After five albums and another long delay between records, the band and label decided it was time to release a greatest hits package even though they were in the process of working on their nexxt album, ‘Slang’. This would also wrap-up the era pre-Vivian Campbell. From here on it was a different band and a new era. The greatest hits compilation is called “Vault: Def Leppard Greatest Hits 1980-1985 and was released in the UK on October 23, 1995 and finally in the US a week later on October 31, 1995. And has done pretty good over time going 5X platinum in the US and platinum and gold in numerous other countries as well. Grunge might be king at the time, but Leppard still sold some records.

A cool thing the band did to promote the album was play 3 acoustic shows on the same day…the catch was that it was on 3 different continents. The shows were in Tangiers, Morocco in Africa, London, England, UK in Europe, and Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada in North America. The feat also made the Guinness Book of World Records. Pretty crazy.

The album also had two different covers. This one you see above and there is one with an eye on it and the picture of the vault in the eye. I need to find that one. If that wasn’t enough, there were three versions of the album. Although most of the songs were the same, North America had “Miss You In A Heartbeat (Acoustic), while Europe had “Action”, “Make Love Like a Man” and “Heaven Is” and Japan had “Rock! Rock! Till You Drop” and a new track “Can’t Keep Away From the Flame”. A real fan would have all three versions…oops, guess I’m not a real fan. Okay, let’s get in to the songs, that is enough chit chat.

The album opens with the biggest song of their career, “Pour Some Sugar on Me”. It was the third single off ‘Hysteria’ in the UK, but the fourth in the States. And it was do or die time for the band. They need to sell way more and this song did it for them. Yes, the song is about sex, but it is it the energy of the song that make this one so good. This is the ‘Historia’ Video Edit version which opens with “Love is a like a Bomb” and is actually longer then the album version. That riff and drum beat with a chorus of what sounds like “heh’s” come thundering in and then Joe goes in to that first verse in almost a rap like style as he spits out line by line. The chorus though is the real driving force as it is so contagious. It is anthemic, fist raising, arm pumping and just what they hell do they mean with those lyrics. No one cared as it all sounded so good.

Then with no mercy, we get “Photograph”.  First…the song is NOT about Marilyn Monroe.  The song is about an obsession with a woman and all you have of her is that photograph.  The Marilyn Monroe part was added for the video to help tell the story.  And it captures it perfectly.  As the video shows that obsession going a little too far. The song was perfect in my book and the video was mesmerizing.  The two together captured my attention like nothing ever had before and every time MTV showed, I turned up the volume!  The song has such a melodic melody and the guitar solo and background vocals were all spot on thanks to Mutt Lange behind the boards.  The guitar riff on the song that is played throughout is instantly recognizable. More heart pounding drums as Rick Allen was maturing in to an amazing drummer. Joe’s vocals had also matured and his tone was perfect for this style of music and he owned it.

“Love Bites” is the only Def Leppard song to reach #1 on the Billboard Hot 100.  What I like about the song is that the guy is so in love with this person that he is actually going a little nuts.  Hell, just touching her drives him crazy.  But he isn’t sure she feels the same way.  He keeps questioning her.  Maybe it is really his own insecurities that are causing him to doubt the relationship.  Or maybe she doesn’t love him and he really senses something missing.It is such a heartfelt, emotive song.  The lyrics paint a great picture that you can visualize exactly what is going through the guys mind and you might have even experienced those feelings yourself.  What I also loved about it is that it isn’t your typical ballad either.  The overall sound was light years ahead of the typical ballad of the time.  It was a much more mature sound and wasn’t as gimmicky as some ballads of the time. At the end of the song is the phrase…”Yes it does / It will be hell”…which is done in a little softer, darker and in a raspy tone.  The rumor was always that the band was saying “Jesus of Nazareth, Go to Hell”.  Of course, the band has denied said rumor and I have to say that I never heard that when listening to it.

The opening track from ‘Adrenalize, “Let’s Get Rocked”, was also the first single off the and did pretty good going to #15 on the Billboard charts and #2 in the UK. The song is a mindless fun track about a teenager disobeying their parents and yet it was filled with sexual innuendo after sexual innuendo. “Let’s Get Rocked” does just that with the heavy guitar riffs, Rick’s pounding drum beat and even filled with orchestration and some nasty violins. The most important thing about this song is the question is asks you at the very beginning…”Do You Want To Get Rocked?”. And the answer is always…YES! 

