Def Leppard | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | 30 October 2015 [1] | |||
Recorded | 2014–2015 | |||
Studio | Joe's Garage in Dublin, Ireland and Phil's Sweat Shop, California, US | |||
Genre | Hard rock | |||
Length | 52:39 | |||
Label | ||||
Producer |
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Def Leppard chronology | ||||
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Singles from Def Leppard | ||||
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Music video | ||||
"We Belong" on YouTube |
Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [2] |
Def Leppard is the eleventh studio album by the English rock band Def Leppard,released on 30 October 2015. [3] The band's first studio album since 2008's Songs from the Sparkle Lounge (marking the longest gap between two studio albums in their career) and their first on earMUSIC Records,it became their seventh top ten album on the Billboard 200 after debuting at number 10. [4] The first single "Let's Go" was released 15 September 2015,alongside the artwork and track listing.
The album was produced by Ronan McHugh and Def Leppard. It won a 2016 Classic Rock Roll of Honours Award for Album of the Year. [5]
In August 2015,singer Joe Elliott stated that the album would consist of 14 tracks with a running time of around 55 minutes. Regarding the sound of the album,he explained "It's just called Def Leppard because that's what it sounds like. It doesn't sound like any one specific era of Def Leppard. It's got everything. [...] Every single aspect of anything we've ever wanted to put out —acoustic,heavy,soft,slow,fast —it's there. That's why we call it Def Leppard because,just like Queen were,we're capable of coming up with vastly different kinds of songs." [3]
Guitarist Phil Collen referred to the album as "probably the most diverse thing we've done" as well as "the best thing we've done since Hysteria " as it contains "the loudest rock guitars we've ever had on some tracks." However,he stopped short of calling it an "experimental" album,instead saying that it's "more liberating and expressive". [3]
The album was recorded at Elliott's home studio,named Joe's Garage,in Dublin,Ireland. [6]
Vocalist Joe Elliott has described lead single and opening track,"Let's Go",as "a call to arms and a classic Def Leppard song. It's that three-minute pop-rock stuff with big chunky guitars and a big chorus. And it has that swaggering,mid-tempo rhythm,like "Pour Some Sugar on Me",and "Rock of Ages"." He described that the band wanted a familiar sounding song to introduce the album,being released several years after their previous album. [7]
Joe Elliott,observed Classic Rock ,"is the first to admit that Leppard aren't Bob Dylan. Sometimes they're barely even Bob the Builder. But then that's the beauty of it –if ever a band were cliché-proof,it's Def Leppard. If nothing else,you have to admire their sheer brass balls. With its crackling guitar and nuclear-detonation bottom end,'Let's Go' doesn't so much revisit 'Pour Some Sugar On Me' as move into its spare room,steal its cornflakes and start sleeping with its wife. But even that pales into insignificance next to the finger-poppin' white-boy funk of 'Are You Man Enough?',which rips off Queen's 'Another One Bites the Dust' so shamelessly that it should come with its own stick-on handlebar moustaches…But for the most part,Def Leppard is the sound of a band who have rediscovered their sense of purpose." [8] Rating the album 3.5 out of 5,Stephen Thomas Erlewine wrote that Def Leppard is "a summation of where the band is now:they love the past,both their own and their inspirations,but they're not looking back,they're loving the life they live." [9]
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "Let's Go" | 5:01 | |
2. | "Dangerous" |
| 3:26 |
3. | "Man Enough" |
| 3:54 |
4. | "We Belong" | Elliott | 5:06 |
5. | "Invincible" |
| 3:46 |
6. | "Sea of Love" | Collen | 4:04 |
7. | "Energized" | Collen | 3:23 |
8. | "All Time High" | Elliott | 4:19 |
9. | "Battle of My Own" |
| 2:42 |
10. | "Broke 'N' Brokenhearted" |
| 3:17 |
11. | "Forever Young" |
| 2:22 |
12. | "Last Dance" | Savage | 3:09 |
13. | "Wings of an Angel" |
| 4:23 |
14. | "Blind Faith" |
| 5:33 |
Total length: | 52:39 |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
15. | "We Belong" (alternative vocal take) | 5:06 |
16. | "Let's Go" (UK radio edit) | 3:56 |
Weekly Charts
| Year-end charts
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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.
On Through the Night is the debut studio album by the English rock band Def Leppard, released on 14 March 1980. The album was produced by Tom Allom. It charted at No. 15 on the UK Albums Chart and No. 51 on the Billboard 200. The album features re-recorded versions of "Rocks Off" and "Overture", tracks from the band's original independently released EP, The Def Leppard E.P.. Other tracks are re-recorded versions of early demos, some of which later appeared on the 2020 box set The Early Years 79–81. The album was certified gold by the RIAA on 18 November 1983 and platinum on 9 May 1989.
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.
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 number 14 on the Billboard 200 and number 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.
Euphoria is the seventh studio album by English rock band Def Leppard, released on 8 June 1999 in the United States and on 14 June 1999 in the United Kingdom by Mercury Records. The album aimed to return to their signature sound made famous by the band in the 1980s. It was produced by the band with Pete Woodroffe. The album charted at No. 11 on the Billboard 200 and No. 11 on the UK Albums Chart. It includes the song "Promises", which hit the number one spot on Billboard's Mainstream Rock chart.
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.
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.
"Love Bites" is a song by English glam metal band Def Leppard from their album Hysteria. The power ballad is Def Leppard's only number-one single on the US Billboard Hot 100 and became a top-10 hit in Canada, Ireland, and New Zealand. On the UK Singles Chart, the track peaked at number 11.
"Pour Some Sugar on Me" is a song by the English rock band Def Leppard from their 1987 album Hysteria. It reached number 2 on the US Billboard Hot 100 on 23 July 1988, behind "Hold On to the Nights" by Richard Marx. "Pour Some Sugar on Me" is considered the band's signature song, and was ranked #2 on VH1's "100 Greatest Songs of the 80s" in 2006.
"Rock of Ages" is a song by Def Leppard from their 1983 album Pyromania. When issued as a single in the United States, the song reached #16 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and #19 on the Cash Box Top 100. It also hit #1 on the Top Tracks Rock chart.
"Too Late for Love" is a 1983 power ballad by English band Def Leppard from their Diamond album Pyromania. When released as a single, it reached #9 on the Mainstream Rock charts.
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 Killer Instinct is the second studio album by hard rock band Black Star Riders, released on February 20, 2015. Black Star Riders evolved from the touring version of Thin Lizzy, assembled by guitarist Scott Gorham after the death of Thin Lizzy's leader Phil Lynott. The band's first album, All Hell Breaks Loose, was released in 2013.
Diamond Star Halos is the twelfth studio album by the English rock band Def Leppard. It was released on 27 May 2022 through Bludgeon Riffola and Mercury Records, and is the band's first studio album in nearly seven years since 2015's Def Leppard. The album takes its name from the 1971 T. Rex single "Get It On" and includes imagery from Anton Corbijn, Maryam Malakpour, and Oliver and Joshua Munden.