In their forty-three year (!) recording career, it isn’t unfair to say UK rock stalwarts Def Leppard are known for a pretty steady formula and approach of, in the main, pristine, polished hard rock songs, centred in an eighties sheen. Most of us could recognise a Def Leppard-style song without too much difficulty, and they aren’t (a few deviations – RetroActive, Slang, Taylor Swift, and Ghostly interactions – aside) known for their musical risk-taking or surprises.
The brainchild of Dio and Def Leppard guitarist Vivian Campbell, Last In Line was formed in 2012 to celebrate the life of metal legend Ronnie James Dio. Reuniting some of Dio’s former bandmates to perform as a tribute act, Campbell handed vocalist Andrew Freeman the unenviable task of stepping into the great man’s elven boots, the former Great White and Lynch Mob frontman handling the job with confidence and authority ever since.
SIXX:A.M has shared a new single and charity initiative: SIXX:A.M Presents: Artists For Recovery, release “Maybe It’s Time” (feat. Corey Taylor, Joe Elliott, Brantley Gilbert, Ivan Moody, Slash, AWOLNATION, Tommy Vext). The song is the cornerstone of an industry-wide initiative to draw attention to the opioid crisis and raise funds to serve the recovery community and save lives. Timed to launch National Recovery Month in September, this campaign leverages all manners of entertainment to send an important message of hope for recovery, starting on International Overdose Awareness Day 8/31 and continuing through International Recovery Day 9/30. Check it out!
The 1980s was a transition time for Rock and Heavy Metal. Led Zeppelin would disband soon after a loss. AC/DC would lose a leader but gain new life. Ozzy was out of Sabbath, they had yet to unleash the Dio era, and Ozzy had yet to deliver his solo début. Michael Schenker quit UFO. Uriah Heap was changing key members left and right. Queen, Thin Lizzy, and Ultravox were adding new sounds and weirding out core fans. Only Judas Priest and Iron Maiden seemed to be ruling over the upper echelon and pioneering the New Wave of British Heavy Metal Sound. A young band the strength of an impressive demo (The Getcha Rocks Off E.P.), Sheffield UK’s best export, Def Leppard, debuted a début album full of ass-kicking music, the influence of the masters, few pretentious trappings, wizard guitar work, and amazing vocals. On Through The Night (Vertigo/Mercury) broke through as major-league début release in a year that later would be remembered for greatness. Continue reading
AC/DC frontman Brian Johnson’s AXS TV series Brian Johnson: A Life On The Road will make its US debut on Sunday, September 15 at 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT. The network has acquired the first two seasons of the program from Eagle Rock Entertainment, featuring a combined total of 12 unforgettable episodes never seen before in the United States. “A Life On The Road” joins a star-studded Sunday night lineup that also includes the new music series “Paul Shaffer Plus One”, hosted by musician and television personality Paul Shaffer, premiering September 15 at 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT. Watch the trailer below. Early episodes feature Sting, (The Police) Robert Plant (Led Zeppelin), Roger Daltry (The Who), Joe Elliott (Def Leppard), Lars Ulrich (Metallica) and Nick Mason (Pink Floyd).Continue reading
With so many rock and metal acts playing entire albums in full these days, it was only a matter of time before the band responsible for one of the biggest (and longest) records of all time decided to give it a go themselves. Selling over twenty-five million copies worldwide, the idea for Def Leppard to play 1987’s Hysteria (Phonogram/Mercury) in its entirety began in 2012 when the band were offered an eleven date residency at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, which they played during March and April of 2013.Continue reading
One of the long grave omissions of the DSP music streaming experience, Def Leppard have resolved a dispute with their record label Universal Records and their entire catalog of classic and recent albums have hit all streaming services today. One of the most iconic and commercially popular heavy metal bands ever, selling over 100 million albums in their storied career, and their albums are now available on all services worldwide. Continue reading
Riding the crest of the wave of positivity that 2015’s self-titled album (earMUSIC) garnered, Def Leppard’s subsequent tour was equally well received. To celebrate and mark the occasion And There Will Be A Next Time (Eagle Rock Entertainment) was conceived – a double CD live album accompanied by a DVD of the same performance.Continue reading
Def Leppard have just announced that they will return to the road this Spring for a three month run across North America with Poison and Tesla. Continue reading
Unmistakeable. Distinctive from the very outset, Def Leppard’s eponymous new release (earMUSIC) starts off with Joe Elliott’s unambiguous voice asking “Do you really want to do this now?” over a quiet build before a slick guitar lick leads us into some stabbed power chords and album eleven is up and running in their own inimitable style.
Let’s get the obvious bits and bobs out the way first… No, it’s not as classic as Pyromania or Hysteria (Vertigo/Mercury) – it was never, ever going to be; that’s like expecting Metallica to hit the stardust and repeat Master of Puppets (Electra/Vertigo) – but, no, it’s not as saccharine as Adrenalize (Mercury/Bludgeon Riffola), and no, it’s certainly not boring, staid or irrelevant. In fact, it’s interesting how the electricity and energy courses through, with ‘Energized’ lyrically appropriate about how the band seem to have taken a shot in the arm.
Freed from the confines of pressures imposed by others, and without the pressure of writing to appease a label, the Leps got together to jam songs for an EP and ended with their walls down, letting the tide of creativity flow around them, and a whole album in their laps, with songs ‘We Belong’, ‘Let’s Go’ and in particular the excellent ‘Dangerous’ pure top grade Leppard. On top of the traditional Leppard fare that litters the album, ‘Sea of Love’ brings some playful blues, ‘Man Enough’ grooves in with a huge finger-clicking, neck-bobbing funking bass guurrrroove, ‘All Time High’ runs with the Boss and ‘Battle of my Own’ borrows from acoustic Zeppelin .
Relevance has become a redundant concept for bands and that Def Leppard are still going strong a full 35 years after their inception is testament to the fact that, even during creative lulls there is sufficient quality in the band to keep hundreds of thousands of fans engaged and along for the ride; this is a band that give lessons in every song in how to write hooks and, in their sleep, knock out better choruses than most other bands can dream of.
Yes, to a large extent, you know what you’re going to get, but in this case that’s not a bad thing. There will be detractors, and the album does, in true Leps style, tail off a bit towards the end before ‘Blind Faith’ closes things off with class and nods to The Beatles. But, hey facts, kids… Def Leppard is an hour of quality classic hard rock tunes, and the fact that you’re listening to the best Def Leppard album since their heyday nigh on thirty years ago, is more than enough.
8.0/10
STEVE TOVEY