| Best of Def Leppard | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Greatest hits album by | ||||
| Released | 25 October 2004 | |||
| Recorded | 1979–2004 | |||
| Genre | Glam metal | |||
| Label | Bludgeon Riffola/Mercury | |||
| Def Leppard chronology | ||||
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Best of Def Leppard (or The Best Of) is a compilation album featuring some of Def Leppard's most popular songs. The album charted at No. 6 on the UK Albums Chart. [1]
Best of supplements 1995's Vault: Def Leppard Greatest Hits (1980–1995) as the definitive collection of Def Leppard's work. In fact, Disc one of Best of is essentially the entire Vault (UK Version) compilation album with the addition of "Long Long Way to Go" from X. A 2-CD limited edition was released in a slipcase with more obscure fan-favourite album cuts on the second disc, including tracks from more recent albums. In the UK, a cover of The Kinks' "Waterloo Sunset" was included as a bonus. This foreshadowed the band's forthcoming '70s cover album Yeah! .
Best of was released in a number of territories around the world, but not in North America, which instead received Rock of Ages: The Definitive Collection .
The single-CD edition of the album features material from 1981's High 'n' Dry through to 2002's X. Track distribution focuses largely on the band's late '80s/early '90s hits, with a single song from High 'n' Dry, two from Pyromania (1983), six from Hysteria (1987), four from Adrenalize (1992), two from Retro Active (1993), and a single song from X. "When Love & Hate Collide", the sole new song from 1995's greatest hits set Vault was also included. The 2-CD version gives a more even cross-section of the band's career, starting with two songs from On Through the Night (1980), four from High 'n' Dry, seven from Pyromania, seven from Hysteria, five from Adrenalize, two from Retro Active, "When Love & Hate Collide" the new song on Vault, two from Slang (1996), one from Euphoria (1999), two from X (2002) and one new song, the cover of "Waterloo Sunset" which was to be included in the band's forthcoming cover album Yeah! (2006).
The songs are the original album versions, with the following exceptions:
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Origin | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Pour Some Sugar on Me" ( Historia video version) | Hysteria , 1987 | 4:52 | |
| 2. | "Photograph" |
| Pyromania , 1983 | 4:08 |
| 3. | "Love Bites" |
| Hysteria | 5:47 |
| 4. | "Let's Get Rocked" |
| Adrenalize , 1992 | 4:56 |
| 5. | "Two Steps Behind" | Elliott | Retro Active and Last Action Hero , 1993 | 4:20 |
| 6. | "Animal" |
| Hysteria | 4:04 |
| 7. | "Heaven Is" |
| Adrenalize | 3:34 |
| 8. | "Rocket" (Visualize video edit) |
| Hysteria | 4:07 |
| 9. | "When Love & Hate Collide" |
| Vault: Def Leppard Greatest Hits (1980–1995) , 1995 | 4:18 |
| 10. | "Action" | Retro Active | 3:42 | |
| 11. | "Long, Long Way to Go" | X , 2002 | 4:39 | |
| 12. | "Make Love Like a Man" |
| Adrenalize | 4:15 |
| 13. | "Armageddon It" |
| Hysteria | 5:22 |
| 14. | "Have You Ever Needed Someone So Bad" |
| Adrenalize | 5:19 |
| 15. | "Rock of Ages" |
| Pyromania | 4:08 |
| 16. | "Hysteria" |
| Hysteria | 5:55 |
| 17. | "Bringin' On the Heartbreak" |
| High 'n' Dry , 1981 | 4:34 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Origin | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Rock! Rock! (Till You Drop)" |
| Pyromania | 3:55 |
| 2. | "Waterloo Sunset" | Ray Davies | New song; later released on Yeah! , 2006 | 3:44 |
| 3. | "Promises" |
| Euphoria , 1999 | 3:59 |
| 4. | "Slang" |
| Slang , 1996 | 2:37 |
| 5. | "Foolin'" |
| Pyromania | 4:34 |
| 6. | "Now" |
| X | 3:59 |
| 7. | "Rock Brigade" |
| On Through the Night , 1980 | 3:08 |
| 8. | "Women" |
| Hysteria | 5:42 |
| 9. | "Let It Go" |
| High 'n' Dry | 4:42 |
| 10. | "Too Late for Love" |
| Pyromania | 4:27 |
| 11. | "High 'n' Dry (Saturday Night)" |
| High 'n' Dry | 3:26 |
| 12. | "Work It Out" | Campbell | Slang | 4:45 |
| 13. | "Billy's Got a Gun" (Edited version) |
| Pyromania | 5:00 |
