Tag: Phil Collen

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 – ‘Rarities – Volume One’ (2018) – Album Review (The Def Leppard Collection Series)

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In 2018, the Def Leppard camp released their first of what should become a 4 Volume Collection. This first one was simply called “The Collection, Volume One”. It was released on June 1, 2018 and contained the first four albums on vinyl (or CD depending which you bought). You also received ‘Live at the L.A. Forum” (which we’ve reviewed) and a 7″ Single of the debut Def Leppard E.P. Another bonus album in this collection is a compilation of Rare releases called ‘Rarities – Volume One’.  Some were single versions of album songs or remixes and some were B-Sides of single releases.  I have everyone of these in CD version, but did not have on vinyl so this set made me very happy.

The collection of songs ranges back to the beginning in 1979 with the band’s first two singles and goes all the way up to the B-Sides from the band’s Diamond released album in 1987 called ‘Hysteria’. It is a great selection of songs and to have them all on one LP is really cool and something that will get played quite frequently as I love all these songs. Let’s get in to the meat of it and talk about the music as that is why we are here.

SIDE A:

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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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Def Leppard – “Pour Some Sugar On Me” (1987) – 7″ Single (Part 3 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. “Pour Some Sugar On Me” is the band’s third single in the UK released on September 8, 1987. Here in the States, it was actually the fourth single released on April 16, 1988. The song would change the course of this album for the band and see their popularity rise to heights they had never seen before. The song was written by the band and producer Mutt Lange.

It was do or die time for the band. The album had been a hit and sold over 3 million copies before this song came on, but the album cost so much to make, that the band still hadn’t broken even. They needed to sell way more. They recorded a video with live footage for the song and when it hit MTV, the album started skyrocketing up the charts and selling millions of records. The song never made it to #1 as it peaked at #2 as Richard Marx’s song “Hold On To The Night” kept it from the top of the charts, but there was no denying this was their biggest hit every and their signature song.

Yes, the song is about sex, but it is it the energy of the song that make this one so good. The song was one of the last ones to be recorded as Mutt still didn’t feel they had that one massive song that was needed. There were to intros recorded for the song. The first had the opening line on the song as “Step inside, walk this way, you and me babe, hey hey!” while the single version opened with “Love is a like a Bomb”, and since this is the Single version that is what this one opened with and it is great. The B-Side for this album is another fantastic track with “Ring of Fire”.

A SIDE:

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Def Leppard – “Women” (1987) – 7″ Single (Part 2 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 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:

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Def Leppard – “Animal” (1987) – 7″ Single (Part 1 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 band’s debut single for the album in the rest of the world and the second single here in the States, “Animal” was also the band’s first hit in their home country of the UK going to #6! Finally, they had UK success. The song was released in the UK on July 20, 1987 and the U.S. in September 1987. “Animal was the second single in the U.S. and did much better than “Women” which had performed poorly on the charts. It went to #19 and cracked the Top 40. The Single I have is the US version with “I Wanna Be Your Hero” as the B-Side while the UK version had “Tear It Down”. My version is also from the Hysteria Singles Box Set.

I’ve read that the song was demoed back in 1984 by Rick Allen with drum parts on an acoustic drum kit prior to his accident. And I read that Phil had originally written the song, but either way the whole band gets the writing credit so it goes to Rick, Phil, Joe Elliott, Rick Savage & Steve Clark. None of the producers that worked on the album could do anything with it and then 2 1/2 years later, a flip switched and the song flowed with the help of producer Robert “