatever music videos played. A nostalgic throwback to when MTV played actual music videos instead of junk like I Wanna Be In A Pretend Band or My Ridiculously Expensive Birthday whatever those shows are called. Yes, there was a time when MTV would play music videos and people would sit and watch it, Beavis and Butthead captured that moment. They also captured making sarcastic or excited remarks at the tv when videos appeared on screen that got a reaction.

It was like someone had put on tv the stuff we did in real life. When I met some new friends around '83 one of the first things they included me in was miming the Def Leppard "Photograph" video with them towards their living room mirror when the clip came on (I know, dorky, just keepin' it real). Or arguing with others as to whether or not Duran Duran's "The Reflex" or Hall & Oates "Some Things Are Better Left Unsaid" were filmed in the Bay Area. Watching my friend get excited because Van Halen's "Dreams" came on and hurt himself attempting to tackle another guy as a result (teenage adrenalin = hard hittin' football!) was pretty funny. Even funnier, after he missed the tackle and slammed into his dresser his glasses came off and we had to listen to him complain like it was our fault he bent his glasses.

Beavis and Butthead kicked off that whole "bad animation" thing that South Park followed up on, because then like now we were in a recession and could relate to doing things cheaply. The more low budget the better in the early 90's, grunge, gangsta rap, indie movies, animation that looked like colorforms, it spoke to a generation that saw the Big 80's economy crash and burn. B&B also launched the career of Mike Judge (Office Space, King Of The Hill) who has become an enduring talent. But the real beauty of B&B was that it was fodder for cheap shot artists like me :)

.

Oh, below is a clip of the Beavis and Butthead episode that includes T'Pau's "Heart And Soul" which is how this whole post got started. Huh huh, huh huh...I started my "post". Yeah, yeah...I'm showing my "post" on my "log". Huh huh, my log stinks...

Mr Mike's AOR Project 1988

It was a concert I had wished I had gone to.

It's fitting after covering a whole lotta Zep that 1988 is the next year in my AOR Project because that was the year everyone wanted to be Zep. In the wake of Whitesnake's success a slew of bands took to the Zeppelin sound and interest renewed in the original members. On top of that Hair Metal went into overdrive. The Monsters of Rock tour was somewhere around this time led by the Hagar driven Van Halen. Everything was great in '88!

Disc 1:

Fate - Love On The Rox

When bands split up, it usually doesn't seem clean. So when Mercyful Fate divided and one half became Fate, well that was just pure genius.

Robert Plant - Heaven Knows

I debated with myself to include this or "Tall Cool One". Tough call to make, I went with the slower tempo number.

Cheap Trick - The Flame

Not just a great power ballad, one that seems to get a pass from people critical of this genre. Great acoustic guitar sound on this track.
.
Kingdom Come - Get It On

In one of the best marketing moves of the day, the band sent this record to radio stations without a mention of who it was. Rumors spread that this was Led Zeppelin's new song (because it sounded very "Kashmir") and it got all over the airwaves.

Bonham - Wait For You

If anyone who was not a former member of Led Zep had a right to tackle that sound, it was Jason Bonham. The prodigal son gets his Physical Graffiti on with this ripping cut.

Toto - Pamela

Not to be outdone, Toto also sounded like Led Zep...no, not really, Toto came off as very Toto with a jazzy retread of "Rosanna".

3 - Talkin' 'Bout

To this day I'm shocked they didn't force Robert Berry to legally change his name to something like Like so they could remain ELP. Emerson, Like and Palmer has a nice ring to it.

Mr. Big - Addicted To That Rush

A few years before they invented the campfire clap power ballad, the mini supergroup made up from former members of Eric Martin Band, David Lee Roth and Racer X fired up the fret work to a crazy fast beat.

Hurricane - I'm On To You

Current Foreigner frontman Kelly Hansen spent the 80's rocking like a, um Hurricane.

Shy - Break Down The Walls

I'm not even gonna front yo, I've got to admit I learned about this group through Melodicrock and had not heard of this group at the time. Not bad stuff.

Aerosmith - Angels

Power ballads are all about the cheese baby, and it's hard to top the fondue fountain that is "Angel".

Saraya - Love Has Taken It's Toll

One of my favorite lost bands, this song has so many memories of drunken games at the pool halls for me. It sucks this album is out of print, Sandi Saraya rocks!

Alice Cooper - Poison

In 1988 none could resist the power of Desmond Child and he revived the 70's Icon with this comeback jam.

Def Leppard - Pour Some Sugar On Me

The Lep seemed all washed up when the 5th single dropped a year after the album release. One of the first mainstream meldings of rap and metal after "Walk This Way", it became a legend of 80's rock.

Pat Benatar - All Fired Up

A few years before her unfortunate foray into Blues, Benatar came up with one more Arena Rock winner before heading off to the oldies circuit.

Guns N Roses - Sweet Child O Mine

The reason everyone knows this band was because of this uncharacteristically sweet midtempo rocker. A great song, though if I have to hear the story of how Slash came up with the opening riff again I'll go into convulsions.

Disc 2:

Glass Tiger - I'm Still Searching

The Tiger made a play for a lasting career but was caught looking on a fastball. How's that for mixed metaphors!

Poison - Every Rose Has It's Thorn

I'd put down Bret Michaels but the man has a dream life: He slaps on his weave and plays generic music to screaming fans and has VH1 act as his personal pimp every few months. Lame or not, Michaels did come up with one of the best known poems in the late 20th century. Every rose has its thorn, just like every day has its dawn, just like every cowboy sings a sad, sad song.

Bon Jovi - Bad Medicine

An awesome, awesome hair band arena rock jam with a big ass chorus and rapidfire verses.

Van Halen - When It's Love

Things looked a little wussy in Van Halen land for a second with this lenghty ballad. "Unchained" this is not.

Queensryche - I Don't Believe In Love

Part of the classic Operation: Mindcrime album, the Seattle based unit brought the heat on this dramatic rocker.

Britny Fox - Girlschool

C'mon, it's Britny Fox! What else can I say?

Eddie Money - Walk On Water

Eddie was on the money with this amazing slice of AOR written by Sammy Hagar's ex-keyboardist Jesse Harms. I remember getting out of the hospital and buying the tape. And finding out this was the only good song on the whole freakin' tape.

Jimmy Page - Wasting My Time

Unable to get Robert Plant to stick around (sounds familiar), Page cut a fine solo album called Outrider that featured this hard rockin' cut.

