Lizpire Records: A place for music geeks. . .: February 2013

Saturday, February 23, 2013

"Duran Duran"... aka "The Wedding Album"

Yes, folks, another post about Duran Duran.

This is a great friggin' album. I've been jamming to it all week. And it just so happens, that today marks the 20th Anniversary of its release. Yep, this album is 20 years old. Duran Duran's seventh studio album and second self-titled album, Duran Duran (more commonly known as The Wedding Album), was released on February 23, 1993. The cover art features wedding photos from the parents of the four band members (Nick Rhodes, Simon Le Bon, John Taylor, and Warren Cuccurullo).

This is the album that saved Duran Duran.

The Wedding Album helped pave the way for the band's success in the 1990's and beyond.

Instead of giving a track-by-track analysis, I'm just going to post the full album.

I will say this, though: This is a brilliant album. I think this is one of their best... and definitely one of my favorites. It's versatile, jazzy, emotional, and funky. A few of the songs also display some sass/lyrical aggression. It's full of upbeat, dance-oriented songs... the drums are clean, and the bass lines are fabulous. Warren Cuccurullo's guitar playing on this album rocks. Simon Le Bon's vocals are superb and not overdone. Nick Rhodes is still a synth God. The two ballads, "Ordinary World" and "Come Undone" are the two break-out singles on this album. Both beautiful and emotional... yet haunting. Both songs are fully equipped with great hooks and amazing choruses. Also, "Ordinary World" is the song that revived Duran Duran's career in the 90s. (It's also one of my all-time fave D2 songs.) D2 also does a cover of The Velvet Underground's/Lou Reed's "Femme Fatale"... and it's absolutely amazing!

There is not a bad song on this album... even the worst song isn't bad. Each track is unique, both musically and lyrically.

Tracklisting:

*01) "Too Much Information" 00:00 *02) "Ordinary World" 04:56 03) "Love Voodoo" 10:36 04) "Drowning Man" 15:34 05) "Shotgun" 20:49 *06) "Come Undone" 21:42 07) "Breath After Breath" 26:21 08) "UMF" 31:19 9) "Femme Fatale" 36:51 10) "None of the Above" 41:13 11) "Shelter" 46:31 12) "To Whom It May Concern" 50:55 13) "Sin of the City" 55:19

(*Album's 1st single, *Albums's 2nd single, *Album's 3rd single)

(A fun little tidbit: John Taylor didn't play bass on "Come Undone", and that's something he still regrets to this day! Source: "In The Pleasure Groove" - John's book)

If you do not own this album... you need to go buy it. NOW!

Peace, Love, & Duran Duran,

~Lizzy Lepp

Friday, February 15, 2013

Def Leppard to play at Hellfest Open Air Festival!

This June, Def Leppard will be playing France for the first time in nearly 17 years!!!

Def Leppard will be playing at the Hellfest Open Air Festival on Friday, June 21, 2013. (Main stage 1)

For more information, visit the Hellfest website: http://www.hellfest.fr/

Get your tickets here: http://www.hellfest.fr/tickets

Peace, Love, & Def Leppard,

~Lizzy Lepp

Saturday, February 9, 2013

Today is my Bass God's birthday!!!!

My Bass God is Rachel Bolan.

Birth name: James Richard Southworth

Rachel Bolan is the bassist and main songwriter for Skid Row. He's also the co-founder of Skid Row. Rachel is also a music producer. He's also my favorite bassist of all-time. Yep, he's my Bass God! Rachel has dabbled with a few side projects as well (Prunella Scales and The Quazimotors). He's a damn good singer, too!

Rachel Bolan is the reason why I have a handful of bass guitars. He's also the reason why I got my nose pierced... it's all about that nose ring chain. Ohhhhh yes! I find him to be very inspiring; Music-wise and image-wise. I've been listening to Skid Row since I was a kid, but the massive love I have for them didn't fully occur until I was in high school. Yeah, the obsession pretty much started there. I had always been drawn to Rachel; The nose ring chain, the way he dressed... and the fact that he sometimes looked as if he had just crawled out of a sewer somewhere (same goes with the rest of the late 80s/early 90s Skid Row lineup) but still managed to look unbelievably hot. He fascinated me. That's a rockstar! I liked his attitude. I liked that he didn't give two f*cks about what anyone else thought of him. I'm a big fan of that. But it wasn't until high school that I could fully appreciate all of those qualities. I decided to Google him one day... and boy, was I in love! Everything I read was perfect. Absolutely perfect. Aquarius (me too!) Loves classic punk rock (me too!) LOVES The Ramones (ME TOO!) Yankees fan (me too! Well, I was... not so much anymore, but I still root for them.) He digs T. Rex/Marc Bolan (ME TOO!) (hence where he got his last name from). Similar personality traits... the more I kept reading, the more I kept saying to myself, "Dude... we're like the same person..." He's a tad crazier than I am... drinks/parties more than I do... and loves racing cars... among other stuff... but other than that, we are almost the same person (different genders, of course!). I thought to myself, "Finally... someone on this planet who speaks my language!"

(Photo taken by me! Santa Clara, 2011)

Also, the music he helps create and the lyrics he writes are amazing. A lot of Skid Row songs have helped get me through some things and I will forever be grateful for that. It's really hard to try and articulate the admiration I have for this man... you just have to know me, to fully understand. I think Rachel Bolan is one of the coolest people on this planet... and one bad ass mofo! Also, he's friggin' gorgeous. So gorgeous.

(My favorite tattoo ♥)

I've heard that you should never meet your idols/heroes (and blah, blah, blah), but when I met Rachel (and the rest of the Skids) a few years ago, it was the greatest night of my life. I was absolutely terrified. I had heard of some not-so-nice "fan encounters" with Rachel, and I didn't want to piss him off. But then I realized, I've got this. Treat him how I'd like to be treated... if you bug him during dinner (etc), of course he's going to be in a bitchy mood. Let him do his thing, and when he's ready to mingle or whatever, then make your move. It's all about respect... he IS human, you know! Anyway, he was absolutely precious. PRECIOUS! And he approached me. Yeah, that's right... and that rarely ever happens. Apparently, word got around that I was dying to meet him (or something?)... yeah, I was speechless. After he was finished eating, he came back and went straight to moi for a picture. I got a picture, a hug, an autograph, and I got to tell him everything I've ever wanted to tell him. And I did it all in a professional manner. Shocking. However, 2 minutes later, I found myself in tears. It was stupid. But I couldn't help it. I met one of my idols.

That was also the night I realized that I wanted to be a music journalist. Talking to the Skid Row guys came so easily to me. They were no longer idols or heroes... they became people you could hang with or have a beer with. (I wrote an entire essay on this night and about RB/SR for an English class a few years back *I got an A+*... if I get enough nudges I might blog it.)