“Two Steps Behind” (acoustic version) is up next and this is not the version that was the B-Side to “Make Love Like a Man”. That song had a bunch of great B-Sides didn’t it. No, this is the version that was on the movie soundtrack for ‘Last Action Hero’ with the added strings by Michael Kamen. The song went to #12 on the billboard charts and is one of the band’s best ballads they have ever done.

Next is the song that was the band’s debut single off ‘Hysteria’ for the in the rest of the world and the second single here in the States. “Animal” did much better than “Women” which had performed poorly on the charts. “Animal” went to #19 and cracked the Top 40. It was also the band’s first hit in their home country of the UK going to #6! Finally, they had UK success. This song was even more pop than you’d expect. It sounded like it could’ve come from INXS and was more in the realm of pop bands of that niche. The band has stated that they aren’t a metal band and this song would prove them correct. It is so catchy, has a great hook and is something you could easily fall in love with the minute you heard it. There has been nothing so far that would make you think this was the same band as their last three albums.

“Foolin’” is a song about love and heartbreak inspired by a girl Joe had met while on tour in the U.S. He fell for her, but apparently she cheated on him…Bitch!! The song has an acoustic opening and sounds like another darker song from ‘Pyromania’. The song has elements similar to “Photograph” and I am sure that is by design. The chorus with their multi-layered harmonies are perfection and Mutt’s influence is all over this thing. One of those songs you never tire of hearing as it don’t get much better than this. This was the third single off the album and it went to #28 on the Top 40 and #9 on the Mainstream Rock Chart. The final Top 40 single from the album as the fourth single didn’t chart in the Top 100.

Next was “Rocket” which was the final single released out of 7 on ‘the album ‘Hysteria’…wow.  “Rocket” went to #12 on the Billboard Hot 100 so it was yet another successful single. This version is the single edit, which runs around two and a half minutes shorter then the album version. The song was inspired by “Burundi Black” by Burundi Steiphenson Black which had inspired the likes of Bow Wow Wow and Adan and the Ants. What started out as basically an instrumental turned in to a celebration of all the band’s influences from David Bowie, to Elton John, to T Rex, to The Stones and even Lou Reed. Lines from the song constantly referenced lines from or titles of songs from the 70’s. I loved trying to pick them out. The song was full of loops and samples and even had sounds from NASA’s Apollo 11 moon landing. This had even more synths, so many sounds coming at you from every angle. It had a lot of electronic elements and this was not the same hard rock band we were used to hearing. Def Leppard was pushing the boundaries of what is rock and people were eating it up.

Now we are to the new song the album, a ballad called “When Love & Hate Collide”. Released as a single on October 2, 1995 and is tied as the highest charting song in the UK for the band going to #2. In the US it didn’t crack the Top 40 on the Billboard Hot 100, but did make the Adult Top 40 going to #39…just barely making it. A song that was demoed back during ‘Adrenalize’, but lost out to “Have You Ever Needed Someone So Bad”. The song was in consideration for the ‘Slang’ album, but was finally decided it would be used for this compilation since it was “syrupy-sounding” according to Viv and exactly what the label wanted. And “syrupy-sounding” is pretty accurate. It is a power ballad exactly like you’d expect from the band. Emotive, slow and full on symphonic sounding. The fact this charted in the States at all is pretty amazing considering what was going on in the industry at the time.

“Armageddon It” was released in March of 1988 in the UK and in November 1988 in the U.S. where it went all the way to #3 in the U.S. The song was a play on words as the song ask “Are You getting It” and the reply is “I’m a getting it” but said as “Armageddon It”. The song has a T. Rex vibe to it with a cool, catchy riff that you can almost sing it. The song is a modern version of the whole glam scene from the 70’s. I always thought the song was a little cheesy and it is, but something works. Steve gets the solo and it is pretty tame, yet fits the song perfectly as he doesn’t play a solo to show off, it fits the songs. Very well done Steve.