Scorpions - Rhythm Of Love

I find it weird how sometimes a certain song title will become popular. Case in point, "Rhythm of Love" was released by Yes in '87 and the Scorps in '88 and the two songs have nothing to do with each other at all.

Europe - Superstitious

Hey, it turned out guitarist John Norum was the most important member of this group after all. When Norum left this was the last hit the group could generate.

Def Leppard - Love Bites

One of the most interesting power ballads in terms of lyrics ("Love Bites / Love Bleeds / It's what I need"). Probably goes over well with that Twilight crowd. Say it. Vampire. Ooh...

Kix - Don't Close Your Eyes

You know it's 1988 when it's another song, another power ballad.

White Lion - Wait

Maybe the best name in Hair Metal, Mike Tramp, led his group through the jungle with this winning melody.

Paul Dean - Sword and Stone

Loverboy guitarist Paul Dean cut a Paul Stanley song for his solo album with strong results.

AC / DC - Heatseeker

It's Ac/Dc. You either get it or you don't.

Bad Company - No Smoke Without A Fire

The radio station in Sacramento loved this song, I heard it a couple times a day for months. This chorus is forever jammed in my brain.

Sheriff - When I'm With You

In a strange turn of events, a failed band from 1983 got their song played on the radio by a DJ who liked this song in 1988 - years after the band had split up. Later the singer and guitarist would team up with former members of Heart to make Alias.
.
And that was 1988. Just one more year to go!

Mr. Mike Project 1983

Make way for the New Wave! Arena rock bands were suddenly faced with obsolescence as MTV changed the rules from regular looking people to fancy hair cuts and costumes.

1983, MTV started to take hold. Music Videos began to break new acts left and right, particularly in the New Wave field. This took its toll on the established Arena rockers as they had made their name on live concert experiences more than having a photogenic look. Arena rock bands ran to the cameras for their closeups to compete with A Flock of Seagulls but ultimately could not translate their live appeal to video. The fact of the matter was that many of these guys weren't what would be called "pretty" and in 1983 looks mattered a lot more. As a result, '83 became the last gasp of true Arena rock. The regular guy look was out, glitz and glamour was in.

So my picks for my Arena rock songs of '83?

Disc 1:

Kansas - Fight Fire With Fire

John Elefante takes over for Steve Walsh on vocals and let's out a wail over a pounding riff as a giant mosquito bites his neck. One of the first records I ever bought. I used to get a lot of crap from my friend because it wasn't Metallica.

38 Special - If I'd Been The One

The video where the first Mrs. Springsteen shoots the singer and then drives off while the horses run free. A song where 38 asks a lot of "what if's", like what if I'd been the one to say goodbye, the one that makes you want to cry, the one that never fades away...dude, get over it!

Sweet Comfort Band - Don't Bother Me

Trying to be a completest here so despite my personal lack of spirituality I couldn't completely ignore Christian rock's contributions to the Arena rock genre. So I picked the most secular song I could find by a Christian rock band.

Manfred Mann's Earth Band - Runner

The 80's had these awesome synth rockers that were meant to sound futuristic and cool like this one. Would go great with a Logan's Run montage.

The Tubes - She's A Beauty

Maybe the most clean cut sounding song about a strip joint ever. In the video, I still can't believe what they got away with what's painted on the door the amusement park cart goes through towards the start.

Tony Carey - I Won't Be Home Tonight

Ex-Rainbow keyboardist strikes out on his own with a solid chunk of pop rock. And that's all I got here.

Genesis - That's All

Phil Collin's balladeer instincts began to kick in here though the group is clever enough to dress it up in an upbeat keyboard bit and tasteful guitars.

Vandenberg - Burning Heart

Flick your bic for a mighty fine power ballad courtesy of Adrian Vandenberg. This guy just has a name that is born to rock. Say it - Van Den Berg!

Def Leppard - Rock of Ages

The prime purveyors of Pop Metal get downright biblical on their hard rock stomper and introduce an unforgettable catchphrase to a generation - unta gleebin glossen globen.

Charilie - It's Inevitable

A song made for video arcades and miniature golf, this sounds awesome when you're trying to sink that last hole for a free game.

Eric Martin Band - Sucker For A Pretty Face

One of my favorite records back in the day, EMB aka 415 kicked out this blazin' ode to guys in Izod shirts with their collars up gettin' used by beautiful girls.

Billy Squier - Rock Me Tonite

The last of Squier's big run, of the Arena rockers to fail to transition to the video age few crashed harder than Squier. His fey dancing and rolling around in this clip has been cited as the killer of his career.

Alcatrazz - Hiroshima Mon Amour

Another Rainbow alumni, singer Graham Bonnet brought in guitar phenom Yngwie Malmsteen to burn up the fret boards like an A bomb.

Queen - Radio Ga Ga

Faced with the growing popularity of a medium they helped perpetuate, Queen takes on the music video era with a tribute to radio.

Night Ranger - Don't Tell Me You Love Me

Twin guitar fury hits like a locomotive. Night Ranger arrives on the scene guns blazing and Brad Gillis' whamming.

Journey - Faithfully

While "Open Arms" broke new ground for the Bay Area band's power balladry, "Faithfully" was the one that put the patent on it.

Dan Fogelberg - The Language of Love

Mr. Sensitive longer than same old lang syne dropped the misty eyed sentimentality for a second to find his inner cow bell.

Saga - On The Loose

More proof that Canada rocks, the Proggy Arena rockers lay down a thunderous groove for spinny keyboards and guitars to dance over.

Disc 2:

Def Leppard - Photograph

One of the first groups to really benefit from MTV exposure, the Lep unleash a butt load of hooks from the opening guitar riff to the "Oh!" chants to the cushy synths under the chorus to rock you in your living room.

I Ten - Alone

Songwriters Billy Steinberg and Tom Kelly originally performed what would become a power ballad standard following Heart's remake in 1987.

Chris DeBurgh - Don't Pay the Ferryman

Before that whole "Lady in Red" thing, DeBurgh was a pop rocker with a dramatic flair.

Randy Newman - I Love L.A.

Sublime songwriter that he is, Newman went AOR in the early 80's penning one of the top rock anthems of the decade. The song became shorthand for the decadent feel good consumerism of the time.

Kiss - Lick it Up

The make up came off in '83, revealing...four pretty ugly dudes. Yet the trick worked, Kiss successfully switched from fading glam metal to hair band in a snap.

