Def Leppard - Songs From The Sparkle Lounge

Myself, Im just pissed off Elliot never again sported that silky blue shirt he had on the live shot on the back sleeve for the first album. That was METAL through and through. God, what a sellout to never don that again.

heard a radio interview (part of it anyway) between Vivian Cambell and a San Jose disc jockey named Greg Kihn (Greg Kihn Band) and in closing Greg called Vivian the lead guitar player of Def Leppard. Is this true ? I had heard he was only playin the rhythm role pretty much .

James B. wrote:

heard a radio interview (part of it anyway) between Vivian Cambell and a San Jose disc jockey named Greg Kihn (Greg Kihn Band) and in closing Greg called Vivian the lead guitar player of Def Leppard. Is this true ? I had heard he was only playin the rhythm role pretty much .

Phil has always been the lead, but Vivian does more lead that Steve ever did. So maybe it's more 50/50 now?

Eyesore wrote:

She was the type of Christian that was too Christian to have Marilyn Manson CDs in her house (she threw mine out without me noticing), but she wasn't too Christian to have another weiner delivered to her mailbox for cocks when I was in Italy.

But then I think about it and :kickbutt: .

Eyesore wrote:

James B. wrote:

heard a radio interview (part of it anyway) between Vivian Cambell and a San Jose disc jockey named Greg Kihn (Greg Kihn Band) and in closing Greg called Vivian the lead guitar player of Def Leppard. Is this true ? I had heard he was only playin the rhythm role pretty much .

Phil has always been the lead, but Vivian does more lead that Steve ever did. So maybe it's more 50/50 now?

Is this really accurate? Steve did 4 (5 counting Retroactive) albums, Viv's fourth album with the band is on it's way. But seeing as they used to have more solos on the older albums I cant see Viv has done more leads in the band than Steve ever did.

Viv plays probably about 30%-35% of the solos live...they don't really play any of the songs from his albums that he did solos for, so he's mostly doing Steve's solo parts & harmonies...Phil's the main guy.

Speaking of Def Leppard, I learned the bass line for "Animal" on Saturday...just listened & picked it out...most of it is on the A string with a couple of januts to the E string...more complicated than I expected it to be (I never payed attention to all the nuances on the bass in that song before)...took me about 20 minutes to pick out all the parts (verse, chorus, pre-chorus, break before solo, intro, etc)...and about 10 more before I could play it all the way through without missing anything...it's in my brain now...I could jam it with anyone...yay me!

You guys debating lead roles in Def Leppard are overlooking one important factor. Look at the source of this discussion...it was a DJ. When have mainstream disc jockeys been a reliable source of information? Most of 'em are worried about sound levels, running spots on time, talking up songs and hitting their cues for station id's.

And no offense to the coupla dj's that post here. I'm sure you're all fine at what you do because you're dedicated to the music. I'm generalizing here.

Anyone remember that bit from Wayne's World 2 with Harry Shear? Perfect example of a clueless dj.

I bought this for the price of $8.99 last night and it's decent. About half I would say were songs cut from Hysteria which isn't a bad thing. I hate the song, Love, but overall this is as close to a return to form as we could expect.

Eyesore-I really want to see a review by you on this.

I am enjoying the Cd but it isnt even 40 minutes long, that suprised me!

Just picked this up this evening...have not listened to it yet...

But if that cover art is not a blatant homage to SGT. PEPPER'S I don't know what is...

I actually don't have this yet. I have the special edition on order.

Your status as DL's number one groupie is under review.

Great CD IMO. Its shortness serves probably to its advantage as its an overall and very even release to my ears. It doesnt have as strong individual tracks as Euphoria (Paper Sun, Promises, Kings of Oblivion etc) but its the strongest overall DL release since the awesome Slang. "Love" is kinda goofy (like DL does on every album: "All Night", "Excitable" etc) but I really like the track once its spins up. I was also happy to discover the lack of a "rap" sung track that has been the tradition ever since "Rock of Ages". Great that they laid that to rest. Doesnt really miss the Epic track which is strange since those are usually my faves with this band, but then "Love" and "Gotta Let it Go" kinda has Epic feel about them, if not in length. In short this is a solid, rocking album that has your attention span throughout.

I got the edition with the DVD which has a documentary consisting of interviews with mostly Elliot, Campbell & Collen, the documentary runs for about 20 minutes, the same running time for the track-by-track commentary as well, plus the video for "Nine Lives". Worth the extra cost for the fan.

I like it, but it's nothing special outside of a few songs. Definitely better than X, but not quite as good as Euphoria.

I posted my thoughts on it at my music blog.

emptytomb1 wrote:

Your status as DL's number one groupie is under review.