| 14. | "Another Hit and Run" |
| High 'n' Dry | 4:58 |
| 15. | "Stand Up (Kick Love into Motion)" |
| Adrenalize | 4:26 |
| 16. | "Wasted" |
| On Through the Night | 3:48 |
| 17. | "Die Hard the Hunter" |
| Pyromania | 6:17 |
| Chart (2004) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Japanese Albums (Oricon) [2] | 43 |
| Norwegian Albums (VG-lista) [3] | 7 |
| Scottish Albums (OCC) [4] | 6 |
| Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan) [5] | 19 |
| Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade) [6] | 76 |
| UK Albums (OCC) [7] | 6 |
| UK Rock & Metal Albums (OCC) [8] | 2 |
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| Argentina (CAPIF) [9] | Gold | 20,000^ |
| United Kingdom (BPI) [10] | Platinum | 300,000^ |
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. | ||
Def Leppard are an English rock band formed in Sheffield in 1976. Since 1992, the band has consisted of Rick Savage, Joe Elliott, Rick Allen (drums), Phil Collen, and Vivian Campbell. They established themselves as part of the new wave of British heavy metal of the early 1980s. Their greatest commercial success came between the early 1980s and mid–1990s.
Pyromania is the third studio album by English rock band Def Leppard, released on 20 January 1983 through Vertigo Records in UK and Europe and through Mercury Records in the US. The first album to feature guitarist Phil Collen who replaced founding member Pete Willis, Pyromania was produced by Robert John "Mutt" Lange. The album was a shift away from the band's traditional heavy metal roots toward a more radio-friendly sound, finding massive mainstream success. Pyromania charted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200, No. 4 on the Canadian RPM Album chart and No. 18 on the UK Albums Chart. Selling over ten million copies in the US, it has been certified diamond by the RIAA.
High 'n' Dry is the second studio album by the English rock band Def Leppard, released on 6 July 1981. High 'n' Dry was Pete Willis' last full-time album with Def Leppard. It charted at No. 38 on the Billboard 200 and No. 26 on the UK Albums Chart. "High 'n' Dry ", ranked No. 33 on VH1's 40 Greatest Metal Songs. Following the success of Pyromania, the album re-entered in the US chart and reached No. 72 in 1983.
Hysteria is the fourth studio album by English rock band Def Leppard, released on 3 August 1987, by Mercury Records. The album is the follow-up to the band's 1983 breakthrough, Pyromania. Hysteria's creation took over three years and was plagued by delays, including the aftermath of drummer Rick Allen's accident that cost him his left arm on 31 December 1984. Subsequent to the album's release, Def Leppard published a book titled Animal Instinct: The Def Leppard Story, written by Rolling Stone magazine senior editor David Fricke, on the three-year recording process of Hysteria and the difficult times the band endured through the mid-1980s. Lasting 62 minutes and 32 seconds, it is the band's longest studio album to date.
Adrenalize is the fifth studio album by English rock band Def Leppard, released on 31 March 1992 through Mercury Records. It is the first album by the band recorded without guitarist Steve Clark, who died in 1991, although most songs were written and partially demoed before his death, they were re-recorded solo by Phil Collen in 1991-1992. It is the only album recorded by Def Leppard as a four-member band. Spawning seven singles, four of them – "Let's Get Rocked", "Make Love Like a Man", "Have You Ever Needed Someone So Bad", and "Stand Up " – were major hits.
X is the eighth studio album by English rock band Def Leppard, released on 30 July 2002 by Island Records in the US and sister label Mercury worldwide. Much like 1996's Slang, it featured another departure from their signature sound by moving into the pop genre. The album charted at No. 11 on The Billboard 200 and No. 14 on the UK Albums Chart. Most of the album was produced by Pete Woodroffe and the band, with remaining tracks produced by either Marti Frederiksen or Per Aldeheim and Andreas Carlsson.
