Down N Outz

DOWN 'N' OUTZ, the project headed up by Def Leppard frontman and 2019 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Inductee Joe Elliott, are set to release their third studio album, This Is How We Roll, on October 11, 2019 (UMe).

The band, featuring The Quireboys' Paul Guerin (Guitar), Guy Griffin (Guitar) and Keith Weir (keyboards), plus Share Ross (Bass, ex Vixen) and Phil Martini (drums, Wayward Sons), takes a different approach on This Is How We Roll to their previous album. This new album only features one cover version (The Tubes "White Punks On Dope) - alongside eleven original Joe Elliott penned tracks.

Guitarist Guy Griffin says, "(This Is How We Roll) is absolutely fantastic, probably one of the best records I've worked on. It doesn't sound like Leppard or the first two Down n Outz records. It's kind of all the stuff Joe grew up with, a lot of piano type stuff, a bit Elton John, one track a bit 10cc, a couple of good rockers… a real mix of stuff. Joe's voice sounds amazing and it's great fun to do."

Joe Elliott says, "Boy, has this has been a long time coming?! Recorded in infrequent bursts of activity over a 5-year period whenever our respective motherships allowed, I'm extremely proud of what we've achieved with this album. I'm blessed to have worked with such a superb bunch of musicians on this collection of songs. To a man, and woman (!), they completely got my vision of what I wanted us to convey on this record & as usual, working with a world class producer/engineer in Ronan McHugh has guaranteed the sound of the record to be top notch! I couldn't be more proud."

Sounds cool! I'm glad they've moved on from Mott the Hoople covers.

Better then I expected actually.

I had never even heard of this project until today.

If you like Mott the Hoople and all Ian Hunter-related projects, they do the material really well. I'm not a big fan of that stuff, so the only thing that attracted me to it was Joe Elliot's voice.

My favorite thing they've done up to this point is on their DVD, which includes a version of Elton John's "Funeral for a Friend." Impeccable rendition.

Being a HUGE Elton John fan and "Funeral For A Friend/Love Lies Bleeding" being my favorite EJ track I was really curious to hear this version when you posted it GP. 

And I have to agree; that is one rip-roaring rendition of the song!  Simply great.  I do notice some subtle differences in the keyboards where Joe (I assume that's him on the keys) isn't quite as dexterous as Sir Reginald but that's still a great cover of a great song(s).  And since I DO like Mott the Hoople, I guess I need to check out Down n Outz albums.

Down N Outz opened for Ian Hunter at one point, and the band might have even been formed with an eye towards doing so. Like I said, I'm not too familiar with Mott the Hoople, but it seems to me like a lot of the songs on the two Down n Outz albums are lesser known tracks, or even from Hunter's solo projects. Joe is a huge fan of the band, so it makes sense. Plus, on a more practical level, they wouldn't want to play songs in their opening set that Ian was going to do later on.

And glad you liked the Elton John cover, Toho! When I heard that cover it instantly reminded me of how great the Goodbye Yellow Brick Road album is. It has been a while since I heard the original studio version of Funeral for a Friend/Loves Lies Bleeding, so I didn't notice the keyboard discrepancies so much, but from the video it looks like it's both Joe and a second keyboardist at work. Not surprising that, even combined, they can't quite match the wizardry of EJ!

Wow, they really did that song justice. Are there any new artists that do music like this anymore where they actually craft the music and play it themselves?

Well, I wanna hear the White Punks on Dope cover. Not an easy tune to cover in any regard.

I dig the Down N Outz albums. Really good. And I love that new tune. Shame Joe can't write shit like that for Def Leppard.

Quote :

Shame Joe can't write shit like that for Def Leppard.

Yeah it seems like he takes a back seat with that material. On the latest album he's only listed on a few tracks, and as second or third on those, which means he probably just contributed some lyrics.

I did think the song "Sea of Love" off of the most recent record sounded like something Joe would write. The chorus really has a strong 70s classic rock flavor to it, and the riff sounds like something Down N Outz would be into, but it was apparently Phil's work.

I'll be picking up the new album just based on the fact that multiple Quireboys are involved so I know the musicianship will be good.

glassprison wrote:

Quote :

Shame Joe can't write shit like that for Def Leppard.

Yeah it seems like he takes a back seat with that material. On the latest album he's only listed on a few tracks, and as second or third on those, which means he probably just contributed some lyrics.

I did think the song "Sea of Love" off of the most recent record sounded like something Joe would write. The chorus really has a strong 70s classic rock flavor to it, and the riff sounds like something Down N Outz would be into, but it was apparently Phil's work.

They've touched on that stuff over the years, but overall I think they're trying to tick boxes on a checklist rather than write a kick-ass rock album. Joe's said something to the effect of, they write what you'd "expect" someone their age to write, which is bullshit consider he's clearly capable of still writing a rock song. Vivian writes heavier stuff in Last In Line, Phil has done some heavier, faster stuff with Man Raze.

I don't know. They annoy me. Haha.