Def Leppard - Yeah!
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Music CD Cover
Artist: Def LeppardEdition: Music CD
CD Release Date: 2006-05-23
Music Label: Island / Mercury
Soundtracks:
- 20th Century Boy
- Rock On
- Hanging On The Telephone
- Waterloo Sunset
- Hell Raiser
- 10538 Overture
- Street Life
- Drive-In Saturday
- Little Bit Of Love
- The Golden Age Of Rock 'n' Roll
- No Matter What
- He's Gonna Step On You Again
- Don't Believe A Word
- Stay With Me
Free Music Notes for Yeah!
Free Music Review: FINALLY, a complete review of
Hit: 5 Stars
OK, first off, been a fan of the Leps since I was 15 and "Pyromania" was first released and "Bringin' On The Heartbreak" was all over MTV...twas 1983 and my impressionable mind was molded by the Leps music, just like what happened to the Leps themselves with the bands and who's songs the Leps cover all over "Yeah!!"
This record makes a whole lot of sense and squashes many things that people mistakenly think the Leps are, musically. NWOBHM or pop-metal??!!?? BAH!!
Try glam-influenced powerpop, or a British, glam-influenced Cheap Trick, and you're on target. And honestly, I think it's a mistake that the Leps are constantly on nostalgic summer package tours with horrible corporate rock bands like Journey...shoot me, Journey fans, I don't care, your band and taste is terrible!!! Same with KISS!!! If anything, the Leps should play with musically-compatible bands like Cheap Trick, or newer Britpop bands like the Arctic Monkeys or the Kaiser Chiefs or great new Scottish bands like the View or the Fratellis, to show these younger bands and fans they are still vital...not just for their parents' generation. Gosh, I feel old.
Anyhoo, about the Leps' recent covers album, "Yeah!!!", from 2006, it's possibly the best covers album in recent memory, if not EVER. It's totally fun, not obvious, has many of my fave bands and shows the band's impeccable taste and ability to rock out and have a good time...it probably made the band feel like kids again. The album artwork and nods to the classics is a nice fun touch...the liner notes are informative and infectiously written by Phil and Joe, both obviously music connosseurs and collectors. The intros by Sav and Viv are cool as well.
Now, there are 4 different versions of the album...the regular 14-tracker, the BestBuy version with 2 bonus tracks, the Target edition with 2 completely DIFFERENT bonus tracks, and the Japanese edition has 2 bonus tracks. PLUS Walmart had a separately-sold companion bonus DISC with 8 more tracks (5 additional covers and 3 interviews) which put the whole project into proper perspective. The Japanese disc has only 2 of these Walmart tracks as bonuses. Here's my take on the whole kitten caboodle:
REGULAR ALBUM:
1- "20th Century Boy"...the T-Rex song, an amazing song and great energetic cover...fits the Leps to a T.
2- "Rock On"...the David Essex song, also covered by Michael Damian (a #1 hit in the US but it was lame) and Toni Basil!?!?...her version was cool and on the US version of "Word Of Mouth" following "Mickey"...the Leps cover beats them all...love the way the song kicks in, AC/DC-style.
3- "Hanging On The Telephone"...the 1976 Nerves powerpop classic popularized by Blondie...surprisingly awesome.
4- "Waterloo Sunset"...the 1960s Kinks classic, originally placed on the Leps 2CD import "Best Of", in a better home here on "Yeah!!", great version that grows on you.
5- "Hell Raiser"...the Sweet classic...I know the Leps have cited Sweet as an influence, and they give a kicking rendition here...the funny, campy Steve Priest vocal lines are done here by, NOT Joe Elliot, but guest Justin Hawkins, former lead singer/songwriter of campy Brit hardrockers the Darkness, to fine fun effect...
6- "10538 Overture"...ELO's debut single, when Roy Wood was in the band, after the Move split up...GREAT and a surprisingly fitting choice for the Leps...great guitar work, and features guests on strings, the Stepaside Symphonia...
7- "Street Life"...the 1973 Roxy Music classic...shows the Leps are NOT a pop metal band, but a glam-influenced powerpop band, more taken by punk and new wave, as 1970s UK glam was the precursor to this inferior style of rock, and the Leps do some nice noise on their guitars...LOVE this song...
