From the Inside

DVD REVIEW: Def Leppard – Visualize (1993)

Part Sixteen of the Def Leppard Review Series

DEF LEPPARD –  Visualize (1993, 2001 Mercury DVD)

Perhaps a tad prematurely, immediately after Adrenalize had given all it had in terms of singles, Def Leppard released the spiritual sequel to 1989’s home video Historia.  That thorough collection of videos was composed of music from four albums, while Visualize only covered one (and a bit).  As such, this time they added interviews and interesting TV clips to fill out the run time.

Since Historia closed on “Love Bites”, it’s only fitting that Visualize opens with the next video, “Rocket”.  As far as cool 80s videos go, “Rocket” was a success.  It was even an educational slideshow of all Def Leppard’s musical heroes!  It’s also very very 80s, with lots of TV sets hanging about.

Then Visualize takes a different track.  The next big event in the lives of Def Leppard was a sad one:  the passing of Steve Clark.  He is commemorated with TV clips, interviews and an excellent all-Steve video for “Switch 625”.  Joe Elliott laments that all Steve had in his life was a guitar and a bottle, but at least he left something worthwhile behind — the music.

Interview tracks are interspersed between music videos.  Rick Allen discusses his drum kit and how he uses his left leg to do what he used to with his arm.  Then there’s a surprising video of a live Ben E. King TV performance, featuring his new backing band, Def Leppard.  “Stand By Me” is not the complete clip but enough to show you that Leppard could do it!  Rick Savage plays a strange 80s synth bass guitar, and Steve Clark was still with them.  Another partial clip, “Jean Genie” with Joe, Ronnie Wood and the Hothouse Flowers, is cool but just a snippet.  Same with an acoustic version of “Ziggy Stardust”.  Shame they couldn’t use the full tracks.  The origin of the track “From the Inside” is discussed with a short clip as well.

“Let’s Get Rocked” is opened by an amusing interview with Sav about filming in front of a blue screen.  Indeed, “Let’s Get Rocked” was a pioneering video, if terribly dated.  It’s also their only video as a four-piece band without Steve.  The next interviews address this — the hiring of Vivian Campbell.  His big debut was the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert in early 1992.  His music video debut with the band was on the mediocre “Make Love Like A Man”.  Its gimmick was a big screen behind the band; pretty standard stuff.  The rarely seen “I Wanna Touch U” follows, with Leppard once again live in the round!  The fake crowd screams are distracting but the video is cool, if not triumphant.

The big ballad “Have You Ever Wanted Someone So Bad” has a gothic look, but oh so 90s in style.  The picture-in-picture (some colour, some black and white) look was overdone.  A small batch of interviews from the period are followed by “Tonight”, an excellent understated ballad.  The conceptual side of these videos was getting progressively foggy, but when they’re on the screen in start black and white, the band look cool.  “Heaven Is” was another rarely seen clip, and perhaps it’s better that way.  As always, the band stuff looks great but the conceptual shots are just bizarre.  Ditto “Stand Up (Kick Love Into Motion)”.  Dunno what’s up with the naked people or Cliff Burnstein playing baseball with a window.  A true shame, as this semi-ballad is a Def Leppard masterpiece of a song, simply top drawer.  It deserved better.  When the video came out, I was so disappointed. “What have they done?”  We deserved better.

“Two Steps Behind”, “Love Bites” and “Photograph” are live, from a hometown gig in Sheffield.  More of the show would be made available on a 1995 home video release called Video Archive.

Finally, the future:  Joe says there’s a long long way to go, not realizing he just wrote a future Def Leppard hit song title!  Collectively, they were excited to write together.  Rick Savage says it’s “Phase 2”, and Joe Elliott employs another Star Trek analogy about exploring.  There was plenty of creative energy in the band and it’s obvious.  But don’t hit “eject”!  Stay tuned for the post-credit scene!  An important message from Joe.

Visualize was one of those sequels that just came too soon.  Interview material is valuable and desirable, but Historia played more like a visual album.  It was a better entertainment experience.  Visualize is choppier.  It wouldn’t matter so much if all the songs were complete, but the TV performances are just teases of complete tracks.  Unfortunate.

