Happy New Def Leppard Album Eve!

Drastic Symphonies is out tomorrow and I am so pumped. Def Leppard are celebrating this new album and collaboration with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and performed on BBC2 Radio to promote the release.

Sadly, it doesn't seem like my pre-ordered vinyl will show up tomorrow. Looks like I will have to wait for a Monday delivery to get that new vinyl in my hot little hands. Until then, I'll be streaming on Amazon Music.

All the naysayers out there (ok, in the comments section here) will not detract from my excitement about this album!

Comments

[Him]

Hope you enjoy the vinyl when it arrives, Allyson. Truly.

That said, here's the thing (again). That BBC performance? That's the band playing live with the orchestra, with all the stumbles and stammers one would expect from a legacy act at this stage in their career. No slagging here. If you like that sort of thing, awesome. But . . . the album is not that sort of thing, at all. It is the original vocal tracks with the orchestration added to it, alongside some changes to the guitars, and other technological magic (like the echo-effect that is added to the vocals in some cases). They pushed this as something which it is not. And I am also fine with that if the fans are too.

But I would actually be more interested in hearing a live version like the BBC video than the thing they are releasing. So that is what I am saying nay to in this instance. Nothing more or less. notice I said hearing, not buying.

Besides, I have to save my money right now. Waiting for those Dokken and Ratt box sets to come down in price so I can buy something I know I will enjoy (and they are going down in price . . . just slowly).

[Ken]

I'm also more than a little PO'd that my Drastic Symphonies pre-sale bundle didn't arrive on release date. I had to read the fine print and see that it "shipped" on release date. Who knows when it will arrive...

[Him]

Let us know what you think when it finally arrives, Ken!

[Metalboy!]

Let’s not kid ourselves, shall we?

You just know it’s going to be absolute sh*te!

Or worse, yet, just plain MEDIOCRE!!!

[Bob]

I've been a Def Leppard fan since I heard "Rock Brigade" on Z95 in Allentown, PA back in 1980. After hearing Phil Collen on eddie Trunk's show talking about "Drastic Symphonies", I was really excited to hear it. It's not just simply an orchestra layered over the original tracks, (at least not all of it is) which is why I was looking forward to hearing the new arrangements.

So, as with every new record I listen to for the first time, I smoked a bunch of the good herb, poured a glass of scotch, put on my headphones and dove in.

The opener, "Turn to Dust" is simply awesome! They really dialed up the Eastern flavor by adding tabla and some excellent sweeping Eastern strings.

the album quickly loses steam after that. The only other tracks that I sort of like are the reworkings of "Animal" and "love Bites." I actually prefer the new version of "Love Bites" to the original, which I never liked.

By the sixth or seventh song, I found myself listening to the first minute or so, then moving on. Here's the thing...If your music can't hold my attention when I'm high, then it must really be boring. :)

Now, let's talk about a killer new album. Have any of you heard the new Alcatrazz album, "Take No Prisoners?" IMHO, it is an absolute monster. Doogie White sings his ass off, Joe Stump shreds like a mad man, and the tunes are really in your face and heavy!

Big shoutouts to Allyson, Him and Metalboy. I have missed this place.

[Him]

Welcome back, Bob! May the spliff be with you!

I will take your review as gospel. And I will say that it certainly adds nothing that makes me want to listen to this new take on old songs, re-imagined, orchestrated, or otherwise.

Alcatrazz is a bit of a pickle for me, Bob. I really do feel like Bonnet needs to be there, without slagging Waldo or Shea, or even that magically-wigged Doogie (White, not Howser). I wish I better understood what caused the riff, as he has his version planning an album as well. But you say the songs are rocking. So I will check them out.

[Bob]

Him, I toally get what you're saying about Alcatrazz and Bonnett. I was just having this same conversation with a 40-year-long friend of mine. We geeked out over Alcatrazz when their first record came out and have been fans eversince. I refused to listen to "V" when it came out two years ago because Bonnett wasn't on it, (Hey, that sort of rhymes.) Anyway, "Take No Prisoners" got a great review from a site for which I have tremendous respect, so I decided to give it a spin after the letdown that was "Drastic Symphonies." The first tune took my head off, and the quality and power just kept coming and coming. it really is a fantastic record. the key for me was getting out of my own head, and not thinking of the band as Alcatrazz. If the band had a different name, and the music was still this good, we wouldn't even be having this conversation. "Take No Prisoners" taught me a lesson. good music is good music no matter what name is on the label. I would say the same thing about Uriah Heep's new record, "Chaos in Colour" and Angel's new record, "Once Upon a time." All three records are great, but you wouldn't need more than one hand to count the original members combined. Would love to hear your opinion once you get a chance to listen to it. Tonight, once I get off work, I am going to start my four-day weekend by cranking Alcatrazz - "V" which is the record that came out two years ago with the same lineup and that I completely dismissed out of hand without even giving it a shot.

[Him]

All good thoughts, Bob. I appreciate that reply. And you are right: the loss of an original isn't always the death knell for a band. Sabbath with Dio is a classic example . . . and I would add Corabi to the mix, much to some people's consternation, and even Heep with Shaw. But the results beyond that are spotty at best. I just find Bonnet so goofily unique and the spat rather odd (though not uncommon). And I also get your point about 'a new name, a new band', though I understand that, for them and countless others, the whole point at this stage in the game is name recognition. But I will give the album a listen based on your take.

And now, ladies and gentleman, I am about to eat a few bits of crow. I finally heard "Gods of War" off of the Spastic Sniffle Knees LP. That is one of my favorites off the original and about the only song on that album that had anything operatic or orchestral about it. It was a grand song, trapped in amber by the Thatcher and Reagan snippets and the old-timey (nowadays) laser and rocket sounds. But I loved it then. And I love it (the original) now, esp. on headphones or a good 5.1 or 7.1 set-up.

The new version? I absolutely love the kettledrums at the start and finish. I actually wish that the RPO had gone with more of that soundscape. I also like some of the orchestral overlays that were added. I am glad they kept the Thatcher and Reagan parts as well, no less those lasers and rockets. Thing is, those latter portions are buried way deep in the mix, almost suffocated by the new orchestration. And some of what made the original epic, esp. in the case of the chorus, is now rendered rather paradoxically subdued by the take that the RPO took. Is it a great take on the original? No. But it has some incredible segments. That won't really change my overall stance. But I figured I should note that, at least in this case and only in certain parts therein, there were some interesting elements that gave the song a new lease on life. Like I always say, I am more than willing to admit when I get something wrong, in whole or (in this instance) part.

Again, Bob, thanks for that reply. It has gotten a bit quieter on this site in recent months. Beyond me and Bkallday squabbling and making up, and Fletch (and his nom de plumes) having internal dialogues that he shares with us in between biting moments of clarity, it has been a touch quiet. Your input is greatly needed and, again, appreciated.