Def Leppard - Pyromania: Promo Box (2008) (SHM-CD)

In many ways, Def Leppard were the definitive hard rock band of the '80s. There were many bands that rocked harder (and were more dangerous) than the Sheffield-based quintet, but few others captured the spirit of the times quite as well. Emerging in the late '70s as part of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal, Def Leppard actually owed more to the glam rock and metal of the early '70s, as their sound was equal parts T. Rex, Mott the Hoople, Queen, and Led Zeppelin. By toning down their heavy riffs and emphasizing melody, Def Leppard were poised for crossover success by the time of 1983's Pyromania, and skillfully used the fledgling MTV network to their advantage. The musicians were already blessed with photogenic good looks, but they also crafted a series of innovative, exciting videos that made them into stars. They intended a quick follow-up to Pyromania, but were derailed when their drummer lost an arm in a car accident, the first of many problems that plagued the group's career. They managed to pull through such tragedies, and even expanded their large audience with 1987's blockbuster Hysteria. ~Allmusic




On Through the Night, Def Leppard's debut album, established the band as one of the leading lights of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal. While possessing the tight, controlled attack of comrades Judas Priest and Iron Maiden, Def Leppard was uninterested in the fantastic, menacing, and sometimes gothic themes of those bands; instead, On Through the Night is a collection of working-class hard rock anthems informed by the big, glittering hooks of glam rock. It may lack the detailed production and more pop-oriented songwriting of later efforts, but it's also arguably their heaviest album, and some Leppard fans prefer this sound. ~Allmusic

Track listing
01. Rock Brigade (3:10)
02. Hello America (3:28)
03. Sorrow Is A Woman (3:55)
04. It Could Be You (2:34)
05. Satellite (4:28)
06. When The Walls Came Tumbling Down (4:45)
07. Wasted (3:45)
08. Rocks Off (3:44)
09. It Don't Matter (3:21)
10. Answer To The Master (3:13)
11. Overture (7:46)
~ (44:10)






Def Leppard's second album, High 'N' Dry, continues in the vein of the anthemic, working-class hard rock of their debut. While still opting for a controlled musical attack and melodies as big-sounding and stadium-ready as possible, the band opens up its arrangements a bit more on High 'N' Dry, letting the songs breathe and groove while the rhythm section and guitar riffs play off one another. MTV helped break the album in the U.S. with its heavy rotation of the video for the unabashedly dramatic rock ballad "Bringin' on the Heartbreak." ~Allmusic

Track listing
01. Let It Go (4:44)
02. Another Hit And Run (4:59)
03. High 'n' Dry (Saturday Night) (3:27)
04. Bringin' On The Heartbreak (4:34)
05. Switch (3:03)
06. You Got Me Runnin' (4:23)
07. Lady Strange (4:39)
08. On Through The Night (5:06)
09. Mirror, Mirror (Look Into My Eyes) (4:08)
10. No No No (3:13)
11. Bringin' On The Hearbreak (Remix) (4:34)
12. Me & My Wine (Remix) (3:41)
~ (50:31)






While Def Leppard had obviously wanted to write big-sounding anthems on their previous records, Pyromania was where the band's vision coalesced and gelled into something more. More than ever before, the band's songs on Pyromania are driven by catchy, shiny melodic hooks instead of heavy guitar riffs, although the latter do pop up once in a while. But it wasn't just this newly intensified focus on melody and consistent songwriting (and heavy MTV exposure) that made Pyromania a massive success – and the catalyst for the '80s pop-metal movement. Robert John "Mutt" Lange's buffed-to-a-sheen production – polished drum and guitar sounds, multi-tracked layers of vocal harmonies, a general sanding of any and all musical rough edges, and a perfectionistic attention to detail – set the style for much of the melodic hard rock that followed. It wasn't a raw or spontaneous sound, but the performances were still energetic and committed. Leppard's quest for huge, transcendent hard rock perfection on Pyromania was surprisingly successful; their reach never exceeded their grasp, which makes the album an enduring (and massively influential) classic. ~Allmusic

Track listing
01. Rock Rock (Till You Drop) (3:55)
02. Photograph (4:17)
03. Stagefright (3:36)
04. Too Late For Love (4:27)
05. Die Hard The Hunter (6:16)
06. Foolin' (4:34)
07. Rock Of Ages (4:08)
08. Comin' Under Fire (4:14)
09. Action! Not Words (3:49)
10. Billy's Got A Gun (5:57)
~ (45:13)






Where Pyromania had set the standard for polished, catchy pop-metal, Hysteria only upped the ante. Pyromania's slick, layered Mutt Lange production turned into a painstaking obsession with dense sonic detail on Hysteria, with the result that some critics dismissed the record as a stiff, mechanized pop sell-out (perhaps due in part to Rick Allen's new, partially electronic drum kit). But Def Leppard's music had always employed big, anthemic hooks, and few of the pop-metal bands who had hit the charts in the wake of Pyromania could compete with Leppard's sense of craft; certainly none had the pop songwriting savvy to produce seven chart singles from the same album, as the stunningly consistent Hysteria did. Joe Elliott's lyrics owe an obvious debt to his obsession with T. Rex, particularly on the playfully silly anthem "Pour Some Sugar on Me," and the British glam rock tribute "Rocket," while power ballads like "Love Bites" and the title track lack the histrionics or gooey sentimentality of many similar offerings. The strong pop hooks and "perfect"-sounding production of Hysteria may not appeal to die-hard heavy metal fans, but it isn't heavy metal – it's pop-metal, and arguably the best pop-metal ever recorded. Its blockbuster success helped pave the way for a whole new second wave of hair metal bands, while proving that the late-'80s musical climate could also be very friendly to veteran hard rock acts, a lead many would follow in the next few years. ~Allmusic

Track listing
01. Women (5:43)
02. Rocket (6:38)
03. Animal (4:05)
04. Love Bites (5:47)
05. Pour Some Sugar On Me (4:27)
06. Armageddon It (5:24)
07. Gods of War (6:37)
08. Don't Shoot Shotgun (4:27)
09. Run Riot (4:39)
10. Hysteria (5:55)
11. Excitable (4:19)
12. Love and Affection (4:35)
13. Love and Affection (Live) (4:53)
~ (67:28)






After two straight blockbusters that delivered the goods both musically and commercially, anticipation ran high for Def Leppard's follow-up to Hysteria, in spite of the tragic death of guitarist Steve Clark. Unfortunately, Adrenalize sounds somewhat tired, formulaic, and bland, qualities absent from the band's best pop-metal work. Perhaps somewhat understandably, Leppard doesn't sound like their heart is really in the party anthems, and their ballads sound more calculated and generic. But most of all, the songs don't really have the effortlessly anthemic feel Leppard achieved so well on their past two albums, even though they try mightily. Adrenalize is competent, workmanlike, and impeccably produced, but not much more. ~Allmusic

Track listing
01. Let's Get Rocked (4:57)
02. Heaven Is (3:34)
03. Make Love Like A Man (4:16)
04. Tonight (4:03)
05. White Lightning (7:03)
06. Stand Up (Kick Love Into Motion) (4:33)
07. Personal Property (4:21)
08. Have You Ever Needed Someone So Bad (5:24)
09. I Wanna Touch U (3:38)
10. Tear It Down (3:38)
11. Miss You In A Heartbeat (5:06)
12. She's Too Tough (3:44)
~ (54:16)




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