3/5 stars

 

Previous:  

  1. The Early Years Disc One – On Through the Night 
  2. The Early Years Disc Two – High N’ Dry
  3. The Early Years Disc Three – When The Walls Came Tumbling Down: Live at the New Theater Oxford – 1980
  4. The Early Years Disc Four – Too Many Jitterbugs – EP, singles & unreleased
  5. The Early Years Disc 5 – Raw – Early BBC Recordings 
  6. The Early Years 79-81 (Summary)
  7. Pyromania
  8. Pyromania Live – L.A. Forum, 11 September 1983
  9. Hysteria
  10. Soundtrack From the Video Historia – Record Store Tales
  11. In The Round In Your Face DVD
  12. “Let’s Get Rocked” – The Wait for Adrenalize – Record Store Tales
  13. Adrenalize
  14. Live at the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert
  15. Retro-Active

Next:

17. Vault / Limited Edition Live CD

REVIEW: Def Leppard – Retro-Active (1993)

Part Fifteen of the Def Leppard Review Series

DEF LEPPARD – Retro-Active (CD Collection Volume 2 Disc 2) (Originally 1993, 2019 remaster)

Like Hysteria before it, Adrenalize produced a wealth of riches in B-sides.  Between the two albums, they had enough B-side studio material to turn into an album compilation.  Tellingly, the final album called Retro-Active featured very different cover art, and a toned-down logo.  It was intended to be the ending of an era, and the start of a new one.  Guitarist Steve Clark was gone, replaced by veteran Vivian Campbell.  The grunge era was two years deep, and Leppard were about to change sonically.  In their minds they needed to “clear the decks” of old material so they could focus on the new.

What’s interesting about Retro-Active is that it is not simply a compilation of rare material.  Everything has been reworked to some degree — everything.  There are even two “new” songs, unfinished tracks with Steve Clark that were finally completed for this album.  We will take this album track by track and go over the changes made to the original B-sides.  (The printing on this 2019 CD reissue is so small, I had to pull out my original 1993 CD to read the notes.)

1. “Desert Song”.  A track begun during the Hysteria sessions but left unfinished without lyrics or vocals.  Joe finished the words in 1993, while Phil laid down guitar overdubs and Rick Allen re-recorded the drums.  Steve Clark is featured on the second guitar solo.  What’s surprising about “Desert Song” is how modern it sounds even though it was originally written in 1987.  A slow, heavy groove is melded with middle-eastern vibes for a dark winner.

2. “Fractured Love”.  Another from the Hysteria sessions.  You can tell the intro is of more recent vintage compared to the body of the song.  Joe’s vocals suddenly revert to the old screamin’ Elliott and it’s absolutely brilliant.  Drums were re-recorded in ’93, along with the new intro by Joe and Phil Collen.  Both these songs sound ahead of their times and well suited to the darker moods prevalent in the early 90s.  “Fractured” is choppy, intense and reminiscent of the old band while still sounding like a 90s song.  Steve Clark on lead guitar!

3. “Action”.  This Sweet cover originated on the 1992 “Make Love Like a Man” CD single.  Vivian Campbell had joined the band by this time and the track features some of his guitar work.  Like most of the tracks on Retro-Active, the drums were re-recorded by Rick Allen in 1993.  “Action” became a Leppard staple over the years, and as a rare fast/heavy rock singalong, you can hear why.  In fact, it was later released as a single, from this album!

4. “Two Steps Behind” (Acoustic Version).  As we’ll see, “Two Steps Behind” exists in a number of different versions.  The demo was electric.  The first version released appeared on “Make Love Like a Man” as a purely acoustic song with no drums.  The second release had strings added by Michael Kamen for the Last Action Hero soundtrack, and that version was released as its own single.  The version on Retro-Active is the popular Kamen single mix.  This was Leppard’s very first acoustic song and it opened new doors for the traditionally hard rocking band.

5. “She’s Too Tough”.  Helix recorded this Leppard outtake themselves for 1987’s Wild in the Streets.  From their version, you could hear the song deserved wider renown.  Def Leppard released their finished version on the single for “Tonight” in 1993.  The drums were re-recorded for Retro-Active but there were no other changes made.  This blitz of a rocker features the screamin’ Joe voice and all the adrenaline you can handle (and was missing from Adrenalize).

6. “Miss You In a Heartbeat” (Acoustic Version).  This is actually a piano version of a song that exists in many forms.  It was first recorded by Paul Rodgers and Kenney Jones as The Law in 1991.  For that band, it was a low-charting single.  It faired better for Leppard themselves, who released it as a single A-side themselves in 1993.  This quieter version features a stunning acoustic guitar solo by Phil Collen.  There are many, many versions of this song, as you will see as we proceed through this series.  (And this album!)

7. “Only After Dark”.  The Mick Ronson cover was first released on the “Let’s Get Rocked” single.  Both Vivian and Phil added guitar overdubs for the Retro-Active version.  The additional guitar depth is noticeable.  Leppard are so good as these kinds of glam rock songs.

8. “Ride Into the Sun”.  From the very first EP, and then re-recorded on the “Hysteria” single.  Could this be the fastest Def Leppard tune?  It’s certainly among them.  Also ranks highly among the heaviest, and best, of Def Leppard!  Rick re-recorded the drums, and for some reason Ian Hunter from Mott the Hoople added a honky-tonk piano intro.  The “studio talk” at the end of the song has also been trimmed off.  Sonically, this could be the best sounding version of “Ride Into the Sun”, though the preferred will always be the “Hysteria” B-side.