Bon Jovi - Runaway

Jon Bon Jovi makes his mark as a Foreigner styled rocker a few years before making the jump to premier hair band status.

Zebra - Who's Behind the Door?

One of the great forgotten power trios of 80's rock, Zebra mashed up Rush and Zep into a compelling sound.

Taxxi - I'm Leaving

Occasionally British bands would forget their from England and take a wholly American character. Point in case: Taxxi.

LeRoux - Carrie's Gone

Could vocalist Fergie Frederiksen be denied a spot on my CDs? Hell no!

Quiet Riot - Cum On Feel The Noize

The "Smells Like Teen Spirit" of the 80's, Quiet Riot's successful streamlining of a Slade classic ushered in the hair band era in an explosion of hair spray and spandex.

Toto - Africa

Showing the softer side of Arena rock, Toto gets mythical about "blessing the rains down in Africa" giving karaoke singers in the low vocal range something to shout about.

Journey - Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)

Own up to it, you would look for docks and warehouses to jump around in and do that grabbing the wrist of your shaking fist with your other hand thing for the "break those chains that bind you" part. Or maybe it was just me.

Michael Bolton - Fools Game

In one of his previous lives, Michael Bolton was a super cheesy rocker who oversang all over his backing track. As opposed to a super cheesy R&B crooner who oversang all over his backing track.

Asia - Don't Cry

The Fab Four of Prog rock score one more Top 10 hit before ego battling each other to the bitter end. And then coming back again two decades later.

Pat Benatar - Love is a Battlefield

You know, at the time "Hit Me With Your Best Shot" was her signature tune but now it's been supplanted by this one. Because taxi dancers need love too.

Loverboy - Hot Girls in Love

Did you ever notice in this video that the girl wasn't particularly hot? Or that the drummer was playing the drums with gas pumps? Or that no one was in love?

707 - Megaforce

Singer Kevin Chalfant strikes in this brilliant theme song to a craptacular movie about a military unit that rides rocket launching flying motorcycles and dune buggys. My younger brother loved this movie so of course I had to make fun of it, often referring to it as "Megafake".

Styx - Mr. Roboto

Japanese lessons courtesy of Dennis DeYoung, the song has become a kitsch classic that still gets referenced today. Even the Japanese guy who won an Oscar last week said "Domo Arigato Mr Roboto."

That's it for 1983, MTV makes an even greater impact on the next round. See you in 1984.

Midnight Madness - Brett Butler Edition

See the picture above? When I bought tickets to see Brett Butler's show last night, I thought I was going to see the person pictured. Instead I saw a dishelved hot mess.

Tonight we went to see actress / comedianne Brett Butler at a local comedy club, hoping to have a nice night of laughs. Butler had a troubled past leading to the end of her popular sitcom Grace Under Fire, still we thought it would be a good show. We were wrong. Rreeaaallly wrong.

Brett Butler appeared on stage and proceeded to give one of the worst comic performances I've seen anywhere. She seemed to be either drunk, high or both. Her entire set was a random, non sensical stream of consciousness that rambled in between awkward pauses. Butler would stop often to search for words or try to remember what she had just said. There was no sense of timing or even attempts to tell jokes, just a jumble of comments and stories about dead dogs, crazy Moms and Southern ways. Half of the audience left ten minutes into the act, causing Butler to become temporarily saddened. My wife and I stayed because we felt sorry for Butler all the way to the painful end.

Now home, we both have headaches from having sat through a Brett Butler show. I can't say I'm upset or anything along those lines, just sad. Sad because there were flashes of intelligence in that blind maze of insanity. What's worse, after adding up the night's expenses we spent about $100.00 just to make a coke head feel better about herself. It almost feels redundant to say on to the Madness!

I Wanna Go Back - Eddie Money is putting the finishing touches on a musical about his life. Sooo I'm guessing the play is about a guy who has a few hit songs peppered over a decade with a lot of binge drinking and O.D.'ing on the way? My nominee for the lead role? Gary Busey!

The Mega Powers Unite! - REO Speedwagon and Styx have teamed up to record a new single together, "Can't Stop Rockin". Then they will tour with 38 Special. This may be the most powerful tag team since Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage. Ooooh Yeah Brother!

The Mega Powers Unite pt. 2! - Def Leppard, Cheap Trick and Poison will hit the road together as well. They will all ride on a tour bus together and talk trash about each other while partying hard to try to win the affection of Bret Michaels. Oh wait, I got that confused with Rock of Love. We'll never hear the words "Bun E Carlos, will you stay here and continue to rock my world." The tour is for real though.

Speaking of Buns... - Bun E Carlos is part of a new supergroup that includes that kid from Hanson, James Iha formerly of the Smashing Pumpkins and a guy from Fountains of Wayne. They seem to be going into a power pop vein, could be promising.

American Idol Update - The showstoppa Nick Norman whatever his face is fell short in making the final 12 though he provided the most memorable moment so far this season with his cabaret style performance of that Jennifer Hudson's Dreamgirls song. Who did make it? A screaming Alison Iraheta who blasted through Heart's "Alone", one of the few performances to stand out last week. Kris Allen, who surprised with a decent version of the Gloved One's "Man in the Mirror". And Adam Lambert, whose manic take on the Stone's "Satisfaction" keeps having his performances described as Broadway but for me he's really Hair Metal. And I mean that in a good way. This guy is almost as good as the dude from Steelheart.

Oh Brother - All week these hyper dramatic ads for a Tv Movie to the show Brothers and Sisters have come on and annoyed the hell out of me. It looks like Ally McBeal is trying to get her surrogate mother to give birth and Rob Lowe is supposed to be there but gets shot leading to Sally Field to run to the hospital to say she's family and its all like a bunch of junk. I'll be so happy when this thing finally airs and doesn't have to be advertised anymore.

Run It - After weeks of intensive media coverage, singers Rihanna and Chris Brown have reportedly reconciled.

Sing A Song - Earth Wind and Fire, Chicago and noted liberal Sheryl Crow all performed for a bank that took federal support money. Our tax dollars at work.

Slumdog Millionaire - was the leading film in major Oscar wins including Best Picture. Kate Winslet finally won best actress (I haven't seen the movie she's in right now, but she is a really good actress in general) and Sean Penn won best actor. Hey Bud, let's party!

Wii anything - A featured vid on You Tube, this was mildly amusing but definitely easy to relate to for anyone who has seen a Wii in action.

