Def Leppard

You all know these guys...Def Leppard, the unluckiest band in the world. They started out as a fine heavy metal outfit, hard-rockin' yet light enough to get airtime on MTv. Then, after the recording of Pyromania, drummer Rick Allen wrecked his car and lost his left arm. The band stuck with him, building him a special drumkit so he could still play -- I hear that drum solos at Def Leppard concerts aren't very impressive. :-) Then, if that wasn't bad enough, guitarist Steve Clark died from alcohol poisoning! Of course by that time the band's sound had totally wimped out and I absolutely detest their current stuff.

The Last Action Hero sountrack features a Def Leppard song, but it ain't worth mentioning...

"On Through the Night"

  1. "Rock Brigade" (3:09)
  2. "Hello America" (3:27)
  3. "Sorrow is a Woman" (3:54)
  4. "It Could Be You" (2:33)
  5. "Satellite" (4:28)
  6. "When the Walls Came Tumbling Down" (4:44)
  7. "Wasted" (3:45)
  8. "Rocks Off" (3:42)
  9. "It Don't Matter" (3:21)
  10. "Answer to the Master" (3:13)
  11. "Overture" (7:44)

With an average age of 18, this debut album by a group of VERY young British lads became one of the biggest NWOBHM hits of 1980 (although American exposure would take much longer.) Lots of radio hits here: "Rock Brigade", "Rocks Off", "Hello America", "Wasted", etc. Pretty good stuff. This CD took a long time to get into my collection, because for a long time, Def Lep CDs were VERY common in the used bins...but then they all disappeared!! In fact, about three years passed before I found a copy of this one.

"High 'N' Dry"

  1. "Let it Go" (4:43)
  2. "Another Hit and Run" (4:59)
  3. "High 'N' Dry (Saturday Night)" (3:27)
  4. "Bringin' on the Heartbreak" (4:34)
  5. "Switch 625"--instrumental (3:03)
  6. "You Got Me Runnin'" (4:23)
  7. "Lady Strange" (4:39)
  8. "On Through the Night" (5:06)
  9. "Mirror, Mirror" (4:08)
  10. "No No No" (3:13)
  11. "Bringin' on the Heartbreak"--remix (4:33)
  12. "Me & My Wine"--remix (3:40)

Oh man, this one caught me completely by surprise. Following the success of Pyromania, Def Leppard's second album was re-released with 2 bonus tracks, a remix of "Bringin' on the Heartbreak" and "Me & My Wine" (also listed as remixed, but as far as I know, no other version was released??) CDs were a brand new invention back then (yeah, I'm old enough to remember when CDs didn't even exist!!), so naturally, when the CD version was issued, it contained the full 12-track listing. I didn't make a big deal of picking up a copy, since the used bins were always full of 'em...well...

...it seems the boneheaded record company decided that current versions of this album should be issued with ONLY THE ORIGINAL TEN SONGS!!!! What the hell were they THINKING??!? And to make matters worse, every time I tried to pick up a copy at eBay (the place where I learned of this fiasco), it started a bidding war that drove the price into the $25-30 range!!! Good fucking lord...well, I finally managed to score a copy at the relatively "cheap" price of $17.49 (w/ free shipping). Oh yeah, around the same time, I received flame mail from some nutcase Def Leppard fan (now immortalized in the fan mail gallery) who apparently took offense to my comments about their "one-armed drummer", and went on a tirade about how Def Leppard cares so much about their fans, etc. etc....well, if they gave a FLYING FUCK about their fans, would they have allowed such a thing to happen??? I think not!!

"Pyromania"

  1. "Rock! Rock! (Til You Drop)" (3:53)
  2. "Photograph" (4:12)
  3. "Stagefright" (3:46)
  4. "Too Late for Love" (4:30)
  5. "Die Hard the Hunder" (6:17)
  6. "Foolin'" (4:32)
  7. "Rock of Ages" (4:09)
  8. "Comin' Under Fire" (4:20)
  9. "Action! Not Words" (3:52)
  10. "Billy's Got a Gun" (5:27)

My cousin introduced me to this album way back in 1983, when my musical tastes were more along the lines of Blondie, Foreigner, Duran Duran, etc. I hated to admit it, but I was much impressed! So many classics: "Photograph", "Rock of Ages", "Foolin'", "Die Hard the Hunter", "Billy's Got a Gun", etc....Easily my favorite album of '83, and still one of the best metal albums EVER.

