Def Leppard – ‘The Story So Far…The Best of’ – Album Review

Published on by 2loud2oldmusic

Def Leppard decided to grace us with yet another Greatest Hits Collection right before the holidays. How nice of them!  It is exactly what I needed…uhh…yeah…NO!!  No offense Lep, I am a huge fan, but why do we need another greatest hits collection.  We have some solid ones already.

I get it.  They have been riding a pretty big wave this last year with the awesome success of their arena and stadium tour with Journey (You can read about those here for Def Leppard and here for Journey).  They have picked up some fans this past year and also they were nominated for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame (FINALLY!!!).  All-in-all, a pretty big year so why not cap it off with a new greatest hits set.

Now, they released 3 different sets.  One was a single CD set, a Deluxe 2CD set and a Vinyl Set (2LPs).  So what are the differences between the sets?  I am glad you asked.  We will start with the single CD and the Vinyl Editions.  Both of these sets have 16 tracks.  Okay, the CD has 17 because it includes the new track which is a cover of Depeche Mode’s song “Personal Jesus”.  Now that I mention that, the Vinyl set has that song 2 but is on a separate 7″ Single and the B-Side is the bands new Christmas song “We All Need Christmas”…we will get to those two new songs later.

The CD & Vinyl are sort of the same, but yet different.  Personally, the vinyl is better only because of the 7″ Single with the 2 new songs as you don’t get the Christmas song on the single CD set.

Now how about those tracks on these two versions…well…honestly…the Fucking Suck!!!  Yes, I said it.  They Fucking Suck!!!  I am a massive Def Leppard fan, but this is the worst track listing for a greatest hits album.  It only contains songs from FOUR albums.  That is right…FOUR!!!  The band has 12 studio albums, 13 if you count Retroactive which is technically listed as compilation.  The songs on this edition are all from ‘Pyromania’, ‘Hysteria’, ‘Adrenalize’ and ‘Retroactive’.  That is it!!  Sorry, I was wrong…one song is from the band’s first greatest hits album, ‘Vault’…but really does that count.

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It sounds like the band spent so much time really thinking about this.  It is such a lazy ass attempt at a greatest hits set…especially one titled ‘The Story So Far’.  It should be called ‘These are the only albums people listen to so fuck the rest’.  Do I sound angry?  I am.  It is a majorly disappointing track listing. Here is the Track Listing:

  1. Animal
  2. Photograph
  3. Pour Some Sugar
  4. Love Bites
  5. Let’s Get Rocked
  6. Armageddon It
  7. Foolin’
  8. Two Steps Behind
  9. Heaven Is
  10. Rocket
  11. Hysteria
  12. Have You Ever Needed Someone So Bad
  13. Make Love Like a Man
  14. Action
  15. When Love & Hate Collide
  16. Rock of Ages
  17. Personal Jesus (7″ Single on vinyl set)
  18. We All Need Christmas (B-Side of 7″ Single – not on CD set)

Now, let’s talk about the 2CD Deluxe Edition.  It has to be better.  Right?  Yes…And No.  Yes, it is better and the one to get only because it covers the rest of the albums…well not really.  It covers most of the other albums and some only extremely briefly.

Now, here are my gripes with this set.  Let’s go with bullet points:

  • Nothing from ‘On Through the Night’…Really!! Did that album not exist??
  • Why not one of the songs off the debut EP???  That would really be the Story so far!!
  • One song from ‘High & Dry’…are you fucking kidding me!  What might be your most rocking album and all we get is the ballad.  Why no “Switch 625” at least.
  • “Rock On” – please, stop playing it so much and including it in everything.  I would have rather had something off the first album.
  • “Nine Lives” song sucks Tim McGraw’s ass.  Not one of your best.

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Do I have any highlights?  Maybe the fact you do get songs that happened after 2005 when their last and Best compilation came out “Rock of Ages: The Definitive Collection”.