8- "Drive-In Saturday"...the obscure-in-the-US, HUGE-in-the-UK David Bowie classic from 1973's "Aladdin Sane"...see my take on previous song by Roxy Music.
9- "Little Bit Of Love"...the Free song, a big surprise for me, as I am NOT a Paul Rodgers/Bad Company fan at all...I think BC was probably the most overrated band of them all, really boring actually. Free, on the other hand, I have not heard much of, besides "All Right Now", which was decent but played out, yet still better than all of Bad Company combined. Perhaps, Paul Rodgers sounded great in this band, I don't know, but this song is actually a pretty good pop tune...I may have to investigate Free's catalogue now.
10- "The Golden Age Of Rock 'N' Roll"...the Mott The Hoople classic...probably my fave track on all of "Yeah!!"...just amazing, what rock & roll is all about...Ian Hunter is just swell, as a rock & roller, as a songwriter and as a person...I had the opportunity to see Ian live recently and he blew me away...pictures I took, I gave doubles to Joe himself when I met him at the aftershow party for the NYC "X" club gig at Irving Plaza, now the Fillmore, because I knew Ian was Joe's hero. Ian does the intro here...very cool...and features guests like Joe's wife on BV's, Viv's bro on honking sax and Canadian singer/songwriter Emm Gryner on BVs and piano...just awesome...and I can hear the Sex Pistols influence here too, as is mentioned in the liner notes.
11- "No Matter What"...the Badfinger powerpop classic...arguably the first ever true powerpop song, let alone hit, and yeah, the Leps' version is almost identical, which proves that the Leps are, at heart, a powerpop band, not a metal/pop metal band. Love this remix better than the version on the US 2CD "Rock Of Ages" collection...fits better here too, as this is, after all, an album of covers.
12- "He's Gonna Step On You Again"...the John Kongos classic...honestly, I thought I was the only one who knew who John Kongos was!!! I had the original album with this song, and "Tokoloshe Man", on it...both songs were covered by UK rave rockers Happy Mondays in the early 90s...the band recently reunited as well...turns out the Leps, espesh Joe, were big fans as well...possibly because of the "jungle drums"...great track.
13- "Don't Believe A Word"...the Thin Lizzy song...see my entry for the Sweet cover...I knew Phil Lynott was a big influence on the Leps as well, and this is a great song...I'm also happy they didn't do one of the obvious songs either...here or on the whole album really...
14- "Stay With Me"...the Faces song...featuring PHIL on lead vocals and Joe on Ian McLagen-ish keyboards...it kicks arse, nuff said...the Faces were the only time Rod Stewart was any good, and I do agree with Joe that "Pool Hall Richard" was their best song.
Now, the bonus tracks:
Target's CD:
15- "Action" (Live, 2005)...the Sweet song, and the studio version was a B-side and on 1993's "Retroactive" compilation...GREAT live version with lots of exuberant energy...being it's a live track, not studio, nothing has been recycled, and it's from the recent 2005 US Rock Of Ages tour.
16- "When I'm Dead And Gone"...an obscure 1970 UK hit by British duo McGUINNESS FLINT, written by Benny Gallagher and Graham Lyle. Before getting this CD, I had never heard this song or of the act before, but this cover is totally charming, a memorable and melodic, scruffy, acoustic, singalong, off-the-cuff track...a true gem with no pretentions whatsoever.
BestBuy's CD:
17- "No Matter What" (Live, 2005)...a cool live take of the Badfinger classic, probably from the same show, definitely the same 2005 US tour as the Leps cover of "Action".
18- "Winter Song"...another 1970 obscurity by UK band LINDISFARNE...like the McGuinness Flint song, I had never heard of this either, but it's equally as good, and makes me want to investigate further. The song is more reflective and is a moving Christmas-y type of song, not unlike something Cat Stevens would do...done acoustic style by the Leps...
WalMart CD:
19- "American Girl"...the Tom Petty classic...proves again how the Leps are more powerpop than metal...Joe sounds a bit like Tom here as well, and his jangly Byrds-y style fits the Leps much better than you would think...one of 2 bonus tracks on the Japanese edition of "Yeah!!"...
20- Backstage Interview #1...the band talks about the 2005 tour and their fanbase evolving & getting older.