9. “From the Inside”.  Originally released as part of a three-song session with Hothouse Flowers on “Have You Ever Needed Someone So Bad“.  Billing themselves as “Acoustic Hippies from Hell”, Leppard were really leaning into their acoustic side!  The song originated as a TV broadcast on a program called Friday at the Dome with Joe Elliott and Liam Ó Maonlaí.  The only modification made to this version is that the count-in at the start has been deleted.  Leppard fans may be surprised by the tin whistle but it’s not too much of a stretch.  The bleak song is about the dark side of addiction.

10. “Ring of Fire”.  Dipping back into the Hysteria B-side collection, “Ring of Fire” has a new intro.  The drums were re-cut and backing vocals thickened up.  It’s one of two Mutt Lange co-writes on the album and stands as one of Leppard’s harder rockers from the era.  An excellent track, “so stick around and settle down, enjoy the mystery.”

11. “I Wanna Be Your Hero”.  From the “Animal” EP, this is the second Lange co-write on Retro-Active.  With new drums added, here it stands as one of the highlights among many highlights.  The track should always have been on Hysteria.  Combining ballad and rocker into one meaty package, “I Wanna Be Your Hero” is a stone cold Leppard classic.

12. “Miss You In a Heartbeat” (Electric Version).  Nothing was overdubbed or re-recorded for this track, but the opening fades out of “I Wanna Be Your Hero”, meaning it is still different from its original B-side release on “Make Love Like a Man”.  Another stone cold Leppard classic.  A majestic electric ballad with layers of Phil’s sweetest guitars and backing vocals.  A masterpiece.

13. “Two Steps Behind” (Electric Version).  Previously unreleased.  Joe’s original backing track was fully Leppardized with all the band members including Vivian.  This gives you an idea of how the song was originally envisioned before it took its better known acoustic guise.  The acoustic version is more original, but this one does boast a big huge Leppard chorus.

14. Unlisted bonus track!  “Miss You In a Heartbeat” (Acoustic, Acoustic Version).  This third version of the ballad is the softest.  It is the piano-based version, but without the backing band.  Just Joe, the piano, and Phil on an acoustic guitar solo.  A nice surprise.

There are more demo versions of these songs on the B-sides of singles, that we will get to when we arrive at the appropriate disc in the CD Collection Volume 2.

As it turns out, Retro-Active was not entirely the clearing of the vaults we thought it was.  There was still one more song with Steve Clark unfinished.  One more compilation to release.  The future was on the horizon, but the past had to be dealt with first.  Which doesn’t diminish Retro-Active in any way.  Where there is repeat of tracks, it is justified by the versions being completely different in tone and direction.  It plays like a “new Def Leppard studio album” to the layman, but a compilation of the deepest cuts to the faithful.  Cuts that have been freshened up and don’t repeat the exact B-sides in their collections.  A win/win.

4/5 stars

Previous:  

  1. The Early Years Disc One – On Through the Night 
  2. The Early Years Disc Two – High N’ Dry
  3. The Early Years Disc Three – When The Walls Came Tumbling Down: Live at the New Theater Oxford – 1980
  4. The Early Years Disc Four – Too Many Jitterbugs – EP, singles & unreleased
  5. The Early Years Disc 5 – Raw – Early BBC Recordings 
  6. The Early Years 79-81 (Summary)
  7. Pyromania
  8. Pyromania Live – L.A. Forum, 11 September 1983
  9. Hysteria
  10. Soundtrack From the Video Historia – Record Store Tales
  11. In The Round In Your Face DVD
  12. “Let’s Get Rocked” – The Wait for Adrenalize – Record Store Tales
  13. Adrenalize
  14. Live at the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert

Next:

16. Visualize DVD

REVIEW: Alice Cooper – From the Inside (1978)

ALICE COOPER – From the Inside (1978 Warner)

In 1978, Alice Cooper’s health had hit a low point.  His excessive drinking was causing bleeding ulcers.  Alcohol always seemed to help before, but now it was time for Alice himself to get help.  He found himself in one of the strangest places he’d ever been in his life:  a sanitarium.

Alice got sober, for a short while anyway, and hooked up with some new players.  He wrote the lyrics for his next album with Bernie Taupin (Elton John) and got David Foster to produce him for the first and only time.  The inspiration for his next concept album was the sanitarium.  The people he encountered there inspired the characters on his album:  Millie, Billie, Nurse Rozetta, Jackknife Johnny, and more.  He amalgamated their stories and and personalities into the characters on the record, and with Bernie Taupin wrote some of his most interesting lyrics.  The horror themes of the past have been replaced by the real life madness of being locked in that place.

