Tag: Hysteria

Def Leppard – ‘Vault: Def Leppard Greatest Hits 1980-1995’ (1995) – Album Review (The Def Leppard Collection Series)

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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.

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Def Leppard – ‘Hard Rock Cafe: Singapore, Malaysia – October 26, 1995’ – (Bootleg DVD) – DVD Review (The Def Leppard Collection Series)

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On October 26, 1995, Def Leppard played an acoustic show in Singapore, Malaysia at the Hard Rock Cafe. The show was filmed and broadcast by Channel V as part of their V Series concerts. Channel V is their version of MTV. Six songs from the show were later released on the Limited Edition of the UK ‘Slang’ album.

This bootleg DVD I have was recorded from teh show on the Television. It is a little grainy because TVs were not 4k back then. The sound quality is really great. There is an audience recording of this show out there somewhere that has two additional unreleased songs (at the time). The two songs were from the upcoming ‘Slang’ album. The songs were “All I Want Is Everything” and “Where Does Love Go When It Dies”…I’d like to hear those two pre-Slang songs.

The stage is small and intimate. Vivian Campbell, Rick Savage, Joe Elliott and Phil Collen are lined-up and everyone has acoustic guitar…welll Rick has a bass (not acoustic though). Rick Allen is banging away behind them on the drums. They kick it off with a high energy performance of “Pour Some Sugar on Me”. The band is having fun and the crowd is loving it. Between each song, we get short little interviews and I normally don’t like the show to be interrupted, but this was a TV show, not an actual concert so I can be okay with it.

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Def Leppard – ‘Live Sheffield 1992’ (Bootleg DVD) – DVD Review (The Def Leppard Collection Series)

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I like my bootlegs. A good bootleg is hard to find and when I come across one, I get all excited. This time was no different. I found this DVD on eBay called Def Leppard – ‘Live Sheffield 1992’ and took a chance. I’m glad I did because the picture quality and sound are all excellent. There is a reason for that. The show was recorded in full both for TV and for Radio as Joe mentions after the first song. But like all Bootlegs, there are a lot of errors on the packaging.

First error, the show is called ‘Live Sheffield 1992’. It was in Sheffield, England that part is true…well that and it was live. The 1992 part was the first error. The show is actually from Don Valley Stadium on June 6, 1993 not June 24, 1992. Then we get to the track listing and obviously this person doesn’t know Def Leppard. The song “Too Late For Love” is called “Too Late Forever” and the song “Rocket” is called “Rock It” ( I can see that as an honest mistake). And the last is “Two Steps Behind” listed as “Too Steps Behind”. There are not a ton of errors, but I do love it when they have them.

This show is not the full setlist. Sorry to disappoint. It is the 1 hour highlight show that was broadcast on Yorkshire TV and on Japanese TV and consisted of only 14 of the 20 shows played that night. It cuts all the solos, but it also cut some really great song choices, however, the quality of the video is so good and the editing is done so well, it feels like a single show and is really enjoyable regardless. Now, an interesting fact, the full show recording is the bootleg that is called “The Circus Comes to Town” which I want to get one day on CD. I believe it might be an audience recording, but still the full show is a great set of songs. Lep has released some of this performance officially on the Video Archive video they released a short time later. Still less songs then on here though. Let’s get in to this show.

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Def Leppard – ‘Live: In The Round, In Your Face’ (1989) – DVD Review (The Def Leppard Collection Series)

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Def Leppard had the biggest selling album of their career. A tour that lasted for 227 dates throughout the world and to commemorate that achievement, they released the final piece to the “Hysteria” puzzle with ‘In the Round, In Your Face’ (according to the back cover of the CD Video I have (or Laserdisc). I had picked this up when I purchased a Hysteria Tour Book from a guy in Hawaii. For some reason, he included this and was charging the same price as everybody else that was only selling a Tour Book. So, I had to jump on that. And what a cool piece it is even though I have no way of playing it. But I also had the VHS at one time, now I have the DVD collection that holds both ‘Historia’ and ‘In the Round, In Your Face’ all on one disc.