21- "Search & Destroy"...the Iggy & The Stooges dangerous punk prototype from 1973's Bowie-produced landmark "Raw Power" album...with PHIL singing lead and playing all instruments...just proves that Phil comes from the punk world, whilst the rest of the Leps were from the glam and powerpop world...this track sounds like the Stooges themselves and Phil like Iggy that it's uncanny...it sounds vital and dangerous...this track is the second of 2 bonus tracks on the Japanese "Yeah!!"...
22- Backstage Interview #2...sums up the purpose of "Yeah!!", their inspirations, the rules for picking the tracks, and it shows how the Leps are more glam/powerpop than pop-metal...
23- "Space Oddity"...the second Bowie cover, done completely by Joe...shows how talented he really is as a 1-man band...doesn't sound far from the original at all, from the playing and arrangement to the atmosphere...pretty remarkable actually...
24- Backstage Interview #3...a conclusion to a swell interview...
25- "Dear Friends"...an obscure Queen song written by Brian May (whom I met in JFK airport in 2003, BTW, totally nice gracious guy), from Queen's 1974 debut album...sung and played completely by bassist Rick Savage...shows how talented and overlooked he is in the Def Leppard canon...the guy's a great singer in his own right and a talented multi-instrumentalist as well...who knew???
26- "Heartbeat"...an obscure 1974 song by [...] UK glamster JOBRIATH BOONE, who was always referred to as a poor man's David Bowie. Apparently, Morrissey was a huge Joby fan, that he reissued an album (or a compilation, I'm not sure) called "Jobraith" on his reactivated Attack label through Sanctuary. The guy died of AIDS in 1993 in NYC, depressed and broke...maybe he will get his due, I'm not sure, but Joe was apparently a fan...enough that he covered "Heartbeat", playing fairground organ and backed by Dave Browne on piano and Ronan McHugh on cellos...this cover is quite moving, maybe moreso that Joby died of AIDS...
Anyhoo, overall, possibly the best covers album ever recorded...now that Def Leppard got this long-gestating album out of their system...they've been wanting to do a covers album or their take on Bowie's "Pin-Ups"...since they got a record deal back in 1979, or at least Joe did...now, they can do a kickbutt album of new Lep originals...I heard the next album will be sort-of like "Back In Black"...
I think the band is revitalized...just like the Smithereens are after doing their recent cover album of the Beatles debut, "Meet The Smithereens"...that's what covers albums actually do when done right...they refresh the band and remind them of why they became a band in the first place...that's what happened with Def Leppard and "Yeah!!", but what makes this covers album better than most is that it's not just a footnote curio...it's a fun, rocking record that will be listened to many times in the future, as it stands up against the rest of Def Leppard's catalogue...
It will also remind people of what rock & roll is all about, period.
'Nuff said, I'm done.
Yeah! Poster
On their highly anticipated new album, Def Leppard have created a heartfelt and hard rocking tribute to their musical heroes of the late 60's and 70's - the Kinks, Badfinger, T. Rex, David Bowie, Sweet, Roxy Music, Mott the Hoople, Free, Faces, and Thin Lizzy. Recording essential versions of the music that influenced their youth, the band have brilliantly merged the 'Now with the 'Then' to create a buzz that can only be summed up in one word: YEAH!While most of their teen peers were embracing nascent '70s U.K. punk with all the snotty 'tude they could muster, Sheffield's Def Leppard instead infused then-moribund metal with bracing pop smarts. Having long since sold a gazillion or two records with that formula, the '80s superstars pay homage to the eclectic, chart-savvy tastes that spawned it on this collection of covers, recharging their contemporary fortunes a bit in the bargain. Their takes on Me Decade standards like The Faces' "Stay With Me," Badfinger's "No Matter What," and T Rex's "20th Century Boy" may be arguably too faithful, right down to Joe Elliot's often dead-on vocal chameleon routine. But elsewhere they perform some admirable pop archaeology, imparting a darker edge to David Essex's spooky "Rock On" and pumping Blondie's "Hanging on the Telephone," one-hit-wonder John Kongos's riff-fest "He's Gonna Step On You Again," and Sweet's "Hell Raiser" full of patent Lep energy. --Jerry McCulley
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