VIDEO'S OF THE WEEK: VIVIAN CAMBELL

[Niels (Mod)]

VOTW - VIVIAN CAMBELL SpecialI like posting video's with musicians, that have been involved with several great bands through time, and Cambell is one of those. Vivian Patrick Campbell (born 25 August 1962) is a Northern Irish rock guitarist who is a member of Def Leppard and was a member of Thin Lizzy from May 2010 to November 2011. Prior to joining Def Leppard in February 1992 after Steve Clark died the previous year in January, he had been a member of Whitesnake, Sweet Savage, Trinity, Riverdogs, and Shadow King. He first rose to prominence in 1982 as the guitarist of the band Dio. I first became aware of him, when I bought "Holy Diver" in the spring of '83. He sounded like a very promissing guitarist to me then, but honestly, I don't think he has developed in to something greater than the debut.SWEET SAVAGE -EYE OF THE STORM Sweet Savage are a metal band from Belfast, Northern Ireland, formed in 1979. Since forming in 1979, Sweet Savage have released three studio albums, three singles and one demo.Considered one of the pioneers of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal movement alongside acts such as Iron Maiden, Saxon, Motörhead and Def Leppard. However, even though they were often considered among the forerunners of the NWOBHM movement, success eluded them and they disbanded shortly after 1982.The band reformed in 1984 with a different line-up, but did not last long. Sweet Savage was once again reformed in the 90's due to Metallica covering their song 'Killing Time' as a B side for their The Unforgiven single.DIO - DON'T TALK TO STRANGERS When Campbell joined Dio, Ronnie James Dio, Vinny Appice, and former Rainbow bassist Jimmy Bain had most of the songs to the album Holy Diver already written including, "Don't Talk to Strangers (song)". With the global search for a guitarist now concluded, this finalized the band's first line up. The album was a success and included Dio's biggest hit, "Rainbow in the Dark". A concert video, called In Concert, from this tour was released. The band also played at The Monsters Of Rock festival in 1983.Dio returned to the studio to write and record the follow-up to Holy Diver. This album was called The Last in Line and charted at #23 in the US. "The Last in Line", "We Rock" and "Mystery" all became radio hits. A concert video from this tour called A Special From The Spectrum was released.The follow-up Sacred Heart was also a success, and managed to peak at #29 in the U.S. It featured the hits "Rock N Roll Children" and "Hungry For Heaven", the second of which was also included on the soundtrack to the film Vision Quest. Also around this time the band recorded the song "Hide in the Rainbow" for the Iron Eagle soundtrack, the last song Campbell would record with Dio. A live EP Intermission was also released. Craig Goldy played on the disc's only studio song "Time to Burn" and over-dubbed the rhythm parts on the live tracks. Campbell and the band parted company in 1986 and he joined Whitesnake. He was replaced by Goldy.WHITESNAKE - GIVE ME ALL YOUR LOVE In 1987 Campbell joined the British hard rock band Whitesnake. Ex-Thin Lizzy and Tygers of Pan Tang guitarist John Sykes wrote and played the lead and rhythm parts on the multiplatinum-selling album simply titled Whitesnake but was fired by the band's leader, David Coverdale, after recording was completed. Campbell was recruited to replace Sykes in the new, glammed-up Whitesnake Coverdale had put together to conquer MTV and American audiences; other members included Adrian Vandenberg, formerly of Teaser and Vandenberg, Tommy Aldridge of Ozzy Osbourne and Black Oak Arkansas fame, and Rudy Sarzo, who had become hugely successful playing with Ozzy Osbourne and Quiet Riot. While he didn't record an album, he replaced John Sykes' guitar solo on the "Give Me All Your Love" 1988 single remix. Campbell was fired from Whitesnake after the band's 1987-1988 world tour.RIVERDOGS - TOY SOLDIER Following an introduction to guitarist Vivian Campbell, formerly of Sweet Savage, Dio, and Whitesnake, Campbell agreed to produce Riverdogs' first demo. Vivian was so impressed by their talent, he joined the band for their debut-album, released on Epic Records in 1990,winning a prestigious Edison Award in The Netherlands. Soon after, drummer Marc Danzeisen joined the band to complete the line-up. Though fans and critics gave the album a warm reception, lack of support from their record label eventually led the band members to go their own way, with Campbell settling into the Def Leppard lineup and Nick Brophy becoming a respected engineer and producer, working with artists Rolling Stones, Avril Levine, Hootie and the Blowfish, and Kip Moore. The band still gets together to play for fun and eventually record new songs.DEF LEPPARD - ALL I WANT IS EVERYTHING In 1992, Campbell joined the rock band Def Leppard, after the release of their Adrenalize album. He replaced Steve Clark, who died on the 8th of January 1991. According to fellow guitarist Phil Collen, Campbell was able to lock right into the position very naturally by simply being himself. Campbell made his debut with the band by playing a show in a Dublin club to approximately 600 people. A week later, 20 April 1992, the band took the stage at the Freddie Mercury Concert for Life, with their new guitarist. "All I Want Is Everything" is a 1996 song from the album Slang. The song is about a man living with AIDS/HIV. It reached #38 on the U.K. Singles Chart.R.J.DIO SLAMS VIVIAN CAMBELL

