RECORD STORE TALES #1179: Spring Dinner With Aaron
The clocks have changed and we have beaten winter once again! Though it was the harshest winter for weather since the 1990s, it was the easiest winter for my mental health in decades. And I have you to thank for supporting me through it. Though winter’s not completely over, the darkness that pervaded my evenings is. We’re due for one or two more big storms, but nothing like what we endured in February.
Spring is so close I can taste it.
Coinciding with the clock change, another sign of spring has emerged: that being Aaron of the KMA! Aaron was in town on Sunday, so we met up with him and his lovely wife Cindy for a dinner at my favourite local establishment, Borealis. Shop local, buy local! So that is what we did. Aaron was curious about the “local” aspect. “Does Kitchener have a lot of wild boar?” he asked, only partly joking. All the food comes from Ontario. Aaron and Cindy had the wild trout, while I had mushroom rigatoni and Jen had prime rib. All-Ontario menu! They did serve some foreign spirits such as Absinthe, but we didn’t look too deep into the liquor menu.
Of course there were gifts! I gave Aaron his own copy of Live In Ontario by Max the Axe, and he gifted me a Def Leppard tour shirt (with Journey), a Jacob Moon album I needed, and the new 40th Anniversary edition of Stay Hungry by Twisted Sister.
Dinner was incredible, and we received special service from “Cousin” Luigi, whom we have not seen since before the pandemic. I have been wanting to take Aaron to Borealis for years, so it was a happy circumstance that we had Luigi. We didn’t want to eat upstairs due to Jen’s health conditions, so they opened up the entire downstairs dining room just for us. We had the whole room to ourselves.
And Luigi made sure Jen never ran out of drinks.
A delightful night, and two wonderful reunions in one.
This is Def Leppard’s first 7″ single in 30 years – since “Action” in 1994!
I’m bored of Def Leppard’s glam throwback songs. I know that seems hypocritical, given that many of their biggest hits (“Pour Some Sugar On Me”) are basically that. “Just Like 73″ is their latest single, a standalone without an album, issued on various coloured 7” singles this year. While we applaud Leppard for releasing new music on a physical format, the song is not one of their greatest to date.
The coolest aspect of “Just Like 73” is the surprising guitar solo by Tom Morello. Rage Against the Machine and Def Leppard were diametrically opposed in 1993, but I suppose back in ’73, those guys were listening to a lot of the same records. On the B-side is a version without Mr. Morello, which is valuable to the collector, but the song is lesser without him.
Sometimes Def Leppard seem bent upon recreating their past, and not always hitting that mark. “Just Like 73” pushes those big “Hey!” vocals that are so commonly associated with Leppard. It has the Gary Glitter kind of beats that they are so fond of. Really, the only thing new here for Def Leppard is that Morello squonk all over the A-side. That’s a great mix and they should collaborate further.
It’s always a special night when I see something on the show from a guest’s collection, that I never saw before and want very badly. That happens periodically…but on this show, it happened on every round! This was a classic “random and chaotic” Grab A Stack of Rock episode and one of the most exciting to date.
First of all: thank you to John T. Snow of 2Loud2OldMusic for powering through illness to be here on this night. “I didn’t want to miss this,” he said, referring to the mighty Def Leppard collection of megafan Chris Preston.
Second: thank you to Chris from @rockthesetweets for sharing your awesome collection with us! The “oohs!” and “aahs!” from John and I were audible multiple times in this show. Chris had CDs of many varieties: 3″, Japanese 3″, promo, French, German, US, video…so many kinds. Not shockingly, he also had one track that seems to be exclusive to a promo CD for “Action”, that I do not have. I anticipated that would happen. Adding it the “wantlist”.
John had some cool bootlegs, singles, European releases, and plenty more stuff that made Chris and I jealous. There were some live shows he had from the mid and late 1990s that are highly desirable. He also had recordings from earlier times, such as the Pyromania tour and the Pete Willis/Frank Noon years.
As for me, you know I have Japanese imports, including two that the other guys didn’t have. I also had some singles from the Hysteria era to show, a 24k gold Mastersound CD in mint condition with original jewel case, and my original CDr that provided the live tracks heard on Def Leppard Rarities Volume Four, with the original cover I made on my parents’ printer back in the day. This is the original CD that Def Leppard used for music on that collection.
I can’t thank these two diamond gents more for doing this show with me tonight. Definitely some of the best stacks of rock ever seen on this show!
Next week: Deep Purple Album Ranking with Ryan Gavalier, Sunday Sept 1 at 8:00 PM EST!