Wii Breakfast

Numbers 19 to 14

Bono saving the world one football stadium at a time

A lot of time has gone by since I’ve updated my 100 Favorite CD list, I missed all of January. To make up for lost time, I’m going to hit Numbers 19 thru 14 this round.

Number 19: U2 – All That You Can’t Leave Behind (2001)


My favorite U2 album, one that seemed destined to be. When U2 released this CD fans were buzzing about the reduced presence of techno that have pervaded their 90’s work. Beautiful Day was all over the place, a soaring upbeat piece of old school U2. Then 9/11 happened and though this was released before the tragedy, the times changed how I perceived the album. The slow healing in songs like Walk On and Stuck In A Moment and You Can’t Get Out Of It became the soundtrack to the weeks that followed. At the same time, the Lara Croft worthy Elevation brought a rush of disco rock to keep the album from becoming a ballad fest.

Number 18: AC / DC – Highway To Hell (1979)


The last album with the late Bon Scott, Highway To Hell was amped, driven sleaze streamlined and sharpened by super Producer Mutt Lange. The take no prisoners approach included the classic title track anthem (a song that meant a lot to us in Catholic school), the ultimate middle finger to the establishment at the time. Girls Got Rhythm, Beating Around The Bush and Touch Too Much brought hooks, humor and slamming power chords to the party. AC / DC would go on to further greatness, but they were never more dangerous than here.

Number 17: Smashing Pumpkins – Siamese Dream (1993)


Billy Corgan went all Tom Scholz and took over the studio recordings, freezing bassist D’Arcy and second guitarist James Iha out of the creative process. Handling almost everything but the drums, Siamese Dream became the Alt rock answer to Boston: Tight, layered sonics with songs buried under mountains of guitar tracks. The Guitar Hero classic Cherub Rock took aim at Corgan’s detractors while the 120 minutes ready Today and the dramatic ballad Disarm tore up the MTV rotation. I bought the disc during a camping trip with my wife a few years later, who knew grungy riffola on cuts like Geek USA or Rocket would go so well with hot dogs and beer?

Number 16: Def Leppard – Pyromania (1983)


Mutt Lange (there’s that name again) followed up on his work with the prior record by taking an even more meticulous approach to recording. By the time recording finished, the band had switched lead guitarists and had a near perfect pop metal album when that idea was still new. Photograph made the Lep darlings of MTV as the follow up video singles Rock of Ages and Foolin’ became part of a generational vocabulary (Unta Gleebin Glossen Globen). Flamethrower rockers like Rock Rock Til You Drop and Comin Under Fire blazed through my little walkman as the ballad Too Late For Love got heavy radio play. Union Jack and snotty attitude ensured the Lep lots of coverage in Circus magazine as they dominated the Hard Rock field with their polished sound.

Number 15: Peter Gabriel – So (1986)


He seemed so unlikely to become a Pop star, yet that’s what happened when Gabriel made a stop motion video about his Sledgehammer. His combo of Progressive rock melodies with world beat rhythms, personal subject matter and atmospheric synths became irresistible. Big Time was the other big hit as slight a song as it is. What pushed he album over the top was In Your Eyes, a minor hit made into a pop culture phenomenon once John Cusack held a boombox over his head in the film Say Anything. This album was part of the backdrop to my college years that sounds as deep and fascinating now as it did then.

Number 14: Journey – Greatest Hits (1988)
.

One of the best selling albums of all time and with good reason, Steve Perry and crew collated their best soaring rock anthems and power ballads into a single set. Focused squarely on the bands peak period of 1978 to 1987, Greatest Hits serves up classics like Don’t Stop Believin and Faithfully alongside medium sized hits like Girl Can’t Help It and Send Her My Love. While fans like myself can quibble about what’s not there (No Stone in Love, no Anytime, no Line of Fire, etc) if you want a solid shot of what made this Bay Area band great you can’t do better.

And that’s it for this round, we’re getting close to the Top 10 of the list. I may actually finish this list this year. Yay!

Mr Mike Project 1981

OK, we're up to 1981. A year that saw the people who practically invented the genre make their final significant contribution to their legacy (The Stones, The Who). Arena rock was in full swing with Styx, REO, Foreigner and Journey dominating the charts. A year to remember indeed.

One of the big debates I had with myself was where to draw the line between mainstream rock and Arena Rock. It was a tough call sometimes. I immediately removed anything that seemed hardcore Metal, so no Metallica, Megadeth, Iron Maiden, etc. New Wave artists who were considered Arena Rock later on, i.e. The Police and U2, didn't make the cut. Also, I had to rule out most Midwestern rock, so no John Mellencamp (though "Hurts So Good" came close to making my list), one Bob Seger song and no Tom Petty. The only major Midwest rocker I included was Bruce Springsteen, just because I've seen him twice and its hard to sit through a stadium of people sing along to "Hungry Heart" and not consider him a little Arena Rock. That and other people on my discs were heavily influenced by the Boss so it seems strange to not have him there.

What made it close even for Springsteen is what I consider to be the overriding element of Arena Rock: Cheese. There must be cheese. Not smooth, tasty cheese either. It must be government cheese, cheap and strong like a pimp's cologne. You can smell it a mile away. It must be overblown and a little pretentious to become real AOR. Like standing downwind from a sewage treatment plant, you must sense the overpowering nature of Arena Rock!

Disc 1:

Loverboy - Working For The Weekend

The Canadian rockers pumped up the wavy synths and came up with the all time anthem for weekend warriors everywhere. Get ready 'cause it's flag football time.

AC/DC - For Those About To Rock

No subtlety allowed in the land of Album Oriented Rock, you gotta give it up to a band that literally pulls out the canons to blow you away.

Rush - Tom Sawyer

It's probably my old age, but geekdom was tougher in the old days. You didn't have as many computers to do the thinking for you, games required dice and calculating imaginary statistics. Watching movies required going to a movie theater. And the bands you listened to had musical prowess and science fiction lyrics. Yet all the wisdom points in the medieval world couldn't match the awesome power of Rush. If you spent hours playing Star Raiders on Atari with a wore out joy stick then this is your jam.

Pat Benatar - Fire and Ice

Remember those old all weather tire advertisements that would put the tire through heat and cold? That has nothing to do with this song, Pat wails about those head playin' dudes.

