Rock of Ages: The Definitive Collection | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Greatest hits album by | ||||
Released | 17 May 2005 | |||
Recorded | 1979–2005 | |||
Genre | Glam metal | |||
Length | 2:34:52 | |||
Label | Bludgeon Riffola/Mercury/Island | |||
Def Leppard chronology | ||||
|
Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
Allmusic | [1] |
Rolling Stone | [2] |
Rock of Ages: The Definitive Collection is the North American version of the second compilation album by the English rock band Def Leppard. The two-disc anthology featuring 35 hit songs by the band and was released in North America on 17 May 2005. The album charted at No. 10 on the Billboard 200. [3]
Its worldwide release equivalent, Best of Def Leppard , has a slightly different track listing, different artwork, different "previously unreleased" song and was released on 25 October 2004.
This is the only Def Leppard hits compilation (as of now) that features the full-length version of "Bringin' On the Heartbreak" that fades into the instrumental "Switch 625" .
Originally released only in North America, Rock of Ages was released in Europe on 28 January 2008.
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" (Acoustic version) | Elliott | Retro Active and Last Action Hero , 1993 | 4:19 |
6. | "Animal" |
| Hysteria | 4:03 |
7. | "Heaven Is" |
| Adrenalize | 3:34 |
8. | "Foolin'" |
| Pyromania | 4:34 |
9. | "Rocket" ( Visualize video version) |
| Hysteria | 4:07 |
10. | "When Love & Hate Collide" |
| Vault: Def Leppard Greatest Hits (1980–1995) , 1995 | 4:17 |
11. | "Armageddon It" |
| Hysteria | 5:22 |
12. | "Have You Ever Needed Someone So Bad" |
| Adrenalize | 5:19 |
13. | "Rock of Ages" |
| Pyromania | 4:08 |
14. | "Hysteria" |
| Hysteria | 5:56 |
15. | "Miss You in a Heartbeat" (Acoustic version) | Collen | Retro Active | 4:04 |
16. | "Bringin' On the Heartbreak" |
| High 'n' Dry , 1981 | 4:33 |
17. | "Switch 625" (Instrumental) | Clark | High 'n' Dry | 3:23 |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Origin | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|
1. | "Rock! Rock! (Till You Drop)" |
| Pyromania | 3:55 |
2. | "Let It Go" |
| High 'n' Dry | 4:44 |
3. | "High 'n' Dry (Saturday Night)" |
| High 'n' Dry | 3:44 |
4. | "Too Late for Love" |
| Pyromania | 4:29 |
5. | "No Matter What" | Pete Ham | New song; later released on Yeah! , 2006 | 2:53 |
6. | "Promises" |
| Euphoria , 1999 | 3:59 |
7. | "Mirror, Mirror (Look into My Eyes)" |
| High 'n' Dry | 4:07 |
8. | "Women" |
| Hysteria | 5:42 |
9. | "Another Hit and Run" |
| High 'n' Dry | 4:59 |
10. | "Slang" |
| Slang , 1996 | 2:39 |
11. | "Stand Up (Kick Love into Motion)" |
| Adrenalize | 4:33 |
12. | "Rock Brigade" |
| On Through the Night , 1980 | 3:11 |
13. | "Now" |
| X , 2002 | 3:58 |
14. | "Paper Sun" |
| Euphoria | 5:27 |
15. | "Work It Out" | Campbell | Slang | 4:49 |
16. | "Die Hard the Hunter" |
| Pyromania | 6:17 |
17. | "Wasted" |
| On Through the Night | 3:44 |
18. | "Billy's Got a Gun" (Edited version) |
| Pyromania | 5:00 |
Weekly charts
| Year-end charts
|
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
Canada (Music Canada) [8] | 2× Platinum | 200,000^ |
New Zealand (RMNZ) [9] | Gold | 7,500^ |
United States (RIAA) [10] | Platinum | 1,000,000^ |
^ 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.
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.
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."
"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.
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.
Best of Def Leppard is a compilation album featuring some of Def Leppard's most popular songs. The album charted at No. 6 on the UK Albums Chart.
"No Matter What" is a song originally recorded by Badfinger for their album No Dice in 1970, written and sung by Pete Ham and produced by Mal Evans.
"Heaven Is" is a song by English hard rock band Def Leppard from their fifth album, Adrenalize (1992). The single was released in January 1993 by label Bludgeon Riffola and reached number 13 in the United Kingdom.
"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.
"Two Steps Behind" is a song by English hard rock band Def Leppard from their 1993 compilation album Retro Active and the soundtrack to the film Last Action Hero. It reached number five on the US Billboard Album Rock Tracks chart, numbers 12 and 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 and Cash Box Top 100, and number 32 on the UK Singles Chart. The music video was directed by Wayne Isham. In the 1993 Metal Edge Readers' Choice Awards, the song was voted "Song of the Year" and "Best Song from a Movie Soundtrack".
"Women" is a song released by English rock band Def Leppard in 1987 from the album Hysteria. It was the second overall but first single of the album released in the United States. The song was also released as a single in Canada, Australia, Japan, and was part of a double-A side single with "Animal" in Germany. In most other parts of the world, "Animal" was the first single released from the album.
"Rock On" is a song written by English singer David Essex. Recorded in 1973 and released as a single by Essex, it became an international hit. In 1989, American actor and singer Michael Damian recorded a cover version that went to number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The song has been recorded many times, including a 2006 version by the English hard rock group Def Leppard.
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).