This week on The Collection, we are talking Def Leppard and specifically, Def Leppard on Cassette. We go through every single album that has been released on Cassette, what I’m missing and what was never released on cassette. From ‘On Through the Night’ to ‘Drastic Symphonies’ let’s walk through the Def Leppard Cassette Catalog.
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If you read my site, you know Def Leppard is one of my all-time favorite bands, if not the #1 band on my list. And for that, this list was extremely hard for me to do, yet easy as well. I will already go ahead and say it, there is not a horrible album in this bunch only some I like more than others and yet a few that are absolute no-brainers as the top choices. And yes, I am biased.
Speaking of top choices, my Top 5 is my Top 5 because each album is completely different. The band completely changed up the sound and style on each of these albums and when the band does that, for me they hit it out of the park.
From the very beginning in 1980 with their debut and all the way up to today, the band has been mainstay in my musical journey. In 2019, they were inducted in to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and all I can say is it is about damn time!!! They received the highest public vote so I am not the only one that things these guys from England are pretty darn great. And their last studio album was 2023’s ‘Drastic Symphonies’…so they are still going strong…sort of.
So, let’s get to it. Here is my favorite Def Leppard albums from the worst one to the very best. I hope you enjoy it.
WORST – DRASTIC SYMPHONIES (2023)
This album is basically dreadful with some shining moments. There are only 6 tracks worth listening to in my opinion and the rest was waste of time. They did at least experiment with a few tracks, although some were so bad they hurt, at least they tried. The problem was they should’ve “Tried” on all the songs rather then simply add orchestration to a lot of the original tracks. That is laziness. Keep “Turn to Dust”, “Paper Sun”, “Hysteria”, “Too Late For Love” and “King of the World”, skip the rest.
I remember August 3, 1987 really well. I ran to the store and bought the Vinyl, CD and cassette of Hysteria and on the way home, I opened the cassette and put it in the car stereo and cranked it. And the rest is history. Def Leppard was my favorite band in 1987 and after waiting four years since ‘Pyromania’, I couldn’t wait for the new album. When I got home, I opened the rest and inside the Vinyl, I remember an order form for the Def Leppard book called ‘Animal Instinct’ written by David Fricke who was Rolling Stone magazine’s senior editor and the photos were by Ross Halfin. I remember filling that in and sending a check and several weeks later the book arrived.
Now, years later, I would sell the book on eBay and make a hefty profit. Then years later, I regretted it and bought it again. After re-reading it, I remembered a lot of what I read the first time. The book is fantastic. David did a great job writing the biography of Def Leppard. He covers the whole gamut of the band which at this time wasn’t very old. The book opens with the car crash that took Rick’s arm and the effect that had on everyone, but it quickly moves to the origin story of Def Leppard and how the members came to be members of the band. There are some great pictures including the first photo of the band. That is what is great about this book. Not just the stories but the photos that go along with it.
For My Sunday Song #378, we are on the 8th song choice from Deke. This time around we have a live song from Brighton Rock called “Hangin’ High ‘N’ Dry”. This might be the first live song we’ve done here on My Sunday Song so this is a change of pace for me. The song is off the band’s live album called ‘A Room For Five Live’ which was released July 23, 2002. This Canadian band only had 3 albums and the last one was 1991. This was the first release from the band in over a decade. The original song can be found on their 1988 album ‘Take a Deep Breath”.
The song was written by lead singer Gerry McGhee, lead guitarist Greg Fraser and keyboardist Johnny Rogers. The song is about standing by your lover, but they moved up and on leaving you in the dust. You are waiting for them to say something, but they no longer care. They’ve moved on leaving you high & dry. It is sad really. But I am sure that it has happened to everyone.
The live song is a keyboard heavy song at the opening and then Gerry comes in on the first verse. His vocals are a little rough and gritty in an almost Tom Keifer kind of way, but not as high pitched. The guitar work by Fraser is great as he has nice riffs thrown in and a solo that plays perfectly for the tone of the song and not all showboaty. The rhythm section lays down a nice groove as the song is a cross between a ballad and a rocker as there is a little punch to it, but there is still a tenderness and sadness to it as well. Not a bad track.
We are to the final of the Big Collection Series I will be doing. It is DEF LEPPARD!!! This is the last large collection I have…well…in my collection. Will it be the final series? Probably not, but don’t expect any more to go to this size again. There is nothing else left that would even hold a candle to it. The only one’s bigger are Kiss and Jeff Scott Soto and we’ve finished those series. Bon Jovi is close, but we are currently doing that one as well. So, this is it for the Big Guns.
Coming September 7th, 2023, DEF LEPPARD!! We are going to go through the series in chronological order of the material, not necessarily the album release dates. My Buddy Mike Ladano did his Leppard Series that way, and honestly, I liked it. So the years of some of these releases might be more current, but all the songs on it aren’t. There might be some minor exceptions to that rule over time, but my series, my rules. I hope you are ready for it!
What will we be reviewing? I have that mapped out so let’s talk through it.