Jefferson Starship - Find Your Way Back

Guitarist Craig Chaquico tears it up with this catchy rocker that plays well off of Mickey Thomas' soaring voice. Did Paul Kantner have a clue that he was losing control of his band? Hmmm...

38 Special - Hold on Loosely

What can I say about this song I haven't said already? How about calling this "Important dating tips from heavily bearded men."

Foreigner - Urgent

"You're not shy / You get around" Lou Gramm sets up the story early about his hard rock bootie call punctuated by Junior Walker's magnificent sax solo.

Rod Stewart - Young Turks

I couldn't fit "Infatuation" in on 1984, hated "Baby Jane" and didn't think "Lost in You" had enough impact so I settled for "Young Turks". My wife said I didn't like this song. Maybe I didn't, but it fits the bill in representin' Rod in the AOR 80's.

Rick Springfield - Jessie's Girl

Two words: Pure. Genius.

Def Leppard - Bringin' On The Heartbreak

The Lep make the jump to the big time with this pounding ballad, can't you see...can't you see......No! No-oauh! Noooaahhhh! And then a decade later Mariah Carey would transform this song into an epic disaster.

Point Blank - Nicole

Two fisted drinking bar band sound with a slight California polish. Makes me want to grab Janet and Chrissy for a drink at the Regal Beagle.

Triumph - Fight The Good Fight

The poor man's Rush set their flash pots for kill on this, er, triumphant salute to power rock. Oh, and I totally mean that as a compliment, I love Triumph!

Styx - Too Much Time On My Hands

Tommy Shaw's sardonic tale of unemployment blues strikes a chord as much now as it did then.

Rainbow - I Surrender

Restraint has never been Richie Blackmore's strong suit, but here he stays out of wailin' Joe Lynn Turner's way.

Spider - New Romance

Would you believe this early 80's band wrote and performed John Waite's "Change" and Tina Turner's "Better Be Good To Me" first? I couldn't either but it's true. Classic upbeat 80's power pop dressed up as AOR.

Santana - Winning

One of the great sports montage tracks of the time, I remember a local commercial featuring a lot of jogging in slo mo to the tune of this track.

Bruce Springsteen - Hungry Heart

Really this came from '80 but I decided to place the Boss on my discs at the last second. Would you believe this was originally written with The Ramones in mind?

Kansas - Hold On

Another 1980 track, I just had to have some classic lineup Kansas thrown in if I could.

Disc 2:

The Rolling Stones - Start Me Up

Is that the sound of Window's '95 loading? The last great Stones rip gets their swagger on in a big way. I'm still curious about how this sounded when they tried to make it reggae.

Chilliwack - My Girl

Always loved this bands name. Alternating between sunny and dark as the girl in question stone cold leaves Chilliwack in the dust.

REO Speedwagon - Take It On The Run

Arguably the Illinois band's best known track, we all took the "Heard it from a friend who" section hook line and sinker.

April Wine - Just Between You and Me

Myles Goodwin gets all sentimental and French thinkin' misty eyed thoughts.

Journey - Who's Cryin' Now

The addition of keyboardist Jon Cain gave vocalist Steve Perry the writing partner he needed to sell heartfelt ballads to the muscle T masses.

Blue Oyster Cult - Burnin For You

You know you want to throw on some shades and drive your El Dorado to the park to chug a lug some brew when you hear this song. Admit it!

Peter Frampton - Breaking All The Rules

Because I wasn't covering the 70's I was really worried I would have nothing to represent the guy who ushered in the Arena Rock era in earnest. Then I found this cut on ITUNES. I was so freakin' happy.

Night - Hot Summer Nights

I found out about this group on ITUNES too. Never heard of them before that, but you can't beat this laid back good time rock with a quintessential 80's band name.

Red Rider - Lunatic Fringe

This is one of those songs that hung around all decade long but never seemed to become a big hit.

Van Halen - Unchained

My all time favorite Van Halen track, monster guitars and David Lee Roth throwin' attitude all over. Hey hey, one break comin' up!

Prism - Don't Let Him Know

Another of Canada's finest serves up electro hand claps and razzle dazzle keyboards to a marching beat.

Sammy Hagar - There's Only One Way To Rock

...and it's Sammy's way.

Genesis - Abacab

I don't know much about playing musical instruments, but I was blown away when it was revealed the title is a chord progression.

ELO - Hold On Tight

A great song. So why have all my memories of this cut been obliterated by a commercial for pain relievers?

Stevie Nicks - Edge of Seventeen

My favorite witchy woman let's her white winged dove loose to a jittering guitar riff.

The Cars - Shake It Up

Is it mainstream rock or is it New Wave? We'll never know, The Cars were the only band to straddle that line perfectly.

The Who - You Better You Bet

How many CSI shows do you think they'll have to make before this gets made a theme song? You Better (shine a flashlight on a dead body) You Better (look constipated viewing through a microscope lens) You Bet (act like a big shot at a crime scene). CSI Tacoma anyone?

The Little River Band - The Night Owls

When the bass player sang lead on this track, little did they know that it would eventually result in his taking over the band. He wasn't even an original member! But Little River Band still tours to this day, the bass player is the only guy that was there for the hitmaking years.

That's 1981, my next set of CDs go to the year that got me hooked on music - 1982.

20 Favorite Songs of 2008

2008 - brought to you exclusively by Wal Mart

It's almost the end of the year so it's time to join the pack and bust out the "Best of the Year" lists. It could have been Guitar Hero, could have been Rock Band or just plain nostalgia but 2008 was a watershed year for Classic Rock. A slew of artists who I spent my high school years jamming to decided to reunite or reconfigure in some way to create new music. I normally pick just Ten favorite songs but this year I have enough for Twenty (I even had more than Twenty)! Most years I struggle just to find four songs to list so this just goes to show what a banner year it was for aging rock stars. Even Chinese Democracy came out (not that I care about the actual disc). So on with the countdown!

20. Lenny Kravitz - It Is Time For A Love Revolution

A brief marching blast of hippie Peace and Love with the reach to call for a cultural shift in values and sell department store clothing at the same time.

19. Chicago - Let's Take A Lifetime

The famed balladeers dial down the bombast and let the gooey syrup flow like Mrs. Butterworth colliding into Aunt Jemima in slow motion.

18. Def Leppard - Hallucinate

Sometimes self reverence pays as the Lep go full on "Photograph" mode with the hooky excess of multitracked vocals and revved up guitars that made them great.

17. The Bridges - Pieces

Matthew Sweet's protege's revive wholesome family oriented 70's AM Gold under a pillow of harmony vocals.