GRAB A STACK OF ROCK With Mike and the Mad Metal Man Episode 68: Def Leppard CD Rarities with @RockTheseTweets and @2Loud2OldMusic
This has been a meeting long in the making. For years, I have admired the music collection of Chris from MyRockAndRollHeaven on Twitter. In particular, Chris is a Def Leppard collector, and I believe his collection is one of the best in the world.
Finally the stars have aligned, and we have Chris tonight on Grab A Stack of Rock. Since his collection is so massive, we decided to narrow it down to rare Def Leppard on CD. Singles, Japanese imports, EPs and more will be shown tonight. Joining us as co-host will be fellow fan and collector John Snow from 2Loud2OldMusic! He is currently in the midst of a Def Leppard review series, so this lines up perfect.
What will we see tonight? The rarest of the rare Leppard on CD. Don’t miss it.
Friday August 23 at 7:00 P.M. E.S.T. / 8:00 P.M. Atlantic. Enjoy onYouTube or on Facebook!
Record Store Day is already said and done in Australia, and Peter Kerr of Rock Daydream Nation has returned with reports, and bounty.
Peter presents to us some exclusive Thin Lizzy, Motorhead, and some acts that are a little more regional to his neck of the woods. I show off a bit of my favourites from past years. We also discuss the value and collectability of RSD releases in general. Give it a watch!
If anyone wants to do me a solid, I’m looking for:
2023: what a year! I have personally not experienced highs and lows like this since back in 2018. We’ll get into that in a minute. For now let’s talk music.
It was interesting to see both the Beatles and the Stones back on the charts. What year is it, anyway? Last I saw this happen, it was 1995. The Beatles Anthologies were coming out one per year, and the Stones had their latest CD Stripped on the Top 40. It was my second Christmas at the Record Store.
There were a number of new releases that I never got to in 2023, either due to time or budget or both, including the Beatles and Stones. I saw some people writing lists of their top 50 albums of 2023. My 2023 haul was much smaller. However, as usual, I do have a Top Five of banger albums that you absolutely need to own. Not stream – own! People who have Spotify accounts have been posting lists of their most streamed songs. That’s nice, but I don’t stream and I don’t just listen to songs – I listen to albums. Good songs, bad songs, the whole album without skipping. CD, vinyl, and cassette were all played and enjoyed here in 2023, with no apps tracking what I heard. Too bad! Support the artist in a real way, and buy physical product! They say CD is making a comeback. Let’s see what happens in 2024. As for 2023, here are my lists!
Hoping for a new physical EP in 2024! Check out this amazing uplifting track, because bad times will get better!
OK, so I guess I stream a little bit. 2023 was the year of the Arkells here at Ladano HQ. There are a lot of great Arkells live performances on YouTube, and some cool music videos as well. Here’s what YouTube had to say about that in 2023.
Sorry, Def Leppard. It has been a long and winding road with you, but this has not been a good year for us. I have not truly enjoyed a new Def Leppard album since 2015. This isn’t our first dry spell. I felt similarly negative towards you after Euphoria and X, but this latest album has only warranted two listens. I’m actually sorry that I bought it. This is one of the rare cases where I can justify skipping an album. (Think This Left Feels Right by Bon Jovi.)
I think it is possible that Def Leppard and I are through.
For me, 2023 will be the year that I learned to better trust my gut. I think we all know what I’m talking about here. Mistakes were made, and I chose to trust someone, over the screaming alarms in my head. She still generates massive hits and views, to this day eight months after the fact, but the cost was my happiness. I cannot apologise enough for foisting this person upon the community that I love. It was not worth it.
On the other hand, my instincts told me that Jex Russell is good people. I credit Jex for helping me keep Grab A Stack of Rock going last summer during the most painful of months. The Friday afternoon shows were a true joy. His enthusiasm and friendship redeemed 2023. And of course, Harrison was there too, as always, helping me keep the ship afloat with his incredible art and willingness to go live even when he didn’t care about the bands we were discussing. He even got to do a dedicated Blaze Bayley episode, and it was one of our most successful ever. Amazing! We had so many wonderful friends who guested in 2023, bringing light to my days and nights. Friends, old and new. Thank you. Thank you to everyone who helped me in this year. You know who you are, but what you don’t know is how much I needed you.
Jen had her struggles and nearly broke her jaw, but she keeps getting up and getting back in the saddle. Jen is my real #1. You’ve never seen someone fight so hard.
Rest in peace to Uncle Paul. I will wear your hat with pride at your beloved Lorne Beach this summer at the cottage. You will be with me in spirit.
We survived it all. Here we are. Allons-y.
