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June CD Reviews

© Chad Bowar

Each month I'll be reviewing my favorite new CD's of the past 30 days. It doesn't matter if it's on a major label, independent label, or no label at all. I just have to have it so I can listen to it! If you are a record label or musician and would like your new release considered for review, send it to me: Chad Bowar, Suite 101.com Pop Music Editor, PO Box 1723, Rapid City, SD 57709. Here are this month's best new CDs, in no particular order:

Def Leppard--Euphoria
I'm not ashamed to admit it. I love 80's hair metal. Ever since alternative exploded in the early 90's it has been very uncool and cheesy to say you like hair bands. But it is making a comeback. A lot of those acts are on the road and drawing big crowds. Def Leppard was one of the most successful acts of any genre in the 80's, selling over 10 million copies of Hysteria and almost that many with Pyromania. The mid 90's saw Def Leppard try to update their sound with Slang, but it didn't really work.

It's now 1999, and Def Leppard is back, and sounding great. Euphoria is a return to the Hysteria sound. If you are a Def Lep fan, you will love this album. There are some rockers, a ballad or two, and even an instrumental. The first single, "Promises", should be a radio hit, but won't be. In today's teeny bopper oriented pop world, these old rockers just won't make it on MTV Jams. If you liked Def Leppard way back when, pick up Euphoria and relive your wasted youth!

For more Def Leppard info, visit their official site: http://www.defleppard.com

Spin Doctors--Here Comes The Bride
The Spin Doctors came upon the scene with a bang back in the early 90's with hits like "Little Miss Can't Be Wrong" and "Two Princes". Their subsequent albums weren't as successful, either commercially or critically. I can't tell you if Here Comes the Bride will be commercially successful, but it is definitely their best album since Pocket Full of Kryptonite.

Here Comes the Bride has the Spin Doctors signature rock style, but throws in some unexpected sonic and rhythmic curves. You'll hear influences drawn from pop, funk, jazz, rap, Latin, and sometimes all one cut.

The Spin Doctors hadn't releases a new album in over 3 years, and the band has changed a lot since then. Lead singer Chris Barron and drummer Aaron Comess wrote most of the album. Barron says "I'd go over to Aaron's house and he'd have been up all night recording these crazy, beautiful tracks he was composing off the top of his head. I'd sit there and come up with lyrics and a melody. After a month or two we listened back and realized that the music was moving in a cohesive direction."

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