16. Flight of the Conchords - The Most Beautiful Girl In The Room

Pure love poetry: "You're so beautiful...you could be a part time model. Or a high class prostitute."

15. Alicia Keys - Like You'll Never See Me Again

Like a great lost Prince song, Alicia Keys pumps up the melodrama amid circling keyboards and a slow stepping groove.

14. Metallica - The Day That Never Comes

Time to stop guessing which other Metallica song this sounds like and just enjoy the ride. This I Swear!

13. The Lonely Island - Jizz In My Pants

Saturday Night Live wraps up their funniest year since I-can't-remember-when with the novelty tune of '08.

12. Rick Springfield - What's Victoria's Secret

Catchy ad campaign baiting pop rock awesomeness from The Genius.

11. Sheryl Crow - Gasoline

The theme song for a year that at its peak saw fuel prices skyrocket to the point people couldn't afford to drive to the next town while oil companies recorded record profits.

10. Death Cab For Cutie - Your New Twin Sized Bed

For anyone who at some point in their life wondered if there was another person out there for them, this song captures that feeling perfectly (fortunately I no longer have moments like these :)

9. Van Morrison - Soul

There's no way for me to describe Van the Man's butter smooth soulfulness in a way that hasn't been done before. But I'll try anyway. Van Morrison's voice is as smooth as C3P0's bronze ass. How's that? Oh, and this is a great song about how soul comes from within you, not what's outside of you.

8. The Ting Tings - Shut Up And Let Me Go

The New Wave revival has died off a bit though that hasn't stopped this duo from pushing this bit of IPOD worthy froth. The beat sticks in my head for days on end after I hear it.

7. Asia - Never Again

The Fab Four of my generation (not really, I just like saying that) regrouped and recaptured some Pomp Rock glory. Steve Howe shines with his most aggressive playing in ages. Never Again did I think I would hear these four guys play together, but here they are kicking ass like it's 1985.

6. Snoop Dogg - Sensual Seduction

I'm not big on rap music and not really a fan of Snoop Dogg so it was a shock to me that I like a song of his now. This jam is reminiscent of those old Zapp songs with the mechanized voices. Is it too late for me to learn the Running Man? Yes, yes it is. But not too late for me to like this song.

5. AC / DC - Big Jack

Barrelling down the freeway at 100 mph, AC/DC cranks up their trademark rumble and screech into a frenzy of Hard Rock ecstasy. I don't know who Big Jack is, but like most AC/DC songs it makes me want to drink till I fall down and yell loudly in the face of the nearest person available. Yeah!

4. Bruce Springsteen - Girls In Their Summer Clothes

Technically a 2007 song though it was released as a single this year so I'm including it. A touch of Brian Wilson enhances the reverie of this melodic masterpiece. The feeling of being too young to settle down yet too old to run with the kids paints a sharp picture of middle age. And it has Springsteen doing one of his best Orbison style dark crooning.

3. Journey - Never Walk Away

The 80's Arena Rockers put their new frontman Arnel Pineda straight in the line of fire by opening up with this soaring anthem. Energized by the new blood, Journey takes flight again with the power and grace that made them Platinum selling rock stars.

2. Coldplay - Viva La Vida

A song so good that everyone and their mother are convinced they wrote it, Coldplay brings in a sweeping orchestral sound I haven't heard since the hey day of the Moody Blues. Cold hearted orb that rules the night, steals the Sun from our sight...oops, wrong song. It may have just as well been the lyrics to "Viva la Vida" because I don't know what Chris Martin is going on about, something regarding bells ringing and St Peter or ruling the world. None of the words really matter, it's all about the symphonic groove struck here.

1. Dragonforce - Heroes Of Our Time

Well, let's get the disclaimers out of the way first. Yes, their recordings are said to be faked and sped up. Yes, every song they write sounds exactly the same as the song before it. Yes, their claim to fame is being a difficult level on a video game. So why can't I get enough of this cheese fest? Because I love me some cheese, especially with a little ham. And Dragonforce has got all that, Viking vocals, shred on top of shred guitar and ridiculous drum beats. I played this song more than any other song this year, so it deserves being named my favorite song of 2008. On the few occasions where I exercise, I love working out to this.

That's my Top 20 songs of the year, feel free to share your favorite songs of this year if you like because I enjoy reading about other people's faves. Oh yeah, I later realized Flight of the Conchords came from 2007 but I'm too lazy to redo this. I probably would have ranked Matthew Sweet's "Feel Fear" if I knew that. Next up, my Top 10 Favorite Albums of '08.

Artist Spotlight: Def Leppard part 2

After a decade of multiplatinum albums and monster hit singles, Def Leppard was in danger of extinction as the Alternative rock 90's took hold. The question hung in the air: could Def Leppard give up hairspray and torn jeans and stay relevant? With new guy Vivian Campbell in place of the late Steve Clark there was new blood to help keep things fresh. But to get to the point where they could make new music, Def Lep felt they needed to close the first chapter of their career with a greatest hits set (Vault 1995) and an odds n' sods collection...

Retro Active (1993)

Before it was a given that Greatest Hits sets would come with a second CD of rarities, bands would issue a separate release to cover those "in between" spots. To finalize the end of an era, Def Leppard released Retro Active covering outtakes, B sides and soundtrack songs. The time was ripe as the Lep had scored their first (and only) significant movie soundtrack hit Two Steps Behind (a song I once heard referred to as "a theme song for stalkers"). Best of the bunch are the B side rockers from the Hysteria era like Ride into the Sun, Ring of Fire and I Wanna Be Your Hero. For me, the highlight was the electric version of the ballad Miss You in a Heartbeat. Between this and Vault, the circle was now complete. And it was time to record their first post - Clark album (Clark had a hand in writing parts of Adrenalize).

Slang (1996)

New times, new direction. Slang marked Def Leppard's bid for artistic respect as they pull back on their multitracked glory to feature a leaner sound. Elements of International music and drum loops gets filtered in to their most studied and experimental album. The songwriting and arrangements are taut, deliberate and stripped of excess. Winners like the mid tempo All I Want is Everything or the electronic beats ballad Breathe a Sigh come across strong. The zippy title track has shades of "Pour Some Sugar on Me" on speed while the lone full tilt rocker Gift of Flesh picks up a good head of steam. The rest of the album focused on slower paced material to allow the group to stretch out. Despite these creative advances, Slang gained the group about zero new fans while alienating their fan base. Too bad as the attention they could muster for the burgeoning Work it Out and "All I Want is Everything" did nothing for their career. As I had trouble getting into 90's rock, Def Leppard was easy to identify with as a band now existing out of time with their peers. Underrated and virtually ignored, Slang tanked. For me, Slang was a "late night" album with its meditative feel. Probably because of how the album went over, Def Lep has not gone near this type of direction since.

