Def Leppard has been putting out albums since 1980, but they can never be accused of rehashing the same stuff on new albums, like Iron Maiden. Thirty-one years after their debut, Def Leppard’s latest release is their first live one, Mirror Ball, a two-disc album with a DVD. It’s coming to us more than two decades late.
It gets off to the right start with “Rock! Rock! (Till You Drop),” and contains the obvious hits like “Animal,” “Too Late for Love,” “Foolin’,” “Love Bites,” “Pour Some Sugar on Me,” “Photograph,” “Hysteria,” “Armageddon It” and “Rock of Ages.” There is a way-too-short rendition of “Rocket,” which is inexcusable because I’ve seen them play ten-minute epic versions of that song that put the pavilion in a trance. They do, however, play a great version of “Bringin’ on the Heartbreak,” where you can really feel the “live” aspect to the song more than any other.
Regardless of Mirror Ball, I still don’t understand why they didn’t release a live album in their prime, after 1987’s Hysteria, or even Adrenalize. They certainly couldn’t have been waiting for the arrival of “C’Mon C’Mon” or other songs that sucked from the Sparkle Lounge – the tour this album came from. Back then, they didn’t have any problems putting out multiple live videos (those wonderful VHS tapes), so why not an album?
For those with file-finding skills, these aren’t the only live tracks out there. Years ago, awesome live tracks leaked onto shady file-sharing sites, many of which were better than the tracks on Mirror Ball. There’s even an unplugged version of “Pour Some Sugar on Me” floating around.
All in all, there are too many songs on this album that fans won’t care about. “Nine Lives,” anyone? When you hear “Kings of the World,” you’ll wonder if they also dress like Queen while ripping off their sound.
So, I asked the question last year, Is Def Leppard Cool? I can honestly say… no. They just have several great songs that we’ve been waiting to hear live.
There is no shortage of criteria for making a list of epic and creative rock songs, but with several lists floating around cyberspace, many of which include songs that few have ever heard, Gunaxin figured it will take a shot at this too. An epic and creative rock song is generally long, relatively popular, and doesn’t completely follow traditional song structures. It often veers into a completely different direction once or twice while maintaining its listenability and integrity.
1 Nights in White Satin – 1967 Moody Blues
The orchestra in this song sounds as if it could be the soundtrack to a movie, and you won’t want to turn it off during the poetry epilogue just because the instrumentals ended.
2 In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida – 1968 Iron Butterfly
Clocking in at 17:02, Iron Butterfly’s “In the Garden of Eden” certainly fits the criteria, but suffers from the fact that it’s not exactly the most pleasurable song to listen to in its entirety. You’ll find yourself wanting to take a break, or change the channel, and come back later after the extended solos. Regardless, Iron Butterfly went balls-out with this song, one that pretty much justified their existence. Plus, even Bart Simpson found it good enough to play a prank on the church organist by swapping in the notes to this classic.
3 Layla – 1970 Derek and the Dominos
Eric Clapton’s “Layla” is great for a two completely different reasons. It’s an extraordinarily high-energy rock song – about a girl – that also contains an instrumental good enough to be segmented out as a soundtrack to a mob movie’s death montage (Goodfellas). Another great thing? It sounds good slow, as Clapton showed during his Unplugged sessions.
4 Stairway to Heaven – 1971 Led Zeppelin
This is the biggest no-brainer on this list. Fans sometimes find themselves scrambling to discover a deeper meaning behind the lyrics, only to learn it’s simply about a woman getting everything she wants without giving back, as Robert Plant says.
5 Free Bird – 1974 Lynyrd Skynyrd
Here is another no-brainer, one that fans scream for — even at non-Skynyrd concerts. Like several others on this list, “Free Bird” starts out slow, remains slow, then turns into a musical Valhalla.
6 Bohemian Rhapsody – 1975 Queen
To think it was Wayne’s World that brought this song to the mainstream after years of cult status in Queen’s catalog of hits. Part ballad, part opera, part rock song, this song is Freddie Mercury’s masterpiece.
7 Paradise by the Dashboard Light – 1977 Meat Loaf
Generally a song about premarital teenage sexual relations isn’t one that will get elevated to epic status, but Meat Loaf’s multi-layered masterpiece paints a very vivid picture even through the ol’ baseball-to-lovemaking comparison.
8 Rime of the Ancient Mariner – 1984 Iron Maiden
This is one that often gets overlooked, just as Iron Maiden generally does when it comes to quality bands. Iron Maiden has a handful of songs that could’ve been considered for this list, including “The Clansman,” “When The Wild Wind Blows” and “Paschendale,” but it was “Mariner” that elevated these Brits from another ’80s hair metal band to poetic intellectuals. The subject matter, which is something ordinarily taught in a high school honors English class, is just the silver lining of the song structure, which is filled with both conventional rock and a poem break. It clocks in at 13:33, but does not feel that long.
9 One – 1989 Metallica
Metallica’s war epic based on Dalton Trumbo’s 1939 novel Johnny Got His Gun starts off with artillery sound effects and a slow intro. Eventually we get to the part where James Hetfield screams “LANDMINE” as the bombs explode and the stage falls apart. This is a staple at all Metallica concerts.
10 November Rain – 1992 Guns n’ Roses
Axl Rose and company had several major hits on their first few albums, but “November Rain” was the only one that really seemed to be more than one song. Starting off softly, “Rain” is a ballad throughout Part I. But after nearly seven minutes, Slash starts jamming and it becomes an actual Guns n’ Roses song. Chiming in at 8:57 – most of which is the slow part – this is Guns n’ Roses’s “Stairway to Heaven.”
