The Kind-Hearted Smart Aleck

While the first song I ever heard by Def Leppard was "Rocket" from Hysteria , the first new album I bought immediately after it was released was Adrenalize . The first single off said album was "Let's Get Rocked." At one point in the song, the following words are sung: "It was Chopin, Mozart, Beethoven. It makes me wanna scream. Bach, Tchaikovsky, violins - turn it off, that ain't my scene." Well, 31 years later, that is Def Leppard's scene - as they've teamed up with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra to produce their 14th album, Drastic Symphonies .  The British rock trio Muse has taken over the top spot as my all-time favorite band. One reason for that is their brilliant mesh of rock and classical music. There's just something about the combination of rock 'n' roll and orchestras which create an almost indescribably epic experience. Having said that, while I was excited to hear my former favorite band, Def Leppard, attempt to m...

I love the rock band Muse. They cause me what I call eargasms quite regularly. In light of their releasing an upcoming album in less than a week - The 2nd Law  - I've been on a Muse kick of late and have even tuned into their homepage and read some members' comments in the forum. Thanks to the band and iTunes, I was able to listen to a free stream of the new album in its entirety as of yesterday morning and have heard it twice all the way through now. I will refrain from providing a review until after I purchase the CD next Tuesday and turn it up full blast on my stereo. For the time being, though, I'll provide it a four-word description: Diverse, crazy and awesome. Excited about the new album, I was curious to read fellow fans' thoughts, feelings and reviews of it, so I went to the band's homepage and forum to read such commentary. I became a semi-regular on the site between one and two years ago (reading, not as much when it came to posting), when I saw the ba...