THE STUDIO ALBUMS:
And I didn’t realize I didn’t have the 2015 self-titled album on vinyl. I think I was waiting for The Collections, Volume 4 to come out, but maybe I need to go ahead and get it.
Another grab from Noble Records from the sell of the big metal collection he picked up from a former record store owner was another Def Leppard release. This time around I found a 12″ Promotional Single for the songs “Bringin’ On the Heartbreak (Remix)” and “Me & My Wine (Remix)”. After the success of ‘Pyromania’, it was decided to do a re-release of the prior album ‘High ‘N Dry’. For that to be successful, they added two new songs…okay one new one and one remix of another song on the album. Both were mixed by Robert John “Mutt” Lange himself. The album was rereleased on May 31, 1984.
The band sent out this Promotion Single with only those two new songs and they actually did videos with for the songs as well. Now, Phil Collens was in the band now and not Pete Willis who played on both these songs so the videos have Phil not Pete which is strange.
This promo is a U.S. release just prior to the album re-release and sent out in hopes of pushing that album. I remember the videos popping up on MTV and I loved it. It was already my favorite Def Leppard album and I was fine and dandy with picking up another copy of the album with the two new tracks. Since these are remixes, let’s talk a little about the songs.
For My Sunday Song #152, we are discussing the song “Mirror, Mirror (Look Into My Eyes)” by Def Leppard off their 1981 album ‘High N Dry’. The song was written by the late Steve Clark and Joe Elliott. It is one of those deep cuts that sticks with you and at times you feel is even better than anything else on the album (at times, not all the time).
The song is up for interpretation. It could be about two different, but similar things. The one I like to go with is that the “Mirror” is that mirror on the table with lines of Coke on it. As he is sniffing up the coke and the lines disappear, the mirror is suddenly staring at him and he has to face his demons. It is a rather dark viewpoint, but the one I feel is quite plausible. The lyrics in this verse is what leads me to that conclusion…
Mirror mirror Hangin’ there with that crack in your eye You make me stumble, make me blind Time after time and line by line
The “line by line” part fits in to the theory nicely. But the “hangin'” part leads me to the other theory.
The other theory is that he is just standing there looking in the mirror and it is forcing him to take a deeper look into what he has become. He doesn’t like what he sees, but he feels so lost. The anger builds up and he smashes the mirror into little pieces. Those pieces are his life.
If you read my site, you know Def Leppard is one of my all-time favorite bands, if not the #1 band on my list. And for that, this list was extremely hard for me to do, yet easy as well. I will already go ahead and say it, there is not a horrible album in this bunch only some I like more than others and yet a few that are absolute no-brainers as the top choices. And yes, I am biased.
Speaking of top choices, my Top 5 is my Top 5 because each album is completely different. The band completely changed up the sound and style on each of these albums and when the band does that, for me they hit it out of the park.
From the very beginning in 1980 with their debut and all the way up to today, the band has been mainstay in my musical journey. In 2019, they will be inducted in to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and all I can say is it is about damn time!!! They received the highest public vote so I am not the only one that things these guys from England are pretty darn great.
So, let’s get to it. Here is my favorite Def Leppard albums from the worst one to the very best. I hope you enjoy it.
For My Sunday Song #126, the instrumental we will be covering is “Switch 625” by none other than Def Leppard. For a band that is not noted for doing instrumentals, when they did one, they definitely got it right. The song is off the band’s second album ‘High & Dry’ and is still played today in concert as a tribute to the writer of the song, the late, great Steve Clark.
The song bleeds effortlessly after “Bringin’ On the Heartbreak” with such a smooth transition you would swear it is part of the song. The long, unedited version of the song. The song itself is a beautiful representation of all that was great about the god-given gift of Steve’s guitar playing.
I love the dual guitars battling it out. I can picture Pete & Steve going back and forth and playing off each other (now I am making an assumption that Pete played on the recorded version). It also has such a great melody and if it had lyrics would have made for another great Def Leppard ballad I am sure.
In fact, producer Mutt Lange wanted to add lyrics but after battling out with Joe Elliot, no lyrics were added. Joe felt the song was perfect the way it was and no need to mess it up with his voice (of course that isn’t a direct quote, I’m making assumptions but the story itself is true).
Def Leppard is on a mission to release Four Box Sets each collection a specific period in the band. On June 1st, they started with Volume One…of course. They aren’t Chickenfoot and aren’t going to skip around with title numbers. Volume One covers the early years of the band capturing the first 4 albums of release. The set also includes 2 bonus albums, a book and a 7″ Single. Now, I have the first four albums on vinyl and CD so that was not what I was after. I wanted the bonus material. Don’t get me wrong, it is nice having new remastered, 180 gram vinyl for all of the albums. I am not complaining. But this set is for serious fans because it isn’t cheap!!
The article is not really a full review as it would take pages and pages of writing to fully review each album in the set. It is really a picture chronicle of the set because really there is no reason you shouldn’t own it if you are a fan. You can get it in CD or Vinyl. I chose vinyl. What you get is another fantastic package from the band and if this is an indication of what is to come for Volumes Two – Four, I better start saving now.
Why don’t we start with a picture of everything you get…
2 Loud 2 Old Music 