| 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 North America. A 2-CD best of called Rock of Ages: The Definitive Collection was issued there instead.
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 |
| Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan) [4] | 19 |
| Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade) [5] | 76 |
| UK Albums (OCC) [6] | 6 |
| UK Rock & Metal Albums (OCC) [7] | 2 |
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| Argentina (CAPIF) [8] | Gold | 20,000^ |
| United Kingdom (BPI) [9] | Platinum | 300,000^ |
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. | ||
Def Leppard are an English rock band formed in 1976 in Sheffield. Since 1992, it 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 early 1990s.
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 through Phonogram Records. It is Def Leppard's best-selling album to date, selling over 20 million copies worldwide, including 12 million in the US, and spawning seven hit singles. The album charted at number one on both the Billboard 200 and the UK Albums Chart.
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.
Slang is the sixth studio album by English rock band Def Leppard, released on 14 May 1996. The album marked a musical departure from their signature sound; it was produced by the band with Pete Woodroffe and was their first album since 1980 without involvement by Robert John "Mutt" Lange. Slang is the first album with new material to feature new guitarist Vivian Campbell. It charted at #14 on the Billboard 200 and #5 on the UK Albums Chart. It is also the only Def Leppard album that does not feature their recognisable font logo on the album cover, though all its singles still bore the classic logo.
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.
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.
Richard Savage is an English musician best known as the bass guitarist and a founding member of the rock band Def Leppard. Savage and lead singer Joe Elliott are the only two remaining original members of the band. With drummer Rick Allen, they are also the only members who have performed on every album.
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.
"Let it Go" is a 1981 song by English rock band Def Leppard from their multi-platinum album High 'n' Dry. It was one of two singles from the album, and reached number 34 on the US Mainstream Rock charts. It was originally titled "When the Rain Falls" with different lyrics as played at New Theatre in Oxford in 1980.
"Promises" is a 1999 song by English rock band Def Leppard from their album Euphoria. It was released as a single later that year and reached number one on the Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart as well as number forty-one on the U.K. Singles Chart.
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 compilation 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 | |
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| Live albums | |
| Compilations | |
| EPs | |
| Singles |
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| Other songs | |
| Videography | |
| Concert tours | |
| Related | |
