Episode 77 - Nothing but Staying in Your Lane

Mike runs his mouth about hearing a new Def Leppard song, watching the Grammys, why some bands age gracefully while others fight their past, and how knowing who you are matters more than chasing relevance. From Metallica sellout labels to depression medication commercials, comfort, cappuccinos, and why consistency beats rigidity — this one’s about learning when to stay in your lane… and when it’s okay to veer.

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Transcript

Def Leppard Sparks A Question

Mike 0:09

Alright, so you ever get bored of some of the music that you have on your playlist? So you sit and you scroll for stuff? Well, that's what I found myself doing the other day. And I saw that Def Leopard just recently released a song like a week and a half ago. I was kind of like, really? Like, they're still putting out music? So I'm listening to this song, and it's called Rejoice, if anybody's curious. And I'm listening to it, and my reaction isn't excitement, but it's actually shock. Like, how the hell are they still doing this? I mean, it's not like this band came out like two or three years ago. This band's been around since 1980. I don't think it'd be crazy for me to say that most of the people who are downloading their music now most likely first started listening to them on an A-track. So it kind of begs the question: are people still buying Def Leopard albums, or is this just one of those bands that is just trying to stay relevant? And no one should just try and stay relevant for the sake of being relevant. But here's the thing: it didn't sound desperate and it didn't sound like nostalgia bait. It just sounded like Def Leopard, just kind of slightly updated. And that's what threw me. And trust me, if anybody my age is gonna be talking about Def Leopard, it should be me. That was the first concert that I saw. I was like 13 years old. I will never forget seeing that old lady in a walker getting to her seat. That's how old the crowd around me was. But even though Joe Elliott can't seem to hit the highs he used to, instead of fighting it, he lives in harmonies now. And because Def Leopard was always about stacked vocals and melody, it still sounds full. It still sounds big, and it still sounds right, at least to my ears. And that's when it kind of clicked. They didn't stay relevant by staying the same, they stayed relevant by changing just enough. Because let's be real here, most of the big 80s bands just can't hack it anymore. And if you've listened to this podcast enough, you know that I've talked about this countless times. But I don't mean these 80s bands just lost the step. I mean it's actually rough. I mean, Vince Neal actually sounds like he's fighting with oxygen, let alone the fact that he's also fighting with gravity. And then David Lee Roth is pretty much just doing spoken word at this point with background noise. And I'm not saying this to be cruel, I'm saying it because Def Leopard proves that this didn't have to happen. And I think the real difference is just technique. Like a lot of those guys didn't have sustainable vocal technique, they just had the perfect voice for the era because the 80s rewarded high screams and strain. So if you could hit a note at that night, nobody cared if you'd still be able to do it at 60. And David Lee Roth, going back to him, I think he's honestly more of a baritone who just bullied his vocal cords into being a tenor. And I mean it worked for the time, but your body remembers that shit, and his voice just ended up keeping the receipts. Joe Elliott, on the other hand, didn't have to build his identity on how high he could scream. He built it on tone, harmony, and blend. So when the top end went away, he still had somewhere to live. He didn't have to fight time, he actually just made room for it. And I remember this weird window from like 2008 to 2012 where all these bands tried one more time, like they all just kind of put out one more album. I think it was in 2010 when Chinese Democracy came out. I don't know. Ladies, go get you a man who's obsessed with you in the same way that Axel Rose is obsessed with himself. I mean, talk about 10 years wasted on an album. Bro went through like five lineup changes just to put out a trash album. But then in 2008, Motley Crue put out an album which was actually pretty killer called Saints of Los Angeles. And then in 2012, Van Halen put out their comeback album called A Different Kind of Truth. And it's Van Halen, so the music was actually good, but the vocals, oh my god, they may as well have just had a bunch of guys in a nursing home get together and say, We're gonna make a band, because that's kind of how it sounded. But all these albums just felt like events, like, oh, here's one more statement before we accept what this is now, which is just downhill. But Def Leppard just never kind of did that. They kept calibrating. And honestly, Def Leppard kind of reminds me a lot of ACDC because ACDC's album Power Up went number one in like 20 countries back in 2020. And it's not because they reinvented anything, it's because they stayed in their lane and they executed it perfectly. It was just meant to be a tribute album, and that's all that it was. They didn't modernize, they didn't pivot, they just sounded like ACDC and they recorded well. Def Leopard does the exact same thing, just with a little bit more flexibility. They know who they are so well that even their adjustments still sound authentic. And that's where Guns N Roses kind of loses me with some of their newer stuff that they try to put out. Because it honestly sounds like they're trying to do too much. I remember they put out a song called Absurd and another one called Hard School, and it's