Retro Active is a compilation album by the English rock band Def Leppard, released in 1993. The album features touched-up versions of B-sides and previously unreleased recordings from the band's recording sessions from 1984 to 1993. The album charted at number 9 on the Billboard 200 and No. 6 on the UK Albums Chart.
Joseph Thomas Elliott is an English singer-songwriter, best known as the lead singer and one of the founding members of the hard rock band Def Leppard. He has also been the lead singer of the David Bowie tribute band the Cybernauts and the Mott the Hoople cover band Down 'n' Outz. He is one of the two original members of Def Leppard still in the band and one of the three to perform on every Def Leppard album. Elliott is known for his distinctive and wide ranging raspy singing voice.
Stephen Maynard Clark was an English musician. He was a guitarist and songwriter for the hard rock band Def Leppard until his death in 1991. In 2007, Clark was ranked No. 11 on Classic Rock Magazine's "100 Wildest Guitar Heroes". In 2019, Clark was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Def Leppard.
Philip Kenneth Collen is an English musician who is best known as the co-lead guitarist for the rock band Def Leppard. Collen joined the band in 1982 during the recording of the Pyromania album. Before joining Def Leppard, Collen had performed with a number of bands in the burgeoning British glam metal scene. Outside of Def Leppard, he has been involved in a number of side projects; those projects include the trio Man Raze, with which he is the lead singer and sole guitarist.
Vault: Def Leppard Greatest Hits (1980–1995) is the first greatest hits album and the second compilation album by English hard rock band Def Leppard. The album was originally released in the band's home country on 23 October 1995 by Mercury Records. It was released in North America a week later on 31 October by the same label. Vault went on to be certified gold in four countries, platinum in three and multi-platinum in two. In the US, the album is currently certified 5× platinum by the RIAA, and in June 2011 it topped the five million mark in sales there. It won Metal Edge magazine's 1995 Readers' Choice Award for "Best Hits or Compilation Album."
Yeah! is the ninth studio album by English rock band Def Leppard. It is the first cover album by the band. It was originally intended to be released on 20 September 2005, but it was announced on 31 March 2006 that the album would be released on 23 May 2006. The album charted at No. 16 on the Billboard 200 and No. 52 on the UK Albums Chart.
The English rock band Def Leppard have released 12 studio albums, four live albums, six compilation albums, and two extended plays. Def Leppard also have sold over 100 million records worldwide, making them one of the best-selling music artists of all time.
"Make Love Like a Man" is a 1992 single by English hard rock band Def Leppard from their multi-platinum album Adrenalize. The song reached No. 3 on the Album Rock Tracks chart and No. 36 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the United States.
"Tonight" is a song by English hard rock band Def Leppard from their fifth album, Adrenalize (1992). It was released as the sixth international single from Adrenalize and the fifth single in both the US and UK, released by Bludgeon Riffola and Mercury. In the US, the song reached number 13 on the Billboard Album Rock Tracks charts and number 62 on the Billboard Hot 100. It also peaked at number 34 on the UK Singles Chart.
"When Love & Hate Collide" is a song by English rock band Def Leppard from their 1995 greatest hits album Vault, written by Joe Elliott and Rick Savage. The power ballad was originally written and demoed for Adrenalize, but not finalized until 1995 for its inclusion on Vault. The demo version is much more heavily produced in the signature style of Hysteria and Adrenalize, and the final version is more stripped down, supposedly toward the style of the following studio album Slang. The original demo version contains the final recorded guitar solo by late original guitarist Steve Clark.
Songs from the Sparkle Lounge is the tenth studio album by the English rock band Def Leppard. It was released on 25 April 2008 in Europe and 29 April in North America.
Viva! Hysteria is a double live album by the English rock band Def Leppard released on the 22 October 2013. The album was recorded on 29 and 30 March 2013 during the band's residency of the same name at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino.
The Story So Far – The Best Of is a greatest hits album by the English rock band Def Leppard. The album has a similar track listing to previous compilations, however it is the first to include tracks from the band's recent studio efforts Songs from the Sparkle Lounge (2008) and Def Leppard (2015) as well as all three studio tracks from Mirror Ball – Live & More (2011).
| Studio albums | |
|---|---|
| Live albums | |
| Compilations | |
| Box sets | |
| EPs | |
| Singles |
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| Other songs | |
| Videography | |
| Concert tours | |
| Related | |