In 2024 we look forward to new Judas Priest (Invincible Shield), Ace Frehley (10,000 Volts), Bruce Dickinson (The Mandrake Project), and maybe even Guns N’ Roses. Now where have I heard that before?
Please join me in 2024 as I continue to review music from my humongous collection, live stream with friends, and hopefully have a laugh or two. I’ve been knocked down, but I get up again…
Welcome, welcome, welcome! Welcome back to WTF Search Terms, one and all! Yes, it’s another batch of 10 search terms that somehow led people to my site. Some terms are simple typos, others are more chaotic, but they all have one thing in common: They all led people here. Enjoy!
This first one is a simple typo, but I like it so much, I might have to change the spelling of my last name!
This is my favourite TVC appearance to date. Thank you so much Tim for inviting me to do this. I hope it comes across in the video: we don’t enjoy bashing this album. We love this band. But we can be discerning, and that’s OK. We encourage you to check out the music and decide for yourself. It seems a few viewers agreed with us…
Consider this my official review of Drastic Symphonies by Def Leppard
2/5 stars
Additional notes:
Check out the squirrel at 22:52 of the video, over my left shoulder (screen right).
Beautiful Grab A Stack of Rock coffee mug available at teepublic.com (where you can also buy your own Tim’s Vinyl Confessions merch).
Cameo by Darth Sideous
Thanks again to Tim for making this episode happen!
RECORD STORE TALES #1056: Spring Metal on the Other Side of Winter
I think many people share my sentiment that this winter was absolutely brutal.
Since ages past, it has always been a celebration when the sun emerges warmly after a long, cold winter. Memories flooding back. So many memories.
1986. On the back porch at the cottage, playing “Turbo Lover” and “Locked In”, freshly recorded in mono from MuchMusic, from the brand new Judas Priest album Turbo. I was probably told to turn it down….
1987. On my bike. I had received The Final Countdown by Europe for Easter. It was difficult for me to get into; different from what I was used to. I remember cruising down Carson Ave on my bike with that album in my head. Best track for me: “Cherokee”. I loved the keyboard hook and the chorus.
1988. I was given Skyscraper by David Lee Roth for Easter. It became a “warm weather album” that spring, played many times weekly in a Walkman while riding a bike or strolling through the neighbourhood looking for girls. (Not that I ever found any.) Memories of setting up my ghetto blaster on the front porch, with Skyscraper serenading the street. That cassette wore out rapidly. It was one my first CD re-buys a couple years down the road (spring ’91).
1989. Trying to look cool, and practicing my guitar on the front patio for the world to see. I was never any good, but I am sure that “Mary Had A Little Lamb” really delivered the spring-like vibes I was laying down. In my earphones were things like New Jersey by Bon Jovi, House Of Lords’ self-titled debut, Quiet Riot’s latest with Paul Shortino on lead vocals. Amazingly though, 1987’s Hysteria by Def Leppard was still in my Walkman. The album had incredibly long legs. I was hoping for one more single, which never came to be. I picked “Love and Affection” as my favourite in ’89. Then, I had some new buys! We had just joined Columbia House. I split the membership with my sister and picked up these treasures that rocked my whole spring:
Shortly after the first seven, I added Triumph Stages to the list, which carried on rocking me into the summer of 1989. That year was one of the most critical in my life as a music fan, and the spring motherlode from Columbia House had a lot to do with it.
1990. I was now working at the local grocery store, Zehrs. Short-haired and geekier than ever, I was really getting in Black Sabbath. Pushing the shopping carts in long lines, singing “Sweet Leaf”, but having no idea what it was about. When I declared it as my favourite Black Sabbath song, people reacted strangely and I didn’t know why. I guess they thought I was into the pot! I thought the “Leaf” of the song was a girl named Leaf.
1991. The end of highschool loomed…I felt very free. Very excited about the future. The future of hard rock. Little did I know! I was listening to a lot of the new Mr. Big that spring, an album called Lean Into It. I thought they had really refined their sound. I had also taken the dive into indi rock, and Raw M.E.A.T was absolutely one of my favourite CDs that spring.
Good place to end this trip down memory land: happy memories, all of them! I wonder what will be dominating the car stereo with the windows down this spring?
GHOST – “Spillways” featuring Joe Elliott (2023 Loma Vista)
One of the best songs of 2022 gets a new life courtesy of Def Leppard frontman Joe Elliott, who comes in on the second verse. Ghost have evolved into quite the arena rock band, and Joe’s touch cements this even further. The Leppard frontman chose Ghost’s Impera as his #1 album of 2022, so maybe you should check out what the man was so excited about?
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