May 2024 Purchases – Some CDs and One 7″ Single

May wasn’t a drastic month for music purchases, but I found some cool stuff. I guess, I was in the mood for taking risks because I purchased a few albums from bands that are out of my comfort zone. I also picked up a special item for my Def Leppard collection, which I didn’t even know existed in Hawaii. With all that said, let’s get on with the music!

Towards mid to late April, I ordered Dirty Honey’s self-titled debut studio album from 2021, the 2011 reissue of Clutch’s Blast Tyrant (2004), which includes their Basket of Eggs album as a bonus disc; and Clutch’s Psychic Warfare (2015) album. In my opinion, Clutch are a bluesy, stoner rock band. Neil Fallon’s lead vocals are different from my usual taste, but I have to prepare for something that I don’t want to spoil yet. Let’s just say, it involves Rival Sons, as well. All three purchases were from Amazon and arrived on May 6.

Five days later, I encountered Lynyrd Skynyrd’s Twenty (1997) album at the Book Off in Pearlridge for $15, which seems nuts for a used album. However, it was in great condition and I ordered it from Amazon previously, but instead, they sent me a cracked, empty CD case. At that point, I didn’t care how much it was, I just wanted the dang album because I freaking love “Voodoo Lake.”

Then, I hit it “big” on May 25 because I found stuff at two stores! At Barnes & Noble in Ala Moana, I had Motörhead’s Another Perfect Day (1983) on hold, so I picked that one up, along with Blackberry Smoke’s Find a Light (2018) and their latest release, Be Right Here (2024). Like Clutch, these are two bands that don’t fall in my usual music tastes. Why did I purchase albums from them? First of all, Motörhead has a track called “Die You Bastard!” and given my personality, I had to get a physical copy of a song with that bada** title. Second of all, The Black Crowes are friends with Blackberry Smoke; in fact, I read that Chris Robinson came up with their band name. Plus, with drummer Brit Turner’s passing in March, I figured it was time to check them out for real, rather than half-heartedly listen to their songs occasionally.

After leaving Ala Moana, I had a slight urge to visit Hungry Ear Records in Kakaʻako. I found a used copy of Led Zeppelin’s Presence (1976), which includes “Achilles Last Stand” and “Nobody’s Fault but Mine.” A used copy of Poison’s Open Up and Say… Ahh! (1988) was also up for grabs, which I almost passed up on. For $6, I mostly bought it for nostalgia purposes; Poison were one of the first few bands I got into when I made the switch to rock music during my sophomore year of college. The third album of the bunch was Iron Maiden’s Dance of Death (2003). I half-heartedly checked out the album four years ago and liked what I heard, but I wasn’t all in, until I discovered “Journeyman,” the album’s closing track, right before Easter 2024.

Back in late March, Rival Sons announced they were reissuing their third studio album, Head Down (2012) and would be available on May 24. That was good and bad for me. Good, because that was the only studio album of theirs that I was missing from my collection. Bad, because at the time, I told myself I wasn’t going to spend money on albums for the rest of the year, which didn’t last long. Flash forward to the night I got back from Hungry Ear Records, where I finally ordered the album on CD through the band’s website for $15; it arrived a week later on June 1. Technically, these last two purchases aren’t from May, but I’m still counting them anyway because it’s my blog and I can do whatever I want! 

When I was at Hungry Ear Records, I spotted a 7” single for Def Leppard’s “Pour Some Sugar on Me” for $5. I couldn’t believe my eyes because I’m a kid from a different era that grew up on Barney & Friends and Clifford the Big Red Dog, and there right in front of me was a 7” single from the ‘80s! However, I made the stupid mistake of not purchasing it then because I’m not a vinyl person and had no idea what the heck I was going to do with it. But, after thinking about the record nonstop, I asked Hungry Ear Records to put the single on hold for me and picked it up on June 2.

“Pour Some Sugar on Me” isn’t my favorite Def Leppard song, but it means so much to me because I sang it all the time while walking to my college classes (before the pandemic hit). My first three years of college, especially from spring 2018 to fall 2019, were some of the best times of my life, therefore, that song brings back a lot of happy memories for me. I have the U.S. version, so the B-side is “Ring of Fire,” which was later released on Retro Active (1993).

There you have it, people! Those are my music purchases for May 2024. Was it worth taking a chance on Blackberry Smoke, Clutch, and Motörhead? Yes, even for Motörhead because despite not being a fan of Lemmy Kilmister’s harsh and straightforward vocals, I can appreciate the instrumentation on Another Perfect Day.

As for the 7” single for “Pour Some Sugar on Me,” that is officially the coolest thing I have in my music collection now. I don’t care about playing it, to be honest, I just want to stare at it all day because I’m still in shock that I found not only a 7” single I’ve read about online, but one from my favorite band ever. Will this begin a newfound obsession of collecting Def Leppard 7” singles? I don’t think so, but never say never!

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Take care and see ya real soon!

Lana