Guilty pleasures
Let it rock, yeah, let it roll
Let it, let it go
You gotta, let it rock, let it roll
Yeah just let it goSlow down, hold on
You’re too fast, you’re too strong
Take it easy, take it slow
Make it last, don’t let goLet It Go, Def Leppard
Yeah, I’m a secret Def Leppard fan. What of it? And that is not an example of a favorite song, or anything, just what happened to be playing when I decided to start writing this entry.
I spent much of middle school and part of high school obsessing over Joe Elliott and the rest of the boys. Hysteria got me through an entire grade of school.
I started revisiting Def Leppard on my iPod recently at work. Well, one album was all I can take for now.
But I marveled at how much I loved their earlier albums, and how I still think they’re great today.
It takes a lot for me to admit my Leppard love these days. It’s not something I’m usually proud to share. I even went to one of their concerts llooooonnnng after their prime, in the Slang days. Basically because I could, and I hadn’t quite given up on them.
That album was crap. I was trying to love it, but it was crap.
Some might, in fact all might, argue that all Def Leppard is crap. Not me.
I think part of my love for their first four albums (On Through the Night, High N Dry, Pyromania and Hysteria) comes from nostalgia. I listened to Hysteria constantly as I read two of my favorite books for the first time. Now my readings of those books, and my listenings to the album, are both colored by that time in my life.
Memory is a powerful thing. What is it about songs, sounds, smells, that can return us to a time and place?
I want to hear from other people. What are some of your guilty pleasures? I have a lot of one-hit wonders glowing radioactively in my iPod. Maybe I’ll share those with you in another post. Let this one be about a particular band that you love, but are somewhat ashamed of. Or an entire album.
Oh man, guilty pleasures.
I’ll have to say a Hall & Oates Best of is right up there on the list. “One on one, I wanna play that game tonight…” But hey. They have a couple of songs (”Maneater” comes to mind right now) that have saxophone solos, and thus, I was exposed to them a *lot* as a kid. Over and over and over again, as my dad would teach himself the solos. That’s also how I came into some Grover Washington Jr. (”Winelight”) and Rusty Bryant (”Night Train.” Now, *that’s* an actual good song. Night Train. Jazz experts agree. Winelight is an acquired taste. Acquired in the dentist’s office. With a big drill in one’s mouth.)