The song that beat out “When Love & Hate Collide” on ‘Adrenalize’ is next. “Have You Ever Needed Someone So Bad” is yet another ballad and the third single off the album and the highest charting as well going to #12 on the Hot 100 and #7 on the Mainstream Rock Chart. An album filled with so many ballads they all can’t be good, but you’d be wrong. This is yet another masterpiece. A tale of unrequited love, I mean, the title sums it up nicely. I love how the guitar solo mirrors the emotions and you can feel the sadness he is feeling not having his love returned. The band really seems to connect with this song on all fronts. Brilliant…just brilliant.

“Gunter Glieben Glauten Globen” kicks off “Rock of Ages”, but no one knows what it means as it is just gibberish. Joe speaks the following lines “All right/I’ve got something to say/It’s better to burn out/Than to fade away”; which are a reference to Neil Young’s song “My My, Hey Hey (Out of the Blue)” and heck even Kurgen from Highlander quotes the lines. The song is a rock anthem with some wicked guitar work, some kick ass cowbell and you can never have enough cowbell. The lighting of the match and burning the place down is so ‘Pyromania’ as the title of the album comes from the song as well. I also read that during the guitar solo, several vocal phrases were recorded backwards. When played forward, the phrases “Fuck the Russians” and “Brezhnev’s got herpes” can be heard. Who knows if true, but I like to think it is. The song went to #16 in the Top 40 and #1 on the Mainstream Rock track as well. A song that owes a lot to Joan Jett’s “I Love Rock & Roll” as Joe credits that for the inspiration.

“Hysteria”, is up next and it was released in the U.S. in January 1988 and the UK in November 1987 where the song went to #10 on the Billboard Charts and no surprise as it was crafted to be a hit. Mutt Lange basically built this song one note at time. The guitars are so crisp and clean and if I’m not mistaken I read they layered at least 11 levels of guitar parts which would be impossible to play live so they only focus on the two most important parts…the ones you can hear clearly. The layers of vocals on the chorus are so lush and tasty you are surrounded by vocals. The solo is another that is so perfect for the sonics of the song. They are tender and sweet and damn near perfect. A song about spiritual enlightenment is matched by the musicality of the instruments. It feels like you are floating through the universe. A ballad that is unlike any other ballad at the time. The most mature sounding song that to me sees the band’s songwriting hit another level. This, my friends, is the BEST song on the album.

“Miss You In A Heartbeat” is up next and is one of three versions from ‘Retro Active’ and none are the same as what was used for the singles from ‘Adrenalize’. This version we have here is the acoustic version that has both Joe Elliott and Pete Woodroffe on piano with the rest of the band on other acoustic instruments. I personally like this better than “Two Steps Behind” as one of the band’s best ballads and I really like “Two Steps Behind”. This one is soft and tender with heartfelt vocals by Joe and great angelic backing vocals by the boys. The song was written by Phil Collen and was actually recorded by Paul Rodgers’ band The Law for their self-titled debut album from 1991.

This leads us in to the albums final track. “Bringin’ on the Heartbreak” would become the ballad all ballads are compared to for me. The song is dramatic, heartfelt and Joe’s vocals are perfectly suited with all the emotion needed to convey the lyrics. There is a sadness in the tone, the vocals and when the solo kicks in from Pete, it is transformative. The solo is quick, but pulls out the song’s feels and truly delivers. A powerful, emotional track that was what the band needed and MTV certainly liked it. The big difference here is that the fade out is sooner and doesn’t transition in to “Switch 625”.

As far as Greatest Hits go, this is a pretty great one and gives you everything you really need if you want a taste of the biggest Def Leppard albums. However, the lack of songs from the first two albums is noticeable and a big missed opportunity on the band by excluding. We didn’t really need 6 of the 7 singles from ‘Hysteria’. You could’ve at least dropped one to pull in something from the debut…but I’m being picky. For casual fans, this is probably plenty. My Overall Score is a 4.0 out of 5.0 (a big ding for the lack of songs from the first two). As a big fan of Def Leppard, I was starving for some new music and luckily that will be coming soon with ‘Slang’…yet we have a few more things to get to before that one.

NEXT UP: DEF LEPPARD – “WHEN LOVE & HATE COLLIDE” (1995) – CD PROMO SINGLE

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!