I recently rediscovered Def Leppard upon seeing that they are up for election to the Rock Hall of Fame this year. I was a big fan of theirs in my teens, during the time of their first two albums and Pyromania, before losing track of them after Hysteria. The fact that I liked them so much seems a bit odd in hindsight as I was (and still am) primarily a fan of progressive and experimental rock music. But listening to their first three albums again I am quite impressed by their songwriting and playing. And although superficially their music is glam metal, I find certain complexities that go beyond that. I am really enjoying this rediscovery, as are my 5 and 8 yo girls
Anyway, as I mentioned, I lost track of them after Hysteria, and what little of their new work that I have heard and what I have read from others writes it off as derivative, sell-out, cheesy etc. I figure that is about right.
That said, I would like to give their new stuff another chance. There is a lot of it, and I don’t have the time to wade through another 10 albums. Knowing how much I appreciated their early material, are there any specific albums/songs from their newer catalogue that you would recommend to me?