Musings on the Most Ridiculous Band I Can't Stop Listening To

Tag: def leppard

Run To The Hills

Oh, not Garcia’s guitars.

“What about them?”

Are they what’s being heisted?

“God, no. Dude. How could you even accuse me of being involved with that?”

Anything goes in a Murder Heist, Oteil.

“Well aware of the fact. But there’s some lines you don’t cross. Stealing Garcia’s guitars is like tugging on Superman’s cape, man.”

Okay, okay. What are they for, then?

“Funny twist in the Murder Heist: A large portion of the plan now takes place in a semi-adjacent trimension.”

Trimension?

“It’s like a dimension, but more triangular.”

Sure. Why the guitars?

“They contain Remnant Magicks. Combine that with a Time Sheath, and you can pretty much do whatever the hell you want.”

Uh-huh. And once you arrive in this new reality, you will…

“Meet my contact.”

Whose identity, I’m guessing, is as of now unknown to you.

“Good guess.”

I think you guys are taking the compartmentalization thing too far. None of you seems to know the overall goal.

“Nonsense.”

Who is to be murdered?

“Deserving subjects.”

And what is to be heisted?

“That which can be stolen.”

You have no idea.

“I have received a full situational briefing.”

Just admit it. Is there even a plan at all? For all I know, you nimrods are freelancing.

“There’s no need for name-calling.”

Y’know what? You’re right. I apologize.

“I can see you using that kind of language with Billy, but not me.”

Billy usually deserves it.

“Yeah.”

CELL PHONE NOISE

“I gotta take this. It might be someone calling to ask me to be on a podcast.”

You’ve been doing a lot of those.

“Dude, I’m so bored I could explode. Hold on.”

“This is Oteil, and you better keep it real.”

“Oi, we’re as real as an eel salad, me lad.”

“Are you my intertrimensional contacts?”

“That we are. We are roguish scoundrels ‘oo play fast an’ loose wiv th’ laws of man an’ th’ laws of physics.”

“Y’look a lot like Iron Maiden and Def Leppard in soccer uniforms.”

“No idea what that is, me lad.”

“They’re bands.”

“I haven’t th’ kippers what you’re on about. We are a scurvy crew of sexy brigands who go adventuring an’ get inta scrapes. We are not bound by the strictures of mathematics, and several o’ us can shoot poxy rays out their eyeballs.”

“Uh-huh.”

“I lead these men. You can call me Steve Harris.”

“Oh, come on.”

“What?”

“Are you telling me you’re not Iron Maiden?”

“We’re space pirates of time from beyond time and space.”

“And you just happen to look exactly like two of the biggest hard rock bands of the 80’s?”

“Young man, we still sell out arenas to this day.”

“What the fuck, man?”

“You caught us out. We was tryin’ t’ have a bit of a raspberry tart with you.”

“So you really are Maiden? You guys got a Time Sheath or something?”

“No. Double-twist: We actually a roving gang of reality-hopping troublemakers. But, uh, not the fun, heart-of-gold kind. We’re really into genocide. So we…well, I don’t wanna say ‘ate’ Iron Maiden and Def Leppard, because that would be technically wrong. And I also don’t wanna say we ‘assumed their forms’ because the process is so much more intricate than that phrase suggests. We’re them now. Let’s just leave it there: We’re them now.”

“I think I’d like to quit the Murder Heist and go home now.”

“Way too late. Wheels are in motion.”

“Shit.”

Heavy Question Time

Okay, Enthusiasts, contest time. Got a new, fun question for all you Rock Nerds out there: What song’s verse should have been its chorus? You know how Rock songs work, right? Opening bit, verse, chorus, verse, chorus, bridge, chorus solo, chorus, rehab. And the chorus is supposed to be the most exciting part. Your verse, that’s your log flume; and your bridge, there’s your bumping cars; but the chorus? That’s your rolly coaster right there. The chorus is what puts asses in seats, but sometimes things get all topsy-turvy in the recording studio and all the boner gets put in the verse instead of where it belongs.

An example:

Hear the verse? It’s all propulsive and forceful and nipple-hardening–there’s a Passion Killer on the loose, for fuck’s sake!–and then the chorus hits you like a swirling toilet of Queen-based harmonies. Where did Passion Killer go? Did Jeff Leppard ever get to touch her? She was the only one about whom he could make such a claim, at least according to Jeff, and I think we can trust a man wearing leg warmers over him leather trousers.

Another:

Quell tragique, mon Enthusiastiques! They build up such momentum during the verse–dig that crazy wah-wah pedal–and then the chorus hits WHAM like a brick wall of boredom. The verse could be a tune off an early Mott the Hoople record, but the chorus is cribbed from a late Air Supply album. Also: holy shit, these guys used to be the Bay City Rollers? Learn something new every day. Usually, the something is more useful, but we work in the dark in this life. Also also: white Gibson double-neck PLUS Rickenbacker bass for the win. Also also also: I can’t tell if the lead singer is cute or if he has Fetal Alcohol Syndrome.

Your task is in front of you, and I know this is a toughie, but goddammit I believe in you.

And I believe in America.

John Mayer: Joining All The Bands

john mayer def leppard

Always remember, Enthusiasts: in the grand scope of things, the Grateful Deads have aged with at least a modicum of dignity. Crazy, cranky, deaf, and hobbled, sure…but not this.

Not like this.

Holy shit. Just, you know: holy fucking shit, Def Leppard. What did you do to yourselves? (Not you, Lefty: I know what you did.)

Also: John Mayer, we are going to need to sit down and have a serious talk about accessories.