Here is the track list and is much better than the first disc at least…

  1. Let’s Go
  2. Promises
  3. Slang
  4. Bringin’ On the Heartbreak
  5. Rock On
  6. Nine Lives
  7. Work It Out
  8. Stand Up (Kick Love into Motion)
  9. Dangerous
  10. Now
  11. Undefeated
  12. Tonight
  13. C’mon C’mon
  14. Man Enough
  15. No Matter What
  16. All I Want is Everything
  17. Kings of the World

It is 34 tracks in total.  Basically, you have to buy the Deluxe Edition 2CD set and the Vinyl set to get all 35 tracks.  And only a real fan would do that…Hello!!  Real Fan here!  Even though I am disappointed in the overall greatest hits compilation…I still spent my hard earned money and supported the band.  I don’t have to like everything they do, but I want them to do more so I buy there stuff.

Now, how about the 2 new songs.  “Personal Jesus” is a cover of the Depeche Mode classic and they do a good job.  The Lepped it up, but kept the electronic feel to it as well. I feel they could have rocked it up a little more, but still impressed and I like it.  For the collector, well worth adding to the collection.  The 2nd new song is the Christmas song “We All Need Christmas”.  Yes, but do we need another Christmas song?  No, not really.  Not a fan of this song yet, but maybe it will become a Christmas classic one day…yeah…maybe not.

Now, here are my ratings:

As a Super Fan…2 out of 5 Stars.  That first disc is unimaginative and lazy.  Plus, you aren’t covering all the albums sufficiently to be complete.  But you get points for at least the 2 new tracks (but lose points for making us have to buy 2 sets to get all tracks – smart business move though).

Unbiased opinion – 4 out of 5 Stars.  This rating is for the 2CD set only.  A great set for people new to the band and only interested in the hits.  They have lots of them and they are great songs.  I like the variety better on the 2nd disc and you should too. It gives you a better picture of what the band can do. However, I am sure you will spend more time on the first since those are the songs the causal fan enjoys.  The vinyl set is good only if you want the Christmas song and the single CD edition isn’t worth it at all.  For $3-5 more, get the 2 CD Deluxe.

There you have it.  I hope this helped you make a decision on which one to get, but either way, support the band and they will keep giving us more music.

63 thoughts on “Def Leppard – ‘The Story So Far…The Best of’ – Album Review”

  4. Thanks for this review! I will be skipping “Lazy Lepps Hits Vol Whatever” haha
    Kinda sad and as I say they omitted the whole debut!
    Shame on these guys but it doesn’t surprise me….

    Liked by 2 people

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  6. When I become King of the Universe, bands will only be allowed to release one greatest hits LP on pain of death – means they’ll have to think very carefully about when they want to put it out. Vote 1537!

    Liked by 1 person

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      1. You get to do one only and it’s either/or, you don’t get to do both – on pain of death again.

        Live albums? One every 20 years, but no tracks can be duplicated on them – new material only. Again, sorry to be boring, on pain of death.

        Retirement tours? Yup fine, but that’s binding. You get back together again, back on the road, you have to give complimentary tickets to anyone who can prove they saw you on your previous ‘final tour’ (pain of death clause applies).

        Liked by 1 person

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  8. At least the 2 CD deluxe edition contains “All I Want Is Everything,” but one of my biggest complaints with the band is that their setlists depict their career from Pyromania and Hysteria. Like what is the point of making new albums if they only play the same albums over and over again?!?! On one of Mike’s livestreams, they talked about how some artists are stuck in the nostalgia feel and they don’t want to lose their lifelong fans, so they stick to the “hits.” Versus taking risks, like Def Leppard did with ‘Slang.’ I still love the group though, but yeah!

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      1. Again, what’s the point of making albums if they don’t play tracks from them? Even going back to the Hysteria days, Def Leppard gave up ‘On Through the Night’ and ‘High ‘n’ Dry’ completely, with the exception of two tracks I don’t need to mention.

        That’s kind of way I got sick of “Bringin’ on the Heartbreak.” They played it on every single tour, and every concert I watched on youtube, they played it.

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