like they're trying too hard to sound modern. And the weird part is there's so much music today, you don't need to sound like anybody else anymore. Trying to sound current is actually the fastest way I think to sound dated. And Metallica is one of the perfect examples of how this goes wrong because they changed their sound in the 90s and immediately get labeled as sellouts. Not because their music was bad, but is because of their fans it felt like a value shift. Thrash to Radio Rock didn't really feel like an evolution. Aggression to accessibility felt more like a compromise. The outsiders succumbing to the institution felt like betrayal. So whether that criticism was fair almost doesn't matter because fans don't react like critics. They react like people in a relationship. And now, in their newer albums, it sometimes feels like Metallica's trying too hard to prove that they didn't sell out. Like, look, fast rifts, double bass, we're still angry, blah blah blah. And it's like, guys, you don't have to cosplay your own past. Meanwhile, Def Leopard's doing just enough to stay relevant, to tweak and adjust their sound just right so they don't have to apologize. ACDC is just blatantly staying in their lane without any explanations, and Metallica got stuck trying to please every version of their audience, and that's almost an impossible job. And all of this really hit me while I was watching the Grammys, and I felt really terrible because I kind of knew some of the songs, but I had no idea who any of the artists were. If somebody had asked me to name 10 artists who came out after the year 2018, gun to my head, I'd be praying that it was a rubber bullet because I'd be fucked. And that's not just because music is bad now, it's honestly just because there's so much of it. Also, everything is just so overproduced, and we're just in this era of oh my god, this song better just be catchy enough so it can go viral on TikTok. Like pop music truly sucks nowadays. Songs are made just to be put on a platform, they're not necessarily made for a true audience. Like everything's fragmented, songs matter more than artists, and vibes matter more than identity. So in a world like that, chasing relevance feels pointless. The only thing that you can really own is who you are. Don't you guys notice that it seems pop artists' charisma or characters are more important than their music? And I feel like they actually just use their character more to sell the music rather than letting the music stand on its own? I don't know. Does that make any sense? Like, alright, here's an example, right? Like Ronald Lee Crew might be shit nowadays, but back in the day, them throwing shit off of balconies isn't what sold their music. Their music is what actually sold their lifestyle. Now it just feels like the persona sells the music, the brand comes first, the aesthetic comes first, and then the song is almost just content that supports the character. Which probably explains why I can recognize a hook instantly, but I couldn't tell you who's the one actually doing the singing. So now while I'm watching the Grammys, already feeling like I need a court-appointed youth translator, a commercial comes on for this depression medication. And I'm watching it thinking, why do all these commercials always look the same? It's always some woman staring out of the window or walking through a field or touching grass because she needs to be grounded emotionally. And before anybody freaks out, I'm not saying that women don't struggle. I'm saying society labels women as needing help way faster than it does men. Because why are men not the ones in these commercials? And this kind of goes along with what I was saying last week. Because when women struggle, society's like, okay, we should treat this. We need to address it. Let's talk about it. But when men struggle, society's like, eh, he'll be fine. Give him a gym membership, let him punch a bag, tell him to lock in, he'll be great. But let's talk about history because let's rewind back to the 1940s, right? So men go off to war and women have to run the entire country factories, office, logistics, everything. And guess what? The economy didn't collapse, it actually outperformed. Then the war ends, and society goes, All right, great job. Now all you women go sit in the house and make meatloaf. Imagine that. Women had a job, an identity, and a purpose. And then overnight you're told, don't speak, don't complain, and be grateful. The fact that there's a list out there of how a 1950s housewife should show up for her husband is insane. Let's read them, shall we? Because I have the list over here. Greet him with a smile, a kiss, and a tidy appearance. Minimize noise from appliances and keep children quiet and presentable. Have his favorite meal ready and waiting with a fire lit in cooler months. Have a drink ready, take his shoes off, and make him comfortable in his chair. Let him talk about his day. Don't greet him with complaints about actually, you know what? Fuck it, can we bring some of these back? But oh my god, I don't care who you are. Could you imagine telling your partner, hey, when I get home from work, I better have dinner on the table and you better be looking proper. See? These were clearly not written in 2026 because most people nowadays need two incomes in order to survive. Because I don't know about you guys, but we both come at home disheveled. Dinner is not always on the table right when both of us get home, and we're just doing our best here. But dude, if I was a 1950s housewife, I'd be popping zannies too if my entire identity got deleted in a decade. Actually, not even in a decade, like five years. Meanwhile, men come back from war absolutely wrecked, and we shoved them right back