The Japanese version won't be released until the 21st. I ordered that version for the two bonus tracks—a piano version of "Love" and the "Def Leppard" version of "Nine Lives," which I assume is just sans Tim McGraw's pointless inclusion.

I listened to this today and while it's not horrible...It is (imo) very weak.

The first two songs are solid and sound like "HYSTERIA" outtakes...the next couple of songs are tepid at best...blatant radio fodder...then decent track or two again...

Not horrible....but these guys are stretching, I fear....

Then again, I could just be aghast at the whole "Dancing With The Stars" fiasco...

Shiney wrote:

I listened to this today and while it's not horrible...It is (imo) very weak.

The first two songs are solid and sound like "HYSTERIA" outtakes...the next couple of songs are tepid at best...blatant radio fodder...

...And HYSTERIA wasnt "blatant radio fodder"? To my ears that album was much more of a blatant attempt at radio than SFTSL which is more of a straight rock album to my ears.

Shiney wrote:

Then again, I could just be aghast at the whole "Dancing With The Stars" fiasco...

I know. I love how Ashley Simpson is crucified by the media for lip syncing, but Def Leppard doing it and it was cool. Haha.

Def Leppard will never again do a real rock album. I don't believe it for a second. I do like the new one, though. At least the radio streams I heard. Who knows what kind of shelf life it'll have, though.

http://www.myspace.com/manraze

Check them out. I think you'll like that.

So I broke down and downloaded this. Ah, I know. At least I have it on pre-order. Haha.

So anyway, I can't be sure, but I think this will go down as a really solid album with me. "Go," "Nine Lives," and "C'mon C'mon" are fantastic. "Go" is definitely more modern-sounding, with a Slang flare, but a really cool tune. From the samples I heard, I wasn't sure about "Love," but I really like this one. While it's a ballad, it's very different kind of ballad for the band, and they're clearly channeling Queen—especially around the 2:46 mark. Very cool song. Not quite as epic as Queen would have made it sound, but it impresses me.

"Tomorrow" is a great tune as well. "Cruise Control" is killer, if you ask me! Another experimental kind of track for the band. I love that bass line! The jury is out on "Only The Good Die Young"; not sure if I'm a big fan of this one, though it is catchy. "Hallucinate" is cool, a nice mix of the 70s and 90s Def Leppard. "Bad Actress" is awesome! A lot like "C'mon C'mon," with that old school rock and roll sound. "Come Undone" is decent, but it seems to be a bit flat before the chorus. And that "Kashmir"-modeled verse riff is wicked generic. "Gotta Let It Go" is a solid closer. It's a modern-sounding tune, but it's cool.

Like I mentioned before, I don't know what I'll think of this one in the future, but I think it'll get plenty of spins. It's not old school Def Leppard, but I hear those early influences on this album. It's far better than X, though. I knew that just from the crappy radio streams. It's not as epic as some of the tracks on Euphoria, either, but it's still a great album, very much in line with post-80s Def Leppard—which I know isn't everyone's favorite, but if you liked that incarnation of the band you should dig this album.

I have to disagree that the band is stretching. Knowing their material so well, this album tells me that after 30 years, they're still at least capable of experimenting a bit—with success, too.

I agree with much of Eyesore's assessment...but I don't see it as "better" than X, just different...also, they need to make "Tomorrow" the next single/video...

I've listened all the way thru 3 times now...all in all, I give it a B+. Solid, catchy record from DEF LEPPARD...30 years on and still making good records...I'm pleased...

A lot of people like X, but I simply have a real distaste for it. There's something just not right about that album. The outside songwriters made things...different. The production is too clean. Their signature harmonies are higher in pitch (or sound that way because they too out the bottom end) so they sound like girls. I just don't like it much; I think it's a weak album. Hard for me to say that, too.

Eyesore wrote:

A lot of people like X, but I simply have a real distaste for it. There's something just not right about that album. The outside songwriters made things...different. The production is too clean. Their signature harmonies are higher in pitch (or sound that way because they too out the bottom end) so they sound like girls. I just don't like it much; I think it's a weak album. Hard for me to say that, too.

I have a thing for pop hooks, and I've always liked DL...so that album was very cool to me cuz it was DL with TONS of pop hooks...there's not a bad song/chorus on that album to me...

I hate the high notes they are reaching for on X. For all their ballads DL never sounded like girls like so many other bands did. You nailed it Eyesore.

As for Sparkle, I always heard them talk about Mott being an influence but this is the first album I really hear it on.

"Love Bites" & "Bringing On The Heartbreak" has some INSANE high notes in those choruses...