The video contains a full Def Leppard live show at the McNichols Sports Arena in Denver, Colorado and additional footage from shows at The Omni in Atlanta, Georgia, compiled from footage shot during the band’s 1987/1988 US Hysteria World Tour. Considering I was at at least one of those Atlanta shows, I could be in there somewhere (I never found myself) but it is cool to have this in the collection. I think most of this is from the Denver so the chances are slim you would find me at all in the Atlanta pieces. Apparently, the songs “Don’t Shoot Shotgun”, “Let It Go”, “Tear It Down” and “Travelin’ Band” were performed and recorded but did not make the VHS or DVD.  I guess they were only budgeted for a certain amount of time on the release.

The video opens with the Lunar Mix of “Rocket” playing and some behind the scenes, pre-concert footage. We then get the Dirty Harry segment and Joe shouts out “I Said Welcome to My Show” and the guitars go nuts with riffs for “Stagefright”, one of the band’s best songs to open the show. But the curtain doesn’t drop. I remember when I saw the first of 3 shows on this tour, I thought something was wrong and the curtain didn’t fall for some reason. I then figured out they wait until after the first verse before dropping the curtain and then pandemonium set in as the crowd goes nuts and the band runs around all around the stage set up in the round so there are four front rows. They are in your face…wait, that is why they called the video that…I get it now!! Kidding, I knew that already.

The quickly race through the song and go in to “Rock! Rock! (Till You Drop)” from ‘Pyromania’. Now, let me get right on this topic before we go further. The setlist is made up basically songs from ‘Pyromania’ (7) and ‘Hysteria’ (6) with only one from the ‘High ‘N Dry’ and that is it. Nothing from the first album. I mean we are only 4 albums in so why nothing from ‘On Through the Night’…baffling. Soapbox done. After some boob flashes, a killer solo, they go in “Women”, the first from ‘Hysteria’ and the first single here in the States. Phil goes in to the opening riff after some clever remarks from Joe. It is strange seeing Phil with his shirt on and hair. Speaking of hair, Joe’s mullet might the best mullet ever. While watching, you realize these guys must be exhausted by the end because with four front rows, they are constantly moving around, except for Rick Allen who sits center stage (that revolves) and bangs those drums.

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Def Leppard – ‘Historia’ (1988/2001) – Video Review (The Def Leppard Collection Series)

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In 1988, Def Leppard was flying high. They were at the top of their game, MTV was blasting all their videos all day long. Now was a perfect time to compile all their music videos together in one place and sell it to the buying hungry public on VHS. The video was called ‘Historia’ and it was released on July 5, 1988 and went on to sell over 200,000 copies in the U.S. alone making it a double platinum release. Back in the day, I bought this up on VHS the day it came out. Ran home, popped it in and sat back and enjoyed all the videos of the band from the ‘On Through the Night’ album up to ‘Hysteria’. It was 17 videos of pure Leppard magic. Oops, it was 18 videos actually on the VHS tape because “Love Bites” was added as a bonus and not listed.

Then in 2001, in the DVD era, Def Leppard released ‘Historia’ again except this time as a 2 video set and released with ‘In the Round, In Your Face’ live concert. And if that wasn’t enough, they updated with 5 more videos from the album ‘Slang’ and ‘Euphoria’. And of course, I went and bought this as well. The bad news is, I don’t have the VHS tape anymore as I didn’t think I’d need it anymore which I don’t, but would still be cool to have in the collection though.

The video kicks off with the some old timey style silent film like music and a some openings notes about the videos. Then it goes in to the only video from ‘On Through the Night’ with the video for “Hello America”. It was full of special video effects and why was the drum set out front??? Man, they all looked so young. Really great to see this early promotional video from Top of the Pops. Then we get three more promotional videos all from ‘High & Dry’. We get “Let It Go”, “High & Dry” and “Bringin’ On the Heartbreak (Version 1 with Pete Willis)”. All three were shot on the same day and done with live performances. I remember when I first saw these videos I thought they were the coolest as they looked so cool up there on the stage rocking out. And we get the first glimpse of the Union Jack shorts Rick Allen would help make famous.