"Hysteria"

  1. "Women" (5:42)
  2. "Rocket" (6:37)
  3. "Animal" (4:04)
  4. "Love Bites" (5:47)
  5. "Pour Some Sugar on Me" (4:27)
  6. "Armageddon It" (5:24)
  7. "Gods of War" (6:37)
  8. "Don't Shoot Shotgun" (4:26)
  9. "Run Riot" (4:39)
  10. "Hysteria" (5:54)
  11. "Excitable" (4:19)
  12. "Love and Affection" (4:36)

Released four years after Pyromania, it's a miracle that this album ever got recorded at all. For the two or three people who have been living in a cave and don't know the story: first, producer "Mutt" Lange was injured in a car crash, which set back the recording for almost a year...then, once he recovered, drummer Rick Allen was in an even WORSE car crash which completely severed his left arm!!! (Talk about a disarming experience!) Instead of recruiting a new drummer, though, the other four members decided to stand by their mate, allowing him several months to learn how to use a specially designed electronic drum kit. There was a lot of speculation at the time whether or not this album would succeed, since four years is a massively long time for any pop band to remain dormant (just look at how Hall & Oates spiraled into obscurity after taking a few years off); they shouldn't have worried, though, because rock fans proved themselves to be the most loyal in the world, sending this album straight up the charts with SEVEN top ten singles (tying Michael Jackson for the world record), and selling over 12 million copies in the process, becoming one of the most popular hard rock albums, ever.

"Stagefright" (2CDR; 2/13/88, Denver, USA)

    disc one:
  1. "Stagefright" (3:38)
  2. "Rock Rock Til You Drop" (4:56)
  3. "Women" (6:53)
  4. "Don't Shoot Shotgun" (4:23)
  5. "Too Late for Love" (5:53)
  6. "Hysteria" (7:24)
  7. "Instrumental"--Steve Clark guitar solo (2:14)
  8. "Gods of War" (6:33)
  9. "Die Hard the Hunter" (8:11)
  10. "Bringin' on the Heartbreak" (6:16)
  11. "Foolin'" (5:32)
  12. "Armageddon It" (6:07)
  13. "Animal" (6:13)
  14. "Pour Some Sugar on Me" (5:01)
    disc two:
  1. "Instrumental"--Phil Collen guitar solo (3:36)
  2. "Let it Go" (5:38)
  3. "Rock of Ages" (19:09)
  4. "Armageddon It" (6:27)
  5. "Pour Some Sugar on Me" (6:36)
  6. "Tear it Down" (3:44)
  7. "Photograph" (4:56)
  8. "Travelin' Band" (12:17)
  9. "Honky Tonk Women"--sound check (4:46)
  10. "Run Riot"--sound check (5:34)
  11. "Run Riot"--sound check (4:37)

If you own only one Def Lep bootleg, this is the one to get. It's taken directly from the master recordings for the Live in the Round home video, as well as the music videos for "Pour Some Sugar on Me" and "Armageddon It" (which is why both songs were played twice -- Joe Elliot even jokes, "That first one was for the UK version, now here's the American version!") The sound quality is, in a word, absolutely stunning. It also gives evidence of why there has NEVER been an official live album from Def Leppard -- with all missed vocal notes and simplistic, out-of-tune guitar solos, it would have taken a MASSIVE amount of studio editing to render it "palatable" to a regular musical audience. And, doing so probably would have killed the aspect you CAN'T recreate in a studio...that is, the vibe. It's just so damn fun!

Still, a lot of aspects probably worked better in a fully live setting, or at least on video. For starters, the "Rock of Ages" drum solo. That's right, fully five minutes of that horrifyingly extended song + audience chant is simply Rick, on the drums. With one arm. And it sounds exactly like you'd expect, like a one-armed man playing drums. For five minutes. And for another ten minutes, Joe leads an audience chant, accompanied only by Rick's drums. Like I said, you probably had to be there. (Although it helps having seen the obligatory Behind the Music episode profiling the band, since now I know that while Rick & Joe were pumping up the crowd, the other three band members were beneath the stage, getting literally "pumped" by huge-breasted groupie sluts. :)) Kinda aids the visual...)

The band does try to redeem itself as a "real rock'n'roll band" by ending the show with an extended jam of Credence Clearwater Revival's "Travelin' Band"; "Honky Tonk Women" (originally by the Rolling Stones) and the two versions of "Run Riot" are from the soundcheck preceding the show.

"Unplugged & Unshaved" (CDR; 11/95, Much Music Studios, Canada)

  1. "What's My Name?"--interview (1:06)
  2. "Armageddon It" (4:32)
  3. "Two Steps Behind" (4:36)
  4. "From the Inside" (3:46)
  5. "Can't Keep Away from the Flame" (2;46)
  6. "Miss You in a Heartbeat" (4:11)
  7. "When Love and Hate Collide" (4:27)
  8. "Foolin'" (4:41)
  9. "Hysteria" (4:50)
  10. "Animal" (3:47)
  11. "Pour Some Sugar on Me" (4:01)
  12. "Ziggy Stardust" (3:08)
  13. "You Can't Always Get What You Want"--studio track (7:32)
  14. "Little Wing"--studio track (3:39)
  15. "Tonight"--studio track (4:15)

This one comes from a couple "unplugged" shows the band did for Canadian & BBC television (which aired in the U.S. on VH1 Storytellers, I think.) The Hysteria songs are brilliant, although "Foolin'" is a rather poor choice. (Still, it's better than all those mid-90s crapola ballads...but that's why God created skip buttons on CD players, I guess.) Tracks 12-14 are cover songs (by David Bowie, the Rolling Stones and Jimi Hendrix, respectively); "Ziggy Stardust" is awesome (nice upgrade from my crappy mp3 copy), while the other two (and the b-side track "Tonight") are merely filler.