On August 3rd, 1987, Def Leppard released their fourth studio album, ‘Hysteria’. Little did they know this ground breaking album would go on to sell over 25 million records, produce 7 hit singles and go to #1 on the Billboard Charts. The first track on the album is the song “Women”. The song was the first single for the album in the U.S., but “Animal” was the first everywhere else. The single was released on August 25, 1987. In the U.S., the song only went to #80 on the Billboard Hot 100, but did go to #7 on the Mainstream Rock Chart. But the lack of success of the single, was not a good start for the band that was heavily in debt from the long recording of the album.
The songwriting credits are for the entire band of Joe Elliott, Rick Savage, Rick Allen, Steve Clark and Phil Collen. And since producer, Robert John “Mutt” Lange, was so heavily involved, he gets a writing credit as well. The version of the single I have is the U.S. version and the version from the Hysteria Singles Box Set Collection.
The reason for that the single was first in the U.S. and not “Animal” like it was in the UK is that Leppard wanted to make sure their core audience, the males, would understand what they were going for with the sound of this new album. They knew women might not like this one, however, the song isn’t degrading women at all. It is actually inspired by the important women in Joe Elliott’s life and is an anthem that actually pays tribute and celebrates women both their beauty and their strength all with a biblical background to it.
A SIDE:
The sound of the song was not what I expected at all from the band as they had changed their sound again form the previous album like they did the album before that. The first thing I noticed was the difference in the drum sound as it was now an electronic sound due to Rick losing his arm. There were keyboards and although the song was heavy, it was more polished and the sonics had more pop elements mixed with that rock. It was like nothing else on the radio at the time. There was so much going on and the chorus had layers of vocals and harmonies. But the guitar solo sounded like Lep as it had that Clark and Collen sound. I was hesitant at first, but ended up loving this song.
B SIDE:
The B-Side was the song “Tear It Down”. This song would later be re-recorded for the ‘Adrenalize’ album. The song was written and recorded during a recording session that was done after the album was recorded. This session was for all the B-Sides that were anticipated with the release of all the singles they planned. It was a very thought out process apparently. The song was so good, that it was eventually played on radios a bit and even performed live some time in 1989.
The song is a complete banger and a heavy track as well. It opens with some blistering guitar riffs, some heart-pounding drums and really comes out of the gate swinging. Joe’s lyrics are slick and smooth during the verses, but when the bridge and chorus come in, he takes it up a notch. The song is catchy, contagious and simply fantastic. And the solo sounds like classic Phil with his speedy fingers ripping across the strings. Bombastic is an understatement for this song.
RECREATE ALBUM COVER:
Now, I actually had all the 7″ Singles at one time, but I was always missing the final two puzzle pieces. So, when the band released the Hysteria Singles Box Set, I was finally album to finish the puzzle of the Hysteria Cover art. We will create this picture as we go trough the singles. First up…”Animal”…and next we now have “Woman”…
NEXT UP: DEF LEPPARD – “POUR SOME SUGAR ON ME” (1987) – 7″ Single (Part 3 of 7)
THE DEF LEPPARD COLLECTION SERIES
- Def Leppard E.P. – 7″ Single (1979)
- First Strikes 1978-1979 (Bootleg CD)
- Girl – Sheer Greed (1980)
- On Through the Night (1980)
- When the Walls Came Tumbling Down (April 26 1980) (2020)
- High & Dry (1981)
- Too Many Jitterbugs – B-Sides And Rarities (2020)
- Raw – Early BBC Recordings (2020)
- Girl – Wasted Youth (1982)
- Pyromania (1983)
- “Photograph” 7″ Single (1983)
- “Too Late For Love” 12″ Single (1983)
- Live at the L.A. Forum 1983 (2018)
- Seattle, August 3, 1983 (Bootleg CD)
- Pyromania TV Collection (Bootleg DVD)
- Hysteria (1987)
- “Animal” 7″ Single (1987)
- “Women” 7″ Single (1987)
- “Pour Some Sugar on Me” 7″ Single (1987)
- “Hysteria” 7″ Single (1987)
- “Armageddon It” 7″ Single (1988)
- “Love Bites” 7″ Single (1988)
- “Rocket” 7″ Single (1989)
- Animal Instinct – The Def Leppard Story – Book Review (1987)
- Rarities – Volume One (2018)
- Live in Mountain View – August 17, 1988 (Bootleg DVD)
- Historia – DVD (1988)
- Live: In the Round, In Your Face (CD Video / DVD) (1989)
- Adrenalize (1992)
- “Have You Ever Needed Someone So Bad” – Cassette Single (1992)
- “Tonight” CD Single (1993)
- Live Shefield 1992 (Bootleg DVD)
- Retro Active (1993)
- Visualize DVD (1993)
- Hard Rock Café – Singapore, Malaysia October 26, 1995 (Bootleg DVD)
- Vault: Def Leppard Greatest Hits (1980-1995) (1995)
- “When Love & Hate Collide” – CD Promo Single (1995)
- Video Archive (1995)
- Slang (1996)
- Montreal: The Classic 1996 Broadcast (Bootleg CD)
- Live Bites: FM Broadcast (Bootleg CD)
- Live in Argentina 1997 (Bootleg DVD)
- Euphoria (1999)
- Rarities – Volume Two (2019)
- Rarities – Volume Three (2019)
- Tokyo 1999 (Bootleg CD)
- Cybernauts – Live (2000)
- X (2002)
- Hysteria: Classic Albums DVD (2002)
- Best of Def Leppard (2004)
- Rock of Ages: The Definitive Collection (2005)
- Yeah! (2006)
- Songs from the Sparkle Lounge (2008)
- Man Raze – Surreal (2008)
- B-Sides (2021)
- Yeah! II (2021)
- Yeah! Live (2021)
- CMT Crossraods – Taylor Swift & Def Leppard (2009)
- Down ‘N’ Outz -My ReGeneration (2010)
- Man Raze – PunkFunkRootsRock (2011)
- Down ‘N’ Outz -The Further Adventures of… (2014)
- Def Leppard (2015)
- The Lost Session (2018)
- Personal Jesus 7″ Single (2018)
- Down ‘N’ Outz -This is How We Roll (2019)
- Hits Vegas: Live at Planet Hollywood – Vinyl (2020)
- Hysteria: Live – Vinyl (2020)
- Def Leppard Acoustic Vegas – 10″ Vinyl (2020)
- Down ‘N’ Outz – The Music Box E.P. (2020)
- Diamond Star Halos (2022)
- High & Dry – Picture Disc (RSD) (2022)
- Drastic Symphonies (2023)
- Drastic Symphonies – Picture Disc (2023)
- Definitely: The Official Story of Def Leppard (2023)
PREVIOUSLY POSTED:
- The Def Leppard E.P. (1979/2017)
- Def Leppard: Interview Picture Disc (1982?)
