I previously wrote about Def Leppard's "Hysteria" on November 22nd, 2013 as part of my Greatest CD's of All-Time series. "Pyromania" is the predecessor to "Hysteria", the older and less polished brother. But it was "Pyromania", Def Leppard's third CD, that alerted the world to Def Leppard. It was released near the beginning of MTV, Def Leppard was one of those bands that wisely made videos to support their records. Clearly their career was helped greatly by MTV. It's too bad MTV has given up it's cultural cachet to show a lot of crap. Young musicians, MTV itself and the music industry has lost a lot because of this decision.
One quick note: if you are fortunate enough to meet Def Leppard do not refer to them as a heavy medal band. Joe Elliot is violently opposed to his band being labeled that.
Def Leppard is an English rock band formed in 1977 in Sheffield. They released their first CD, "On Through The Night", in 1980. It didn't make much of an impression on the American public. The next year Def Leppard released "High 'n' Dry" which attracted more notice. Although that CD has one of their best all-time songs, "Bringin' On The Heartbreak", it didn't turn them into stars. I still remember an employee of a local record store pimping up this release though. She was sold on "High 'n' Dry" and did her best to sell the tape. She clearly saw something in them that most people didn't see, including me. Def Leppard is one of the many bands that I came late to the party for.
"Pyromania" was released on January 20th, 1983. It has sold over 10 million copies in the USA, thus being certified diamond by the RIAA. Although this CD was a huge success, it only made it to #2 on the USA album charts. This CD was Def Leppard's entry into the big-time, setting the stage for when they were the biggest band in the world following the release of "Hysteria". Guided ably by producer Mutt Lange's genius the mighty Lep became big stars. (Lange did something even more impressive later, he married the gorgeous Shania Twain.) At the time the band included singer Joe Elliot, guitarist Steve Clark, Phil "Why would I ever wear a shirt on stage" Collen, bassist Rick Savage, and drummer Rick Allen. At the time Allen had both arms, later he lost one of his arms in a car accident. Also Pete Willis was featured on rhythm guitar, his guitar appears on all of the album's songs. Although he was later fired for alcohol abuse and replaced by Collen. How much of a lush does one have to be to be fired from a rock band for alcoholism?
For me it would take a few more years, and being exposed to their videos hundreds of times on MTV before I finally jumped on the bandwagon. I very rarely jump on a musicians's bandwagon right away, but once I'm on their bandwagon I'm usually pretty loyal. I've seen Def Leppard in concert 4 times. My two favorite shows were the Hysteria 1988ish tour at the Salt Palace in Salt Lake. They killed that night. Then it must have been in the early 2000s when I saw them at the Salt Lake Fairgrounds. Thanks to family connections I was able to get seats on the second row. Honestly Def Leppard could've mailed in that night and most of the audience would have been fine with that. However the mighty Lep played their hearts out and killed it again.
Def Leppard continues to tour, going on tour with Kiss in 2014. Sadly their best days have passed them by. The musicians are still great but Elliot is losing his voice a bit. And the band as a whole aren't able to hit the stratospheric heights of back in the day. That being said Def Leppard is still one of my top 10 bands of all-time. Thanks men for all the great musical memories and enjoyment still today.
Thanks to Wikipedia for biographical information for this blog. For more biographical information, here's Def Leppard's "Behind The Music":
Here's "Pyromania" in it's full glory. Thanks to jnevole for making the Youtube video, Youtube for allowing videos longer than 15 minutes and Def Leppard for not being tossers and allowing their music on Youtube for everyone to enjoy. (Prince this would be a good time to use the same approach, especially as you are set to release a new CD.)
How was Def Leppard live about this time, 1983? Again thanks to Youtube and Def Leppard for allowing these videos. This is Def Leppard live in Lyon, France and Dortmand, Germany (Video and audio).:
Here's Def Leppard in Seattle, in August, 1983. (Audio only):
Here they are in 1988 in Denver live (I had that shirt that Joe is wearing at one time):
Def Leppard and Taylor Swift in about 2007:
And finally here they are in the last couple of years, Phil it's about time to put a shirt on dude:
Now here's "Pyromania" song by song. Enjoy! 1) "Rock Rock (Till You Drop): 3) "Stagefright": "Stagefright" (live): 4) "Too Late For Love": 5) "Die Hard The Hunter": 6) "Foolin'": "Foolin'" (Live in 1983): 7) "Rock Of Ages": "Rock of Ages" (Live): 8) Comin' Under Fire": 9) "Action! Not Words": 10) "Billy's Got A Gun": "Billy's Got A Gun" (Live): themusicaddict |
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