BONUS
Thriller – 1982
Michael Jackson
Though it’s technically pop music (as opposed to rock), this one belongs in a category of its own.
Are there others? Of course! But before you name any, remember the criteria.
The Washington Post just hired me for a six-month contract, where I’ll be a systems consultant and also work on categorization for their new CMS. This will be the first time I’ll be working outside their editorial department because this is an IT job.
This is also the fourth time I’ll be working with The Post. I started there in Oct. 1998 and left in Oct. 2005. They called me back a few months after I left for contract work, and that lasted until early 2007. Then, the corporate office hired me back in March for a short project.
A few months ago one of my Caps Outsider readers suggested we do a post on casting each Washington Capital as a Star Wars character. That’s exactly the type of thing I enjoy doing but if I wanted to do it right, it would take some time. A few months later, with some help, I got around to it.
The response on Twitter was excellent. People told me that they laughed out loud and it made their week. I was glad, but the only ones who knew about it were my Twitter followers and those who got it through a retweet or put it on Facebook. In other words, it didn’t go viral, relatively speaking.
Unfortunately, my colleagues who speak to a much larger audience than me choose not to link to it. They’ve linked to plenty of stuff I’ve written before, but not this. I really don’t know why, other than the fact that it’s not serious, but that hasn’t stopped them from linking to my articles in the past. Regardless, not getting those links cost it thousands of views. That I’m sure of.
While I’m glad so many of my own Twitter followers enjoyed this video, I know it won’t become what it could be if I don’t impress just a few key people. When that doesn’t happen, it’s extremely disappointing.
And like so many other things in life, that’s just the way it is.
There are many songs about the end of the world, or at least ones that allude to it, but most of them don’t really fit the scene for the last hour of humanity on Earth. Like in a film, we’ve gotta score it properly. But since we don’t want to hire a composer, like John Williams or Danny Elfman (because the end of the world will be a cartoonish Tim Burton-imagined drama with Johnny Depp as the Antichrist), Gunaxin will set up speakers and DJ the remaining hour as people are running out to the streets and barfing blood as a horrible virus wipes out mankind in the middle of a nuclear war, alien invasion and coming of the Messiah.
We’ll spare you REM’s “It’s the End of the World As We Know It” because if that’s playing, we’ll be looking at our watches and asking what’s the holdup. Also, we won’t be taking requests, because the timing is too important, as the last song must end for the last man standing to hear (which means more people will actually be around to hear the earlier ones, so the last one could be “Who Let the Dogs Out” but too few will be around to give a damn).
T-minus 51:35
Don’t Fear the Reaper
Blue Öyster Cult
We’ll start off with an obvious one, at least to the older folks who know this as something other than that ‘MORE COWBELL’ song. This was used in the TV adaptation of Stephen King’s The Stand when the virus escaped. It worked well there and it’ll be a great opening song for this final event. Here’s how it’ll play out:
World population: 6,750,000,000
T-minus 46:30
Brave New World
Iron Maiden
It’s still early and despite the sirens, car crashes, and bodies piling up, not everyone is aware of what’s going on. This song will get them off their sofas. They’ll look out the window to the park where they’ll see, DYING SWANS…
World population: 3,337,500,000
I’d also like to bring up the point that most of Iron Maiden’s music fits in well with the end of the world chaos. If we had to choose one band to play the Final Concert, it’d be these Brits. Check out Gunaxin’s Best Iron Maiden Songs You Haven’t Heard.
T-minus 40:12
Hangar 18
Megadeth
Thought we’d pick “Symphony of Destruction”? Nope, this one’s better. Plus, it’s because aliens invade and help obliterate us.
World population: 168,750,000
T-minus 35:01
When the Levee Breaks
Led Zeppelin
This one is for those who either live below sea level or on the coast. It’s what would’ve been playing – on repeat – if Gunaxin was the DJ during Hurricane Katrina.
World population: 84,375,000
T-minus 27:53
Creeping Death
Metallica
This song is about the tenth plague of Egypt in the Torah. It’s been centuries since the Angel of Death crawled across the land taking first born man. This time, Death is being far less selective about who it takes and doesn’t care about lambs’ blood on the door.
World population: 42,187,500
T-minus 21:17
The Last Day on Earth
Marilyn Manson
Yeah, I know, way too obvious, but after all, it is Manson, and who better than the Antichrist Superstar to get airplay as fire and brimstone rains down?
World population: 21,093,750
T-minus 16:16
No One’s There
Korn
Korn, too, is a band that deserves some airplay, and we’ll select this song amongst a bunch of other great ones. We would’ve selected “Hollow Life” but the destruction of humanity pretty much answers the question Where is God?
World population: 10,546,875
T-minus 11:10
In the End
Linkin Park
Another obvious song, but the tone is right as we dip in population below ten million worldwide.
World population: 5,273,438
T-minus 7:34
A Warm Place
Nine Inch Nails
NIN has a few songs that could’ve been considered, but we’ll select one that captures the perfect tone of how things are toward the end.
World population: 2,636,718
T-minus 4:12
1812 Overture
Tchaikovsky
A global deadly virus. Nuclear war. Aliens. Messiah. Whatever. Let’s end with a blast.
World population: 0
If you are seriously curious about what happens to our beloved planet after that, you can find the answers here.