- “Bringin’ On the Heartbreak” – 12″ Promo Single (1984)
- Live at the Top (Bootleg) (1987)
- “Pour Some Sugar on Me” – 5″ Shaped Picture Disc (1987)
- Hysteria U.S. Tour 1988 – Tour Book (1988)
- “Make Love Like a Man” – 12″ Single (1992)
- “Let’s Get Rocked” – 12″ Single (1992)
- Adrenalize: The 7 Day Weekend Tour (1992/1993)
- X: World Tour (2003)
- Mirrorball – Live & More (2011)
- Def Leppard: The Definitive Visual History – Book Review (2011)
- Viva! Hysteria (2013)
- And There Will Be A Next Time…Live from Detroit (2017)
- Hysteria: 30th Anniversary Box Set (2017)
- The Story So Far – The Best of (2018)
- The Collection, Volume 1 (2018)
- Hysteria: The Singles Box Set (2018)
- Live at Abbey Road Studios (2018)
- Def Leppard: Concert Review – Charlotte, NC June 9th 2018 (2018)
- The Story So Far – The Best of Volume 2 (2019)
- The Collection, Volume 2 (2019)
- London to Vegas (2020)
- Rock & Roll Hall of Fame 29 March 2019 (2020)
- The Early Years ’79-’81 (2020)
- The Collection, Volume 3 (2021)
- Def Leppard Funko Pop!
2 Loud 2 Old Music 
Whoever thought it was a good idea to put this out as the first single in America instead of “Animal” didn’t have their head screwed on right.
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It was pretty stupid for the casual fan to hear this first. For me, I was so excited to have anything new I was buying the album regardless of the first single.
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Could it be that they knew that they were sitting on a bunch of top 10 singles, and they were saving the big guns for later, to ensure the album’s longevity? Just trying to think like a record exec, lol
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It could be. I heard the band wanted to do “Women” first because it was a change in their sound and thought the US would be more acceptable with this song first as “Animal” was not as hard.
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That makes sense, as it is probably the most traditional-sounding song on Hysteria. I always wondered why they didn’t open the album with a flashier track, but it makes a nice bridge from Pyromania to their then-current sound.
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It does make a nice bridge from Pyromania. I agree.
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‘Hysteria’ would’ve been a much better album if they took out one of their not-so-good songs (“Run Riot” or “Don’t Shoot Shotgun”) and replaced it with “Tear It Down.” That track kicks butt!
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Agreed, with those tweaks this album would have been as tight as Pyromania, if still not quite as good, lol.
I still can’t believe how they managed to squeze 62 minutes of music on a single LP and still make it sound that good.
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They probably thought, “well, it’s been four years since the previous album, so why don’t we give them as much music as we can!” Even with the tweaks, ‘Pyromania’ would’ve still been better either way.
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I would disagree as I think the album was perfect the way it is. I wouldn’t change a thing.
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Well, we all have different opinions and that’s totally fine!
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It’s funny how this era of the band is now more interesting for the B-Sides than the singles because we all see Hysteria as this one big sounding album with all song’s fitting together (well I do anyway). If I flipped a coin on Women/Tear It Down then I’d have to say the B-Side outguns the A-Side on all fronts all this time after. The Retroactive version is a little slicker than the B-Side. I prefer this one.
Also I’m dead jealous you got all nine parts of the puzzle from the singles. I got a Japanese import to fill out one missing part I didn’t buy at the time… still only got seven of the nine with picture sleeves and they messed with the format on the U.K. 7” of Rocket so it didn’t really fit the pattern properly. It’s been 35 years and I’m still sore about it.
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Well, I cheated and bought the singles boxset. Prior I only had 7 of the singles and none of the extra pieces.
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Ahhh so you were in the same boat as me for 30 odd years.
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Exactly.
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I will never forget the day this song debuted on MuchMusic. It was unreal seeing Rick Allen back. However I never saw the vinyl single until later on. Animal (the EP) was the first single I had, which of course also had Tear It Down.
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They released so many different versions of the singles on cassette, cd, vinyl, it was nuts.
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And Chris P probably has them ALL!
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Great track but imagine the freak out at the label when Women didn’t go up the charts? Would have loved to have been a fly on the wall at that board meeting. I always liked the back half of the song with the solo coming at the end of the song. Killer stuff as always Johnny…
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I’m sure they were sweating as it to sell millions just to break even.
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Probably the blow was making them sweat to be honest with you hahaha
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