into the workforce. Like, all right, buddy, back to accounting, no processing required. Women literally got medicated for being boxed in, and then they've never been able to get rid of that social stigma, and then men got ignored for being traumatized, and now we're surprised when things don't work out great. And it's really kind of hilarious that depression medication commercials almost exclusively target women. When statistically speaking, most serial killers are men, not because women don't struggle, obviously they do. But maybe we should throw a couple dudes into those commercials, just like maybe a what if scenario, like if Dahmer got treated, I don't know. And that's when it all kind of hit me. Like this same thing I've been talking about this whole episode. We don't adapt systems, we just mislabel people. And we do it with music, because we call bands sellouts instead of admitting the landscape change. We do it with work because we call people lazy instead of admitting that old models don't work. Oh my god, try talking to a Gen Xer or a boomer about the idea that remote work should be here to stay. Well, back in my day, if we were sick, well back in your day, gas was 79 cents a gallon, Helen. If I got the sniffles, I shouldn't have to use a sick day. I should be able to just work from home. Sick days should be used if I physically cannot work. Like if you get COVID or the flu and your aches and pains are so bad that you just physically cannot sit at a computer. Oh, well, you don't have as good of team collaboration when you're not in the office. No, you just suck at texting. How about that? And look at that. We also do it with people when society doesn't know how to handle change. Change isn't the enemy. Refusing to adapt is. And honestly, this ties into my own life. Now that I'm 30, I'm way more about comfort and enjoying the little things. Cuz guess what I did? I bought a velore tracksuit. Actually, I didn't just buy one, I bought three of those motherfuckers. Not to go out. I mean, I will wear it if I'm going home from the gym and I just want to change a clothes or something, but like I mainly bought them just to relax and to lounge on a Sunday like a retired European soccer coach. Just sitting there, Valor tracksuit on, sipping on a cappuccino. Oh yeah, I didn't have a cappuccino until I was 30 years old. For years, I only drank black coffee, and it wasn't because I loved it. I mean, I'll I'll still drink a black cup of coffee. I still I like it, but I thought it was because anything else was unnecessary calories. Almost like I was training for something, even though I wasn't. I didn't have a cappuccino until I was 30 years old. 30. That's not discipline, that's just being dramatic. And it wasn't even some big health thing, it was just this weird mental rule I made for myself. Like, no milk, no joy, you stay sharp. It took me to date somebody to finally go, huh? This is nice. And that kind of unlocked something for me. I realized that I don't need to live like I'm constantly preparing for a wagon. So yeah, I leaned into it. And then my dumbass also went out and I bought an espresso machine. Because honestly, why would I go to a coffee shop when my girlfriend used to be a barista? That's like asking why you'd go to a mechanic when your dad is the mechanic. And not for nothing. At one point, my girlfriend had blue hair before she came to her senses. So you already know that she knows how to make coffee that fucking slaps. And that's when it hit me. I didn't change who I am, I just stopped being rigid about the wrong things. Because discipline doesn't mean you have to suffer for no reason. Discipline is knowing what matters and being flexible anywhere else. And low-key, that's kind of the same thing with my relationship. I said I was a dog person, that was my identity, and now I'm buying a cat bandanas like I joined a cult. It took me 30 years to realize that not everything has to be so rigid that you can have principles and still let go of what you thought things were gonna be. People say life's a roller coaster. Why? Because it's exciting? It's not. Life is mundane about 77% of the time. Humans live in routines. The roller coaster part isn't the excitement. I think it's more about the ups and downs, the emotional, physical, economical sides of things that might not go your way. They swing up, they swing down. Life is never truly stagnant. The unexpected is always coming. Sometimes good, sometimes it's fucking brutal. I've talked about how bartending wore me out, and yeah, it did. But it also kind of gave me space, it gave me a little bit of humility, and it gave me clarity about what I don't want. Being laid off made me seriously consider moving to Nashville to bartend. Then I got a bartending job right as my unemployment ran out, and the most unexpected thing wasn't the job, it was that I met my girlfriend almost immediately, and that forced me to sit with an uncomfortable truth that bartending wasn't for me in a lot of ways, but it was exactly where I needed to be in that moment. So I think for a long time I thought staying disciplined meant staying rigid. Now I'm realizing discipline is knowing what matters and being flexible everywhere else. I didn't necessarily change who I am, I just stopped fighting who I was becoming. The bands that last, the people that last, they know their lane well enough to veer without crashing. I didn't abandon my lane, I just stopped gripping the steering wheel like an asshole. And all of this just from hearing a Def Leopard song, watching the Grammys, and seeing a depression medication commercial. Anyways, that's where my head's been at. Stay in your lane, but don't be afraid to loosen the grip a little bit. I'll talk to you guys next week.