The band was ready to refine their sound and improve on their debut, ‘Sheer Greed’, which in my opinion will not be easy to do. Before they got started on the new album, drummer Dave Gaynor would leave the band to be replaced by Pete Barnacle. After several live dates together and while recording their follow-up album, ‘Wasted Youth’, Pete would be replaced as well with Bryson Graham. If my count is correct that is at least 5 drummers in three years. Spinal Tap has nothing on these guys!

The band, along with Bryson, was still Phil Lewis, Phil Collen and brothers Simon and Gerry Laffy. They went in to the studio with producer Nigel Thomas hoping to improve on their glam sound and maybe make it harder and better than before. The album came out in 1982, a year after Def Leppard’s 2nd album. Where Def Leppard’s sound changed and improved and started a trajectory to stardom, Girl’s did not as it only reached #92 in the UK Chart.

They would falter and then guitarist, Phil Collen would leave the band in 1982 and replaced Pete Willis in Def Leppard and his life would change forever. Girl tried to carry-on with guitarist, Pete Bonas, but the band would break-up by the end of 1982. Two bands that came out at the same time saw two totally different paths. Phil Lewis do would do okay for himself as he would join L.A. Guns and see some success with them…not Leppard success, but they did well enough to still be playing today (in one form or another).

The album opener is “Thru the Twilite” and is another great opener, but it isn’t as powerful as “Hollywood Tease” from ‘Sheer Greed’. However, the guitar work is still great and I love the bass line in it. Phil Lewis has a young, cocky attitude on the vocals which I find quite pleasing. It is a glam rock song with a great stomp-like groove that makes it rock. A solid opening track.

Then we quickly see things falter with “Old Dogs” as they lose the glam rock sound and it sounds like an old 70’s hit. It is dark, moody and is trying to be more cool than it is. Phil doesn’t sound good on this one to me and it never reaches the heights it is trying to reach despite more great bass work, but everything else just doesn’t pull me in.

But we are quickly saved with “Ice in the Blood” written by new drummer Bryson Graham which I would say was a good add to the band as a result. There is more heavy bass as Simon Laffy seems more involved on this album. It is funky and adds a great groove to this killer track. Best on the album for me. There is a swaggering on here that shows a more confident band both musically and in song-writing. The guitar playing by the duo of Phil and Gerry is great and shows improvement between the two as well. This is a massive step in the right direction.

Title track, “Wasted Youth”, and keeps the ball rolling. There is a chugging, train like groove that is down and dirty and oh so cool. Another cocky track that sees a more aggressive band as they turn things up a notch and rock the hell out of it. Phil Lewis takes control and he means business with this one. The back to back rockers are the highlights of the album.

“Standard Romance” is up next and feels like Judas Priest if they weren’t so heavy. The guitars have that sound and Phil comes across a little Halford-esque. There is a fiery energy, another great groove, sweet riffs and a rip-roaring solo that borderlines heavy metal, but Leppard fans would become familiar with the style.

Then the band turns in to a bar band with a bluesy ZZ Top sound with “Nice ‘N’ Nasty”. The sound is more raw, unrefined and it was like they just plugged in and started playing with no concept in mind. It shows a different side, a more rocking side and I kind of dig it.

“McKitty’s Back” is more raw as well. Starts off slow and then picks it up and settles into a groove that carries the song forward until it slows down again and then speeds it up again. A tired form that just never hits a good place for me and I find my mind drifting off during the song. More great guitar work and another killer solo, but it doesn’t save the song.

“19” is up next and damn what a great guitar riff. A ton of grit and punch to it. One of the heavier tracks and some fine drumming on this one with Bryson whose chops and experience really improved the band’s sound. The vocals and lyrics on this one thought hurt it for me as sounds like gibberish at times. Musically tough this one is killer so it isn’t completely lost.

The glam feel is back with “Overnight Angels” and another one of the best songs on the album. This reminds me of a rocking Bowie especially with the backing vocals. The cockiness of Lewis on vocals and the dual guitar work of Laffy and Collen are on fire and when they click,, all is right with the world. Another stellar track that has seen a fair share here.

And for the final track we get “Sweet Kids” and the band captures all the energy of their live show in one song. It is another rocking stomp song that goes at break-neck speed and totally rocks out with a punk angst and party animal rocker. A great way to close the show, I mean album.

Track Listing:

1. Thru’ The Twilite – Keeper
2. Old Dogs – Delete
3. Ice in the Blood – Keeper
4. Wasted Youth – Keeper
5. Standard Romance – Keeper
6. Nice ‘N’ Nasty – Keeper 
7. McKitty’s Back – Delete
8. 19 – Keeper (1/2 Point)
9. Overnight Angels – Keeper 
10. Sweet Kids – Keeper 

The Track Score is 7.5 out of 10 Tracks or 75%.  Was the album as good as the debut, no, it was not.  But it didn’t miss by much. There are some songs on here that show a vast improvement in their sound and even better musicianship with songs like “Ice in the Blood”, “Wasted Youth” and “Overnight Angels.  It still rocked out with songs like “Thru the Twilite” and “Sweet Kids” as well as “Nice ‘N’ Nasty”. But there were a few missteps here that cause the album to not be quite as good.  Was it enough to cause the band to break-up, I don’t think so as they do have some great material. But when one of your main songwriters and lead guitarist jumps ship for a bigger band, I guess it is hard to recover.  Plus, the people weren’t buying it which is a shame because they were good.  My Overall Score is a 3.5 out of 5.0 Stars as it is still a really good album.  But it is the last…sort of. It is the last we will discuss them for the Leppard series, however, I have more stuff by the band for a later time.  Now back to Def Leppard.