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Def Leppard – ‘Live in Mountain View: August 17, 1988’ – Bootleg DVD (The Def Leppard Collection Series)

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With Bootlegs, you never know what you are going to get and that is especially true with concert DVDs. In my search for anything Def Leppard, I came across this live DVD of Def Leppard from their ‘Hysteria Tour’. The show was recorded on August 17, 1988 at the Shoreline Amphitheater just outside of Mountain View, California. The show was recorded using either a still shot of the video screen or the actual footage used for the venue video screens themselves. And the video quality is supposed to be great, along with the sound.

The show itself is the typical ‘Hysteria Tour’ show you would expect from the guys. By this time they were already basically ignoring anything from ‘On Through the Night’ and ‘High & Dry’ except for one song. The set list consisted of only one track from ‘High & Dry’, it included 7 from ‘Pyromania’ and 6 from ‘Hysteria’. No covers, nothing. 14 tracks and a little over an hour and a half long in length.

Earlier, I said the picture quality was supposed to be great, but that was not the case for this copy I have on DVD. I am sure this recorded off a copy of a VHS tape that was recorded of a copy of another VHS tape and another VHS tape and so on and so on. The quality at times is unwatchable especially when the stage is dark. If the stage is all lit up, the picture looks decent considering this is VHS technology on a DVD. However, the sound is spot on through out. Clear and you can hear everybody. This would’ve been better as a CD only concert bootleg in my opinion.

When you compare this set list to their famous live release, ‘In the Round, In Your Face’, it is an identical set list with one exception. In the encore you get an extra song with the band doing “Love Bites”. Otherwise, everything is pretty identical. The other show was recorded 5 months earlier in February 1988. 

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Def Leppard – ‘Animal Instinct: The Def Leppard Story’ – Book Review (The Def Leppard Collection Series)

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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.

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Def Leppard – “Rocket” (1989) – 7″ Single (part 7 of 7) – (The Def Leppard Collection Series)

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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 final single from ‘Hysteria’ was “Rocket”. It was the 7th single…wow. “Rocket” was released in the UK on January 30, 1989 and went to #15. In the U.S>, it was released in March 1989 where it went to #12 on the Billboard Hot 100 so it was yet another successful single.

My version is the U.S. version from the ‘Hysteria’ Singles Boxset and has the B-Side as “Women (Live)” while the UK version’s B-Side was “Release Me” which we saw a couple singles as the B-Side for the U.S. version of “Armageddon It”. Another song (like all the songs on the album) credited to the entire band as well as Mutt Lange the producer.

If you thought “Women” sounded different hold on to your hat. The song was inspired by “Burundi Black” by Burundi Steiphenson Black which had inspired the likes of Bow Wow Wow and Adam 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.

A SIDE:

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Def Leppard – “Love Bites” (1988) – 7″ Single (Part 6 of 7) – (The Def Leppard Collection Series)

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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 next single we will discuss is “Love Bites” which is the only Def Leppard song to reach #1 on the Billboard Hot 100.  Considering this was the sixth single off the album and with the success of “Pour Some Sugar on Me”, I was completely surprised by that fact (PSSOM did go to #2). The single was released everywhere in July 1988 almost a year after the albums release.

The song was originally brought to the band by the legendary producer Robert John “Mutt” Lange.  The song was a country song at the time and of course the band put their spin on it and turned it in to one of the great rock power ballads of the time.  The title for the song actually came from another song that Leppard was working on and that song later became “I Wanna Be Your Hero” which was the B-Side for “Animal” in the US. The B-Side of this song is actually a live version of the ‘Pyromania’ song “Billy’s Got a Gun”.

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. 

A SIDE:

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Def Leppard – “Armageddon It” (1988) – 7″ Single (Part 5 of 7) – (The Def Leppard Collection Series)

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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.  We are to the sixth track on the album and the sixth single. Yes, every song on Side 1 was a single. That is a pretty solid first side. “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. That is 3 Top 5 songs on one album another that was Top 10.

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”. A song that was started in the early 1984 sessions for this album and completely re-written when Mutt got his hands on it. There isn’t much depth to the song lyrically, it seems to be basically about getting some sex. It could be about getting whatever you want out of life and going for it, but mostly feels like a sex thing. And I’m okay with that.

A SIDE:

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