Recommend me some (new) Leppard

Cafe Society
#1

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 :slight_smile:

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?

#2

In my opinion, you can check out the next two albums and stop there. Adrenalize has some good cuts, a couple that got a lot of radio play. I don’t think Slang had any big radio hits but there are a couple good songs. I like the title song, Slang. It’s the first album with Vivian Campbell replacing Steve Clark on guitar.

#3

Their 2006 cover album Yeah! is very highly thought of. It helps that most of the tracks were not huge hits; for me that meant I was just listening to the song, not to how they played the song, really.

Plus, this is prolly the 3rd or 4th best rendition of David Essex’s Rock On ever (behind the original and the one by Tater Totz, natch).

#4

I think *High ‘n’ Dry *and Pyromania are the only things worth listening to.

Not a huge fan.

#5

thanks for the recommendations. I will add Slang and Yeah to my Christmas list!

#6

I remember hearing “Now,” the lead single off of 2002’s X, while at the gym and thinking the band sounded like it had a little more life in it than I thought it would by that point.

#7

They’re probably my favorite band ever, so I could give you a reason to listen to each album, but I won’t. Unless you want.

Slang was their attempt at fitting in during the grunge era. It wasn’t anything like Hysteria, but I think its a great album. Not grunge, but not exactly the sound DL is known for either. If you’re looking for more 80s power pop, this isn’t the CD for you.

Euphoria was their return to the Def Leppard sound in 1999 after the previous experiment. If you like Hysteria/Pyromania, give this one a listen. Same with their latest CD 2015’s Def Leppard (self titled).

X was much more mainstream pop sounding. They had actually even collaborated with outside writers known more for current pop songs. There are some great sounding tracks on there though (Love don’t lie, Everyday, Torn to Shreds) and I really wish they wouldn’t ignore this album, which they really seem to.