[RJhog (Admin)]

Eye - Wow, what a crappy video.  And I'm referring to the video quality and whoever was holding the camera.  You couldn't point the camera at the guitarist during the solo?  Anyway, I guess that was Cambpell on the far left.  It was hard to tell. I don't think the song was particularly good.  The bass was, and it sounded like there was some shredding going on, but the quality was just bad.

Don't Talk - That was really cool when he said "down" and the lights flashed out into the audience.  Way cool. There is no doubt that Campbell can play.  His solo here is terrific.  And of course, so was Dio.  I just wish they had been a part of my music collection back then.  

Give Me - Whitesnake, at this time, was the epitome of a "hairband".  They had tons of hair.  And they really ruled MTV for a year or two.  This isn't one of my favorite tracks of theirs, but it's okay.  Man, we loved this stuff back then, and it looks so awful now.

Toy Soldier - Never heard this before.  But I think it's fairly good.  If I had heard it back when it came out, I definitely would have been a fan.  Imagine having a band that a star like Campbell wanted to produce, then he says he wants to join the band.  You have to think you've gotten your big break, then your album does nothing and your chance is over.  Kind of sad if you think about it.

All I Want - This is a great, very underrated song in the DL catalog.  I love the guitar that, from the video, it looks like Campbell is playing, that runs through the entire song.  And that's a short but excellent, melodic solo.  I think he's where he belongs with DL.  They seem to mesh really good in the studio as well as on the stage.  Hopefully he continues to beat this cancer thing.

Slam - Hmmm...I guess there was some bad blood.  

Nice pick this week Nielster.

[Scott]

Seen him play live with Dio on the Sacred Heart tour before he got fired.  Actually had the pleasure of working with a friend for the caterer that night, so I got to stock the dressing rooms and the buses.  Seen him warming up in an adjacent room and getting a chance hear that was a highlight for me.  I had no idea what was going on in the band at the time, but whatever!  That was freaky cool!

EYE OF THE STORM ... Bad quality didn't help a so-so tune.

DONT TALK TO STRANGERS ... Wow!  Thats the Vivian Campbell I like!  Wouldn't it be cool to see him rip into a shred fest like that with Leppard on stage?  They may fire him mind-tour also!  Make me want to revisit that Last In Line album...

GIVE ME ALL YOUR LOVE ...  Well you can certainly see a difference in his stage presence.  He's clearly been trained on what to do and how to work it.  Personally I like the vintage stuff better its raw and natural, not forced.  And while I like this song and this version of Whitesanke with Campbell and Vandenberg is talented beyond what any one band can handle, they had become too polished and too good looking for their own good.  I prefer Whitesnake up to Slide It In which is freaky good!  But who can blame them for capitalizing on the times!  Still its easy to see why Campbell didn't last in Whitesnake.  No guitar player did!  Too bad they just didn't stick it out with Lord and Marsden, the songwriting was far superior!

TOY SOLDIER ...  Never heard of em.  Definitely suffers from that thin 90s production value but it has a guitar solo!  So thats the differentiation.  And its a smokin one!  But the tune ends up being better than it started, but not enough to make anymore curious than this one track

ALL I WANT IS EVERYTHING ...  Im a Slang fan, I thought it was good step for the band and I think he firs the new image of the band very well.  Ive also seen him live with Leppard.  Hes just good, but again they need cut him loose, let him write something with aggression.  I still havent been able to bring myself to listen to their new one again, with all that talent they try too hard to recreate the past instead of embracing who they are now.