NEXT UP: DEF LEPPARD – ‘PYROMANIA’ (1983)

THE DEF LEPPARD COLLECTION SERIES

1. Def Leppard E.P. – 7″ Single (1979)
2. First Strikes 1978-1979 (Bootleg CD)
3. Girl – Sheer Greed (1980)
4. On Through the Night (1980)
5. When the Walls Came Tumbling Down (April 26 1980) (2020)
6. High & Dry (1981)
7. Too Many Jitterbugs – B-Sides And Rarities (2020)
8. Raw – Early BBC Recordings (2020)
9. Girl – Wasted Youth (1982)
10. Pyromania (1983)
11. “Photograph” 7″ Single (1983)
12. “Too Late For Love” 12″ Single (1983)
13. Live at the L.A. Forum 1983 (2018)
14. Seattle, August 3, 1983 (Bootleg CD)
15. Pyromania TV Collection (Bootleg DVD)
16. Hysteria (1987)
17. “Animal” 7″ Single (1987)
18. “Women” 7″ Single (1987)
19. “Pour Some Sugar on Me” 7″ Single (1987)
20. “Hysteria” 7″ Single (1987)
21. “Armageddon It” 7″ Single (1988)
22. “Love Bites” 7″ Single (1988)
23. “Rocket” 7″ Single (1989)
24. Animal Instinct – The Def Leppard Story – Book Review (1987)
25. Rarities – Volume One (2018)
26. Live in Mountain View – August 17, 1988 (Bootleg DVD)
27. Historia – DVD (1988)
28. Live: In the Round, In Your Face (CD Video / DVD) (1989)
29. Adrenalize (1992)
30. “Have You Ever Needed Someone So Bad” – Cassette Single (1992)
31. “Tonight” CD Single (1993)
32. Live Shefield 1992 (Bootleg DVD)
33. Retro Active (1993)
34. Visualize DVD (1993)
35. Hard Rock Café – Singapore, Malaysia October 26, 1995 (Bootleg DVD)
36. Vault: Def Leppard Greatest Hits (1980-1995) (1995)
37. “When Love & Hate Collide” – CD Promo Single (1995)
38. Video Archive (1995)
39. Slang (1996)
40. Montreal: The Classic 1996 Broadcast (Bootleg CD)
41. Live Bites: FM Broadcast (Bootleg CD)
42. Live in Argentina 1997 (Bootleg DVD)
43. Euphoria (1999)
44. Rarities – Volume Two (2019)
45. Rarities – Volume Three (2019)
46. Tokyo 1999 (Bootleg CD)
47. Cybernauts – Live (2000)
48. X (2002)
49. Hysteria: Classic Albums DVD (2002)
50. Best of Def Leppard (2004)
51. Rock of Ages: The Definitive Collection (2005)
52. Yeah! (2006)
53. Songs from the Sparkle Lounge (2008)
54. Man Raze – Surreal (2008)
55. B-Sides (2021)
56. Yeah! II (2021)
57. Yeah! Live (2021)
58. CMT Crossraods – Taylor Swift & Def Leppard (2009)
59. Down ‘N’ Outz -My ReGeneration (2010)
60. Man Raze – PunkFunkRootsRock (2011)
61. Down ‘N’ Outz -The Further Adventures of… (2014)
62. Def Leppard (2015)
63. The Lost Session (2018)
64. Personal Jesus 7″ Single (2018)
65. Down ‘N’ Outz -This is How We Roll (2019)
66. Hits Vegas: Live at Planet Hollywood – Vinyl (2020)
67. Hysteria: Live – Vinyl (2020)
68. Def Leppard Acoustic Vegas – 10″ Vinyl (2020)
69. Down ‘N’ Outz – The Music Box E.P. (2020)
70. Diamond Star Halos (2022)
71. High & Dry – Picture Disc (RSD) (2022)
72. Drastic Symphonies (2023)
73. Drastic Symphonies – Picture Disc (2023)
74. Definitely: The Official Story of Def Leppard (2023)

PREVIOUSLY POSTED:

1. The Def Leppard E.P. (1979/2017)
2. Def Leppard: Interview Picture Disc (1982?)
3. “Bringin’ On the Heartbreak” – 12″ Promo Single (1984)
4. Live at the Top (Bootleg) (1987)
5. “Pour Some Sugar on Me” –  5″ Shaped Picture Disc (1987)
6. Hysteria U.S. Tour 1988 – Tour Book (1988)
7. “Make Love Like a Man” – 12″ Single (1992)
8. “Let’s Get Rocked” – 12″ Single (1992)
9. Adrenalize: The 7 Day Weekend Tour (1992/1993)
10. X: World Tour (2003)
11. Mirrorball – Live & More (2011)
12. Def Leppard: The Definitive Visual History – Book Review (2011)
13. Viva! Hysteria (2013)
14. And There Will Be A Next Time…Live from Detroit (2017)
15. Hysteria: 30th Anniversary Box Set (2017)
16. The Story So Far – The Best of (2018)
17. The Collection, Volume 1 (2018)
18. Hysteria: The Singles Box Set (2018)
19. Live at Abbey Road Studios (2018)
20. Def Leppard: Concert Review – Charlotte, NC June 9th 2018 (2018)
21. The Story So Far – The Best of Volume 2 (2019)
22. The Collection, Volume 2 (2019)
23. London to Vegas (2020)
24. Rock & Roll Hall of Fame 29 March 2019 (2020)
25. The Early Years ’79-’81 (2020)
26. The Collection, Volume 3 (2021)
27. Def Leppard Funko Pop!