Episode 2: Turn to Dust

This week, your Regarding...Slang hosts Wolfie, Scotzo, podcasting overlord Corey, and Chaz are joined by podcaster, author, composer, and honorary CMPU sex symbol Scott Haskin, as they take on Slang’s second track proper: “Turn to Dust.”

But before we get to the track, there’s a detour through podcasting lore and technical BS, Wolfie's famous Westport "blue parties", screenplays about Jaws, birthday tributes to Kevin Brown, and the legal limitations of sentence...rape(?) - we're against it - in rock lyrics. It’s Season 4. You knew what this was when you signed on...

The song itself? Phil Collen-penned and India-inspired, “Turn to Dust” opens with sampled sitars and actual recorded rain, and was meant to signal a major creative pivot for the band. But did Joe Elliott’s unusually raw vocal delivery do the material justice? Did the lyrics carry the weight of the subject matter—or get lost in the fog of metaphors and Mutt Lang-less production? And what’s with the line that literally every lyric site claims says “Sentence rape me”? The panel tries to make sense of it, even as they struggle to stay focused, stay sober, or stay on topic.

This episode features:

• ✍️ A thorough discussion of lyric intent vs. vocal execution

• 🎤 Rare demo vocals from Phil Collen himself—prompting existential questions like, “Is Phil aping Joe, or is this just how Phil sings everything?”

• 🥁 A serious technical breakdown of Rick Allen’s drumming—electronic triggers, sample layers, and the true definition of “ghost notes”

• 🎂 A savage musical birthday roast for Kevin Brown, who responded to Truth? with a review so scathing it deserved its own diss track

• 🗳️ A split Burnout vs. Fade Away vote that forces the guys to ask: is a cool vibe enough to save a song from its own confused message?

As the Regarding... team tries to uncover meaning in the madness, they find themselves wrestling not just with the track—but with the larger question of whether Slang was a noble reinvention or simply the sound of a band drifting into irrelevance. Is “Turn to Dust” a forgotten gem, a noble misfire, or a glorified B-side?

Join us as we fight over vocals, defend lyrical nonsense, and realize just how hard it is to agree on anything this season. One thing’s clear: this album may be divisive, but it’s never dull. Especially with Corey around.

The Show

Three guys who are various stages of Def Leppard fans, and a guy who’s just heard the hits (maybe...some of them.) Join the guys over a plate of Buffalo Chicken Wings as they give Def Leppard’s 1996 album Slang and honest listen and try to figure out just what the hell “Slang” means anyways. Is it too late for love or can we work it out to find a way to get Slang the love and affection it deserves? Listen as we listen so you don’t have to, and discover for yourself. 

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