Reviews
 Keep It Simple
Van Morrison
Roger McGuinn @ the Huntington IMAC, Long Island, NY - April 4, 2008
Emily Saxe @ the Allen Room/Jazz at Lincoln Center - April 5, 2008
Another Country
Tift Merritt
Be Your Own Pet
Get Awkward
Paul McCartney – The McCartney Years (DVD)
Juno – Music from the Motion Picture
Various Artists
Yes - Their Definitive Story
Day and Night Driving
Seven Mary Three
InterMedia Arts Center 2/2/08
Huntington, NY
|
Def Leppard
I never thought I’d be saying this, but the new CD by Def Leppard is totally awesome, dude! Honestly, I pretty much had these guys pegged as an over-produced hair-metal outfit with a jones for AC/DC that never met a noise-gating technique they didn’t like. While their albums sold in the multi-millions, I figured that there were a lot of people in the world who bought Poison and Ratt albums, too, so I never felt that I was missing much. Occasionally, I’d bust out my near-virgin copies of “Pyromania,” or “Hysteria,” or some other “…..ia” album title that I bought on faith, wondering if the magic would suddenly reveal itself, but alas, it never happened that way. So, when “Yeah!” arrived in my mailbox, it would be an understatement to say I was less than thrilled with the prospect of dedicating a few more precious hours of my life to more MOR rawk n’ rawl…
But wait! That’s a Marc Bolan tune, isn’t it? Hell, I haven’t heard that tune in ages, and this is a pretty good version, too. And David Essex’s “Rock On”? Wow, that’s not bad, either. Blondie’s “Hanging on the Telephone”? You gotta be kidding me! This version might be as good as the original! This more or less continued until I decided that I had to stop the disk and play it for my wife, who immediately started paying attention and playing ‘Name That Tune’ with me.
“Yeah” is intended to be a tribute to the band’s influences, and some of the choices are quite surprising (note the Blondie tune mentioned above, or Ray Davies’ “Waterloo Sunset.”). Naturally, some selections are more effective than others, but taken as a whole, the project is a gas, and it enlightened me a bit toward understanding what Def Leppard is all about. Hearing them cover Roxy Music (“Street Life”) and David Bowie (“Drive In Saturday”) is a blast, and their versions are respectful but cool, adding a flavor all their own into the mix. The one exception to that rule is their drop-dead perfect cover of Rod and the Faces’ “Stay With Me,” which is so accurately replicated that I wonder if Rod Stewart is contemplating litigation. The booklet is a blast, too, replicating classic album covers, most of which are not referenced in the song list. Rather than spoil your fun, buy this disk, and grab your friend/partner/lover/wife and play your own version of “Name That Tune,” or “Name That Album Cover.” You’ll have fun doing it, and like me, you might even find yourself digging out your musty copy of “High ‘n Dry.”
Grade: 
 
|
Hit Network
More Music Reviews
More Movie Reviews
More Book Reviews
More Concert Reviews
Powered by Millennium Communications Inc.