.

Euphoria (1999)

The public had spoken, they wanted their Def Leppard back the way they remembered them. So the Lep reverted back to their classic sound and then some. They practically rewrite their old hits to woo fans back. You get everything part 2 like "Photograph" (Promises), "Have You Ever Needed Someone So Bad" (Goodbye), "Switch 625" (Disintegrate), "Animal" (Guilty) and naturally a lot of mid tempo anthems a la "Sugar" (Back in your Face , All Night). Although the songs bore strong resemblances to their biggest hits, the band performs them with enough energy to retain a fresh sound. Plus, my favorite latter day Lep song 21st Century Sha La La La Girl appears here. They even roped in Mutt Lange to do a little work with the new disc but most of the production duties were handled by Pete Woodroffe. Euphoria did work in drawing back what was left of their followers (a Gold record!) and provided me with a good backdrop to drive around to or bowl with. The good time band was back! Creatively the opposite of Slang as Def Lep firmly dug into their Pyromania / Hysteria sound. One of my favorite discs of 1999.

X (2002)

Veering between extremes of musical experimentation and rehashing a known sound seemed to take its toll on Def Leppard for the X album. Trying to mature with your audience isn't easy, particularly when you equate maturity with sort of the opposite - slick teen pop. Lackluster songwriting and a de-rocked Leppard try to make a case for an albums worth of Stand Up (Kick Love Into Motion) with less catchy material. The lead single Now is OK and You're So Beautiful has a little bit of a pulse left. And that's about it, X just kind of lays there like a cat basking in the sun all relaxed lying on its back with its paws stretched out. I think one of the ballads, Long Long Way to Go, was later covered by a boy band. In my opinion, X is easily Def Leppard's musical low point. Compromised, desperate and dull with the cheapest album art in their history, hold on...I'm gonna say it...X does not mark the spot (insert drum rim shot here).

Yeah! (2006)

I wasn't that enthusiastic about the premise when I first heard it, an all covers album seemed like a bad move after X. Following a weak disc putting out an album of covers pretty much says "We're out of ideas on what to do now." After hearing Yeah!, I felt a bit differently. Def Leppard uses the disc to find their footing sonically. They recover a lot of their classic sound again but in a slightly rawer fashion, less padding and more crunch. Songs by ELO, Sweet, Thin Lizzy, Badfinger and more get the once over with Lep coming back to life by delving into their Glam Rock roots again. My personal favorite is the T.Rex cover Twentieth Century Boy, a great song that's well played. Rock On, a song I really could never stand, is made listenable in the hands of the Lep. But the real fun is at the end, as guitarist Phil Collen takes center stage on a rambunctious rendition of Rod Stewart's Stay with Me. The disc overstays its welcome and could have used some trimming but not by much. Career wise, combined with the two disc Best of release Rock of Ages the Lepsters had a small renaissance. I got to see the group live on this tour and had a blast. Yeah!

Songs from the Sparkle Lounge (2008)

Successfully modernizing their sound, Def Leppard returned with a disc of original material on Songs from the Sparkle Lounge. Spotty song quality mars it a little bit but not to the point its unlistenable. Instead, Lounge has a likeable scatter shot feel as it acts as a sampler for the past few albums. Naturally, I gravitate towards the classic sounding stuff like the awesome Hallucinate or the AC/DC -ish Bad Actress. The opener Go stuck with me a while too as did the Tim McGraw -on-an-Armageddon-It-beat Nine Lives. The middle of the album tries to incorporate 21st century melodies with mixed results (sort of like X). What sums up my thinking on Lounge is in the song Love. "Love" sounds great, a quiet acoustic intro leads to a Beatle style choral vocal and then goes to a Queen like marching groove to allow for spectacular guitar soloing. It would be phenomenal, yet the hook of the song ("Love...Love...something something something") doesn't really grab me. For about half the songs, that's the case. By the way, Joe Elliott doesn't sing "something something something" I just can't understand what he's singing most of the time. Songs from the Sparkle Lounge is a pretty good album that left me wishing it was better but able to accept what it is. An added bonus, Lounge was the group's first Top 10 album in years.

And that brings us to the present day. While the second half of their career wasn't quite as strong as the first Def Leppard has managed to come up with good songs throughout that conjure upbeat attitude and pumped up adrenalin. As they once said, Rock Rock til you drop! / Rock Rock never stop!

To wrap things up I went looking for a Def Leppard tribute video and instead found a Def Leppard tribute band from Japan called Olenomania. What could say more about a band's influence than inspiring a tribute band in Japan?

Olenomania "Animal"

Artist Spotlight: Def Leppard 1980 - 1992

Union Jack shorts and shirts. MTV. Snotty kids spouting arrogant nonsense. The first impressions of Def Leppard resonated with me, they had great songs, rock n roll attitude and flash to boot. In 1983, who didn't like Def Leppard? They made Metal more mainstream with naggingly catchy songs that mixed guitar crunch with synthesizer cush. They came from Sheffield, England-five guys that rode with the British New Wave of Heavy Metal crowd while varnishing an "American" sound. Joe Elliott (vocals), Steve Clark (guitars), Pete Willis (guitars), Rick Savage (bass) and Rick Allen (drums) embarked on what would be one of the most successful and tragic careers in Rock history. Their debut EP got the ball rolling leading up to their debut album...

On Through The Night (1980)

I should probably cut this album some slack because it's the debut and it does what a lot of 1st albums do: display the core of their talent. The basic elements of the band's sound - airy harmonies, slick guitar riffs and thunderous drums - run through the whole record. But it lacks the needed focus particularly in the songwriting, perfectly normal for a rookie album. Still, I could never get into this record. Songs like Wasted or Hello America were pretty good but I can't remember anything else from this album. It has youthful aggression on its side though.

.

