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Title
Songs From The Sparkle Lounge
OK all Def Leppard fans - you can breathe easy. Despite the collaboration with Tim McGraw, they haven't gone country ! In actual fact I don't think there was much impact on their trademark sound for 'Nine Lives', the single he co-wrote and sings on. Despite sounding a little like the stones during the opening, it soon goes back into more familiar territory - much like the rest of the album.
Opener 'Go' is clearly trying to reflect Hysteria's production values ( no Mutt this time around ) with it's big guitar hook and voice over. 'Nine Lives' is reasonably catchy while 'Cmon Cmon' has something very Glitter Band or Bay City Rollers about the percussion and yet still reminds me of 'Rocket'.
Def Leppard are well known for their epic ballads, usally of outstanding quality and often a linchpin their albums hang upon. Unfortunately 'Love' fails miserably in this department and what the hell is with the giant guitar crash at the start? If they thought that this would contrast against the song's acoustic sound to give it a bigger feel then they need their heads examining. As a whole this track stinks!
'Tomorrow' ( written by Collen about the loss of his father ) with it's U2 sounding opening is better. MUCH better. It needed to be because the next song 'Cruise Control' I found boring. Thankfully 'Hallucinate' is a nice rocker, much like 'Don't Shoot Shotgun' or 'Action Not Words'.
The cover of 'Songs From The Sparkle Lounge' contains some interesting faces and parodies Sgt. Pepper. Apparently the 'Sparkle Lounge' was a backstage rehearsal area the guys had set up to write in during their last tour, one on which they clearly decided it was time to write some more lyrics about the sad loss of Steve Clark. "You will always be here" sings Joe Elliott during 'Only The Good Die Young'.
'Bad Actress' is as close as Def Leppard get to doing some Aerosmith or GnR style sleeze. It has some good soloing and if played with the same dirty attitude could be an instant live crowd pleaser. 'Come Undone' is very bombastic and maybe "Come on in for the freak show parade" says just a little about what it's like to have been in the media spotlight for all the wrong reasons.
'Gotta Let It Go' leaves you fealing unsure about your time in the 'Sparkle Lounge'. While the album as a whole reflects alot of what once made this band great, ultimately it dissapoints. Maybe this is one that will grow - but I'm still waiting ...
MOO!pmsbull
CURRENT LINEUP :
Vocals - Joe Elliott
Guitar - Phil Collen
Guitar - Vivian Campbell
Bass - Rick Savage
Drums - Rick Allen
Go
Nine Lives
Cmon Cmon
Love
Tomorrow
Cruise Control
Hallucinate
Only The Good Die Young
Bad Actress
Come Undone
Gotta Let It Go