As requested, here’s “LEPPARDMANIA : A Tribute To Def Leppard“, which reunited the L.A. hard rock / metal royalty to pay tribute to British icons Def Leppard.
This is a pretty fun cover / tribute album – it’s always cool to hear interpretations from artists who come from the same era and similar genre, who generally do like the songs they are covering, because that produce the best results. Among the musicians involved we find Kelly Hansen of Foreigner, Paul Shortino of Rough Cutt, Jason McMaster of Dangerous Toys, John Corabi of The Dead Daisies, the great Joe Lynn Turner, Phil Lewis & Tracii Guns of L.A. Guns, the late Jani Lane of Warrant, and more.
Some versions are melodic as the originals, however many are done with that ‘dirty’ L.A. feeling, that’s the idea: give the songs an American hard rock edge.
This is the 2021 reissue featuring the good, original ‘Rock version’ of ”Rock, Rock (Till You Drop)’‘ performed by Kevin Dubrow of Quiet Riot – the previous release of LEPPARDMANIA included a horrible ‘techno / remix’.
As example, John Corabi delivers a kick ass version of ”Wasted”, rawer, more aggressive than the original. Joe Leste from Bang Tango serves a gritty performance for ”Rock Brigade”, and Kelly Hansen performance on “Rock Of Ages” has much more in common with his older days in Hurricane than his current in Foreigner.
Kory Clarke (Warrior Soul) version of “You Got Me Running” makes the song as intense as it could be. I couldn’t imagine a more metallic version that pumps you up like this one. Then there’s “Let It Go” featuring Jason McMaster (Dangerous Toys), and if you know this underrated rock vocalist you know how he can own and put his stamp on a song.
Jani Lane does a very nice job on ”Photograph”, and we like Joe Lynn Turner performance on “Mirror Mirror”.
As far as tribute albums go this is pretty damn good and worth picking up. An enjoyable homage to a great band by a cast of some great vocalists / musicians, giving the ‘American perspective’ to these outstanding rock songs.
Highly Recommended
01 – Phil Lewis of L.A. Guns – Pour Some Sugar On Me
02 – John Corabi of The Dead Daisies – Wasted (feat. Tracii Guns)
03 – Joe Lesté of Bang Tango – Rock Brigade
04 – Jani Lane of Warrant – Photograph (feat. E. Turner & J. Dixon of Warrant)
05 – Kevin Dubrow of Quiet Riot – Rock, Rock (Till You Drop) [Rock Version]
06 – Stevie Rachelle of Tuff – Too Late For Love
07 – Steve Whitman of Kix – Foolin’
08 – Kelly Hansen of Foreigner – Rock of Ages
09 – Phil Lewis of L.A. Guns – Bringin’ On The Heartbreak
10 – Jason McMaster of Dangerous Toys – Let It Go
11 – Jizzy Pearl of Love/Hate – High & Dry
12 – Kory Clarke of Warrior Soul – You Got Me Running
13 – Paul Shortino of Rough Cutt – On Through The Night
14 – Icarus Witch – Mirror Mirror (feat. Joe Lynn Turner)