High N Dry (1981)

The focus was brought in the form of Producer Mutt Lange, the "Sixth Leppard". Lange ushered in a fuller sound alongside sharpened songwriting skills and a touch of muscle that comes from recently producing AC/DC. The first side is an instant classic featuring some of my early favorites like the blitz of Let it Go (Joe Elliott later revealed this song really is about "letting go"), and the drunken fun of High N Dry (Saturday Night). The unforgettable extended Steve Clark driven instrumental Switch 625 follows their ultimate power ballad Bringin On The Heartbreak. It's just too bad the second side falls off so quickly, the songs becoming less memorable by the second. On the old tape, I used to skip to the end for the bonus tracks of remixed Bringin on the Heartbreak with special added sound effects and one of the band's trashiest rockers Me and My Wine. Oh, by the way. One of the worst album covers I've ever seen. And Def Leps first Platinum record.

Pyromania (1983)

The promise of the first two albums comes together in a big way on Pyromania. Def Lep had their first lineup change since the debut record with the firing of Pete Willis. Guitarist Phil Collen was recruited to replace Willis and he quickly served up a series of outstanding shred solos. Armed with classic Metal lyrical themes (Love gone wrong, Rock show frenzy and being a general outlaw) and a more refined twin guitar attack, the Lep pounced on opportunity. Photograph opened the door with a spectacular Marilyn Monroe inspired video. Barb wire and overworked smoke machines collide to make Def Leppard the "it" band of the moment. They get biblical on the hard rock chant of Rock of Ages. And the amazing F-F-F-Foolin'. Even album cuts like Rock Rock Til You Drop and Too Late 4 Love hit hard with Elliot's screaming vocals leading the charge. I played the tape on the way to L.A. that year, a relative pulled over the car when the helicopter sounds of Die Hard the Hunter (this video is shot from the actual concert I attended in 1988) started up because she thought it was the Police (we had a decent car stereo). Lange's continued emphasis on work ethic in the studio shined up their sound to diamond sharpness. One of my all time favorite albums, Pyromania is the perfect model of Pop Metal. It sold about six million copies in its first run eventually climbing to ten million.

Hysteria (1987)

After shooting to the top of the rock heap Def Leppard fumbled around for a follow up. Mutt Lange wasn't available for production leaving the group to attempt to record with Jim Steinman (Meat Loaf). After failing to find paradise by the dashboard light, the band produced themselves. In the midst of this, drummer Rick Allen was in a serious car accident that resulted in the loss of his left arm. To his credit, Allen used modern technology to relearn the drums using his feet more than his arm. Rumor had it that the Lep recorded a whole album only to scrap it for sounding too much like Pyromania (I like to think my favorite B sides to Hysteria came from this period, like my favorite Def Lep song Tear it Down). Finally, Mutt Lange became available to produce and he again took Def Lep to the next level.

Hysteria had the most interesting shelf life of any album I've ever witnessed. When released in the Summer of '87, the lead single Women led me to believe this was another great round of Pyromania. It was one of the first CDs I ever bought (I didn't even have a CD player at the time, I just knew people who had them), after the opening with "Women" the album went into "Rocket". And I left that song confused. It was long with a weird mix section in the middle and had a bouncy beat. It sounded like nothing I had heard them do before. Much of the rest of the album was like that, except for the straightforward stomper Run Riot. A lot of mid tempo songs, odd sound effects, Boston-ish overlapping of endless guitar tracks, less Rock thrills and more melody- it was a strange album. The turning point where the band chose to emphasize their Glam Rock roots. Eventually, I got used to it and played it a lot by the time I returned to College. Gods of War sounded great in the dorm room, all political and what not (nuclear fear!). They scored their first #1 hit with the power ballad Love Bites and made Top 10 with the Title Song. Animal (another guy in the dorms had to explain to me that this song was about women. I just didn't get that) also gained traction with rock fans. After the standard 4 single releases most Platinum albums got in the 80's, a year had passed and it looked like that was it for Hysteria.

In the Summer of '88 a fifth single was issued. A fifth single was usually for albums that were blockbusters, not albums whose push had played out. So it was a shock when Pour Some Sugar On Me became the monster hit of that Summer. One of the first rap rock songs to get on the radio after "Walk This Way", "Sugar" was hooky as hell and had something for everybody. It pushed the Hysteria record back up the charts and put Def Leppard back at the top of the mountain. The renewed push made hits out of Armaggedon It and Rocket. They had to consciously stop issuing singles as Exciteable started to make radio play when the band pulled the marketing plug. By the time it was all over, Hysteria had sold over ten million records. An all time classic album, though I had a friend stop liking them at this point because "this was when everyone and their Moms started liking them."

One last note to the Hysteria story, my wife knows these songs really well. I always like to hear her sing Def Leppard.

Adrenalize (1992)

Four year gaps between albums were becoming the norm for the Lep including all the tragedies in between. Guitarist Steve Clark died in 1991 from a mix of prescription drugs and alcohol after years of slow deterioration due to alcoholism. It was a bit of a shock to me because I was a fan and he was one of the first from my generation of rockers to die. At least one of the first to really matter to me beyond general sadness for passing of another person. Clark's impressive guitarwork, particularly on the High N Dry album, will always remind me of him.

Clark's passing came during the recording of Adrenalize, the remaining group finished the album as a quartet. Produced by Mike Shipley with some involvement from Mutt Lange, Def Leppard peeled back the experimental excesses of Hysteria while retaining that album's focus on melody over guitar roar. My favorite Def Leppard video Let's Get Rocked was the lead single and best remembered track from Adrenalize, even recently being used in TV ads. Make Love Like a Man got flak for being dumb which did not stop me from getting hooked on that tune too (more cowbell please!). The power ballad Have You Ever Needed Someone So Bad (look at the length of that song title, guess they did learn something from Steinman) was effective. More gems were found with the B-52's influenced Personal Property or the AOR heaven of, uh, Heaven Is. Though there were some weak moments as well, Tonight sounded like what it was, "Love Bites" jr. And the remake of Tear it Down couldn't compare to the rough n ready B side.

Adrenalize gets a little mercy due to the circumstances it was made in, though it doesn't really need it. It's able to stand on its own merits as a good album with some really worthy tracks. Thanks to their career momentum they were able to initially withstand the onslaught of Grunge and still hit Triple Platinum. A well deserved victory lap for one of the best selling bands of the 80's.

Vivian Campbell (Dio, Whitesnake) joined the band in 1992 for the Adrenalize tour starting the second half of the group's career. To close part one, here's a nice online tribute to Steve Clark from You Tube!

Steve Clark tribute to "Switch 625"