I am reaaaaaally excited about this blog article as it means I am about to leave the NWOBHM and progress into another subgenre altogether which I guess will be super fun: Glam Metal or Hair Metal. Def Leppard is the perfect band to pick when looking for a bridge between those two genres.
So far I've been acquainting myself with the early metal of Black Sabbath, Judas Priest and Rainbow and I've listened to a lot of music from the NWOBHM, feeling quite at home in this genre to be honest. I've written about Motörhead, Girlschool and Iron Maiden, but have also been listening to music from Saxon, Tygers of Pan Tang, Angel Witch and Diamond Head. There are songs from those bands I liked as well, I put some on my playlist already and will surely continue to add more as I progress through the albums. But I've got to say that Iron Maiden is still my favourite band from the NWOBHM so far.
Def Leppard formed originally as Atomic Mass in 1977 by bassist Rick Savage in Sheffield, South Yorkshire. Not soon after Joe Elliot became the singer of the band and suggested the name "Deaf Leopard" which was changed to Def Leppard. Joe Elliot and Rick Savage are still members of Def Leppard today and have been performing on all Def Leppard releases. Drummer Rick Allen joined the band in 1978 and is still with the band today. Guitarist Phil Collen joined the band in 1982 during the recording of their third album. And their second guitarist Vivian Campbell (whom we already know as the guitarist from Dio 1982 - 1986) joined in 1992. So altogether the band has been pretty stable in their line-up.
Def Leppard got airtime with their first E.P. The Deaf Leppard on BBC Radio 1, which got them some following. Especially the single Getcha Rocks Off was received well.
1979 the band was considered a major element in the movement of NWOBHM, even kickstarting the whole movement together with Iron Maiden. What is interesting though, is that from the start of their album release career in 1980 (On Through The Night) fans and the band itself have not quite agreed with that. The NWOBHM being a British movement, British fans felt right from the beginning that Def Leppard tried to hard too appeal to the US market and the music that was popular there (for example with the song Hello America).
Whenever asked singer Joe Elliot is making it very clear, that Def Leppard neither wanted to be part of the NWOBHM movement nor the Glam Metal genre. He sees their music as rock influenced by the punk era of the mid 70s. "Even if they are also like punk songs — short 10-15 second guitar solos instead of these things that lasted longer than a Beatles song" (metaladdicts.com). Joe Elliot remembers in an interview that when they started their career it was on Top of the Pops with "simplistic anthemic Rock'n'Roll" and a "3-minute pop/rock sensibility". They were more inspired by music from Bowie, T-Rex, Slade, Sweet and Suzie Quattro and consequently sounded more like them than full on heavy metal.
"We've had this argument many times. If you put Lemmy, Scott Ian and [Ronnie James] Dio in a room and say 'Heavy metal — DEF LEPPARD, discuss,' they'd all burst out laughing. But at the same time, you could take Pink and Christina Aguilera and say 'DEF LEPPARD — pop music' and they'd do the same thing. I don't know where we stand. I don't think we ever believed we were a metal band. I think MAIDEN were a metal band and a very good one. We're a rock band."
Nevertheless, while by their 3rd album Pyromania in 1983 they had lost the typical NWOBHM sound, the first two albums are still considered being part of the NWOBHM. I listened to On Through The Night from 1980 and I really liked the album in its entirety. The songs are melodic and have catchy riffs, easy to remember and to sing along with. I've put 5 songs from this album on my playlist as I really liked them all.
Their second album High'N'Dry (1981) was produced by AC/DC producer (and today's ex-husband of Shania Twain) Robert Mutt Lange who helped to establish the band's characteristic sound. Def Leppard's power ballad Bringin' On The Heartbreak was played on MTV in 1982 as one of the first "heavy metal" bands songs which helped to increase their popularity with a large fanbase. And as I am an old sucker for power pallads, of course I love this one! I can imagine all the girls being wildly in love with Joe Elliot at this point <3
The 3rd album Pyromania (1983) featured the lead single Photograph, which became the most requested video on MTV. The singles Rock of Ages and Foolin were also massively successful and the album Pyromania kickstarted the 1980 pop-metal movement.
Although a huge success in the US the album only received moderate success in the UK. The fourth album Hysteria is to date Def Leppard's best-selling album with over 20 million copies sold worldwide and seven hit singles. This album also spawned the single Pour Some Sugar On Me which later became Def Leppard's signature song. By the release of this album at the latest Def Leppard had left all heavy metal associations behind. Nevertheless - Pour Some Sugar On Me is on my playlist, because I've always loved this song, metal or no metal.
From a human perspective Def Leppard had more than their fair share of tragedy. On 31 December 1984 drummer Rick Allen lost his left arm in a car accident. The band stood by him, never looked for a replacement and Allen was determined to keep on drumming. With a custom electric drum kit Allen managed to keep on playing, using his legs to do the work of his lost arm. Allen was back with the band by 1986 and was officially re-introduced at Donington Park. Watching him play the drums is truely inspirational.
January 1991 guitarist Steve Clark died from alcohol poisoning at the age of 30. He had been with the band since 1978 and their main songwriter. He and Phil Collen were known as the "Terror Twins". They were close friends and a great duo on stage, switching between rhythm and lead guitar or both playing lead or rhythm. Steve Clark was later replaced by Vivian Smith. The demo version of When Love And Hate Collide was recorded days before Clark's death and contain his final solo ever performed.
Def Leppard is associated with many musical styles, heavy metal just being one of them. And even if they don't like the label themselves, they have played a major part in the evolution of heavy metal and I found it immensely interesting to listen to them.
They are among the five rock bands that have two studio albums that sold over 10 million times and were awarded Diamond award together with The Beatles, Van Halen, Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd. They are still playing today, have released 60 (!) singles and 11 studio albums so far and their 12th album is due to release February 2022. With over 100 million records sold worldwide they are among the best-selling bands of the world.
For my blog Def Leppard is my stepping stone into the mid 80s and the genre of Glam Metal which I will start tackling now. Looking really forward to it.