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.

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.

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."

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.

Love over Gold is the fourth studio album by the British rock band Dire Straits released on 20 September 1982 by Vertigo Records internationally and by Warner Bros. Records in the United States. The album produced two singles, "Private Investigations", which reached number 2 on the UK Singles Chart, and "Industrial Disease", which reached number 9 on Billboard's Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart in the United States. The fourteen-minute opus, "Telegraph Road" has gone on to become a favourite on FM radio worldwide. The album reached number 1 on album charts in Australia, Austria, Italy, New Zealand, Norway and the United Kingdom, and number 19 in the United States. Love over Gold was later certified gold in the United States, platinum in France and Germany and double-platinum in Canada and the United Kingdom.

After sinking deep into this musical celebration, even the not-so-avid listener will surely know something more about Kiss, a classic rock icon of the '70s roaring back in vibrant and passionate form. This recording of a session done expressly for the program MTV Unplugged in 1996 brought together a special group for a remarkable, if unexpected, reunion. Throughout this record, you can feel the support and raw adoration of the audience present, certainly a mixture of long-time fans and new admirers. The members of Kiss got together to rock hard on their axes and crash big on the drums, bringing a renewed sense of freshness and excitement.

IT'SNAZ is a double live album by the Scottish hard rock band Nazareth, released in late 1981. The full album title is It's Naz but the artwork spread the title, in block-capitals, fully over the outside of the gatefold-sleeve: when not opened only 'S NAZ is visible on the front. The back of the original album cover includes the letters "I" and "T" causing many to misinterpret the title of the album as "'Snaz" which is incorrect. That no space was left between the 'S' and 'NAZ' seems deliberate, as contemporary adverts for the album in the music press write it as IT'SNAZ.

On this 1977 album, Nazareth makes a full-blooded return to the hard rock sound they had neglected since their success with Hair of the Dog. The result is a potent, driving slab of hard rock that will please Nazareth fans and devotees of 1970s hard rock alike. The album sets its frenzied tone right off the bat with its title track, a blistering rocker that features Dan McCafferty spitting out a sharp-edged vocal about life's cruelty over a series of fast and relentless guitar riffs.

Scottish hard rockers Nazareth dominated the airwaves in the late '70s with the biting rock anthem "Hair of the Dog" and the enduring proto-power ballad "Love Hurts." Emerging in 1971, the band found mainstream success in 1975 with the release of their platinum-selling fifth album, Hair of the Dog. Despite numerous lineup changes, the group remained prolific and popular in Europe throughout the '80s and '90s, and continued to tour and record into the 2000s, with bassist and co-founder Pete Agnew serving as the sole constant member. In 2018, Nazareth celebrated its 50th Anniversary with the release of Tattooed on My Brain. Surviving the Law, the band's 25th studio album, appeared in 2022.

This 1971 self-titled debut may stun fans who are accustomed to the hard-driving rock and gritty power ballads that characterize Nazareth's more popular work. Nazareth is a diverse collection of songs that points the way towards the pop leanings that would dominate the group's later output. Although it lacks the consistency of later albums like Hair of the Dog and Expect No Mercy, fans of 1970s rock will find plenty to enjoy on this surprisingly adventurous disc. The overall sound is softer than the hard rock the group is best known for, but that doesn't mean the album isn't lacking in good old-fashioned rock & roll.

'Til We Meet Again, the first live album released by Norah Jones, collects highlights from the tours she gave in the wake of the 2016 release of Day Breaks. The 14 songs on 'Til We Meet Again were recorded between 2017 and 2019, taken from performances given in the United States, Italy, France, Brazil, and Argentina. To Jones' credit, the album doesn't feel like it was cobbled together from different sources. The music flows easily, with Jones taking the time to stretch and solo, playing with her vocal phrasing just enough to enliven older songs and give newer tunes a lift.

Taï Phong is a bit of an oddity, as it is a French band founded by Vietnamese brothers Kahn and Taï Ho Tong. The sound is comparable to Camel, and Novalis, but the most telling description is 'France's answer to Barclay James Havest.' The first incarnation came together in 1972, and included an American and a German (keep telling yourself this is a French band). They were in the process of recording, when contract disputes broke out. Because the brothers refused the terms (thus leaving them without a deal), the other two members left. Soon after, they would be replaced by keyboardist Jean Alain Gardet, and the now famous (or infamous) Jean-Jacques Goldman. Yes, he is the man responsible for several of Céline Dion's hits (does this mean that Céline is prog related? Say it ain't so).

Emboldened by the enthusiastic response to the muted Nothing Like the Sun and reeling from the loss of his parents, Sting constructed The Soul Cages as a hushed mediation on mortality, loss, grief, and father/son relationships (the album is dedicated, in part, to his father; its predecessor was dedicated to his mother). Using the same basic band as Nothing Like the Sun, the album has the same supple, luxurious tone, stretching out leisurely over nine tracks, almost all of them layered mid-tempo tunes (the exception being grinding guitars of the title track). Within this setting, Sting hits a few remarkable peaks, such as the elegant waltz "Mad About You" and "All This Time," a deceptively skipping pop tune that hides a moving tribute to his father.