Musically, From the Inside is a hard pill to swallow.  Like a dose of Thorazine, it’s a sedated and subdued form of rock and roll, mixing Disco production and David Foster’s soft rock tendencies.  The sound of the album is clean and clear, but it is a dated a product of its time, the compression being the dead giveaway.  From the Inside is far more interesting lyrically than it is musically.  Bob Ezrin used to add strings, orchestras and choirs to the Alice Cooper mix, but David Foster’s version of the same is much more saccharine; much more easy listening without the weirdness.  Few of these songs are still in the live set.  Last time I saw Alice in 2006, he played “Wish I Were Born in Beverly Hills” with his daughter Calico playing a Paris Hilton type character on stage.  The Disco-stompin’ title track, and one of the only hard rockers (“Serious”) have also been performed in recent years.  For the most part, From the Inside is too much of a departure for these songs to having any staying power in Alice’s incendiary live show.

The title track is Alice’s story, and there are subtle references to Alice’s drinking club the Hollywood Vampires.  “Proposed a toast, to Jimi’s ghost.”  There also seems to be just a touch of bitterness about his situation:

Y’all got your kicks from what you saw up there,
Eight bucks even buys a folding chair,
I was downing Seagram’s on another flight,
And I worked that stage all night long.
You were screaming for the villain up there,
And I was much obliged,
The old road sure screwed me good this time,
It’s hard to see where the vicious circle ends.

It’s actually a fun Disco-rock tune, but now it’s time to meet Alice’s friends from the sanitarium.   The aforementioned “Wish I Were Born in Beverly Hills” boasts a catchy chorus (“I wish I could drink as much as she spills!”) and some nice Dick Wagner guitar harmonies.  For haunting music, “The Quiet Room” fits the bill.  It’s clear that the sanitarium was a serious place, and Alice and Bernie paint it clearly.  “They’ve got this place, where they been keepin’ me, where I can’t hurt myself, I can’t get my wrists to bleed.”  The character in this song questions why he wants to kill himself, but laments that he can’t even try in this place, “my Twilight Zone”.  He has spent so long there, alone with his thoughts and memories that “the quiet room knows more about me than my wife.”  It’s a strangely affecting tune.  Alice’s character driven lead vocal is the highlight; musically it’s pretty safe stuff.

The funniest track has to be “Nurse Rozetta”.  The lead character, clearly a priest, seems to really have a thing for Nurse Rozetta.  “I’m suddenly twice my size, my pants are all wet inside.”  Or my favourite line, “She popped the buckle off my Bible belt.”  The perverted priest fantasizes about the nurse on a string-laden but unremarkable tune, once again overshadowed by the words.  Alice and Marcella Detroit duet on “Millie and Billie”, a standard ballad, about a killer “criminally insane” couple to close Side One.

The only really killer hard rock track on the album is “Serious”, commencing the second side.  Foster’s production adds carefully arranged backing vocals, which matches the sound of the album, but dates the music to the time it was recorded.  Ezrin had a way of pulling off similar tricks and making them sound weighty.  Foster turns it around and produces a celebratory, gleeful sound.  I prefer the Ezrin approach, but one time the David Foster style works was the single “How You Gonna See Me Now”.  Something about this schlocky ballad works. The character in the song is writing a letter home to his wife, accompanied by this cheesey 70’s AM radio ballad. That’s the perfect way to do it.

“For Veronica’s Sake” and “Jackknife Johnny” are both good but unremarkable, although it seems Alice and crew really tried! They get an “A” for effort, but this brand of late 70’s adult contemporary rock has not aged well. The playing is the highlight, organ and guitar both. What the album was really missing up to this point is a suitably psychotic Alice Cooper song, but the final track “Inmates (We’re All Crazy)” scratches that itch. With all the pomp and circumstance necessary, this song delivers the dose of drama and strangeness that you need on an Alice Cooper album. It’s a disturbing lyric, too. “It’s not like we did something wrong. We just burned down the church, while the choir within sang religious songs.” Another inmate derailed a train. Then, the child-like sing-song chorus of “We’re all crazy, we’re all crazy, we’re all crazy…(Lizzy Borden took an axe and gave her mother forty whacks)…” Such a contrast, the child-like innocence and the horrendous deeds, but this is nothing new for Alice. The picture is now complete, and the album is over.

The cover art really pops on LP. Alice’s face is painted on hospital doors, which fold out to reveal the characters inside. Too bad all I have here at LeBrain HQ is a little CD booklet.

Alice, Bernie Tauper, David Foster, Dick Wagner, and the rest of them made an accomplished album with From the Inside. It’s a left-of-center artwork that isn’t immediately appealing, but does have the knack of drawing you back for another listen. I recommend doing just that.

3/5 stars