RSD Leppard

There really wasn't anything that I was excited about for this year's Record Store Day, but I still figured that I'd swing by the Bull Moose store around the corner from me to see what was shakin'. Due to COVID restrictions, only one person at a time was allowed to flip through the bins of RSD releases, so I had to stand in line as the clown in front of me took his time to pull out and examine every other record. From the sidelines I could see a live Def Leppard record in the bin so as soon as it was my turn that was the first one that I grabbed.

I can only hang with the first three Def Leppard albums, so when I saw the 1980 date of the show on the front cover, I figured that I'd take a chance and buy it. I'm so glad that I picked this one up, because this live album fucking rips.

The songs here only cover the first EP and the On Through The Night album, as well as early versions of a couple of other songs. The whole thing is electric as the songs jump off the vinyl. I could have easily passed on picking up this live record, but I'm so glad that I didn't. This record sounds great.

The look and layout of this package is fantastic.

Rock Of Ages

I went down a deep nostalgia hole last year, and it's one that I still can't seem to pull myself out of. Bands like Twisted Sister, Dokken, and Quiet Riot all made a big impact on me as a kid, with each one played a major role in leading me down the path to Heavy Metal and discovering heavier and faster bands. While I was excited to add records for each of those bands to my collection last year, there was still a major player that I was missing from my early metal years.

I remember AC/DC's For Those About To Rock album as the first legit metal album that I bought as a kid...that Motley Crue's Shout At The Devil was the first album that I'd bought without hearing a single song from it, diving into it completely blind...but right there commanding a lot of attention from me in those early days was Def Leppard's Pyromania. While it might seem hard to believe these days, but back in 1983, I didn't know a single person that had heard of Def Leppard. My brother and I saw the Rock Of Ages video on MTV, and we were immediately hooked. This was ours.

While Pyromania was a great introduction to heavy metal at the time, the album pales in comparison to the first two Def Leppard albums, On Through The Night and High And Dry...but back when I was thirteen years old, this album was huge.

I've been itching to cross this early introduction to metal from my want list. It would have been easy enough to just grab a copy from Discogs or eBay, but I figured that if I kept digging through the used bins at the local stores around town, sooner or later a copy would show up. At the end of last year, I finally found one...and at seven dollars, the price was right.

Record Store Day 2017 - Part 3: Get Your Rocks Off

When I set out for Record Store Day this year, there was one or two new releases that I wouldn't mind picking up. Nothing earth shaking...just a "nice to have". After things were a bust at the first Bull Moose store that I stopped at, and I walked out empty handed, I resigned myself to not picking up anything new. I called it a day, and headed home.

I was kind of surprised to not find the reissue of the first Def Leppard EP while I was making my rounds that morning. When I got home, and was going through my haul, on a whim, I decided to check the Bull Moose online store to see if they had any in stock. Much to my surprise, their location just a couple miles up the road from me had a few available. Oh hell, I might as well go out and grab it.

I've dreamed of grabbing an original 7 inch pressing of the first Def Leppard EP, but with a price tag around $200, it always put me off the chase. Grabbing this 12 inch reissue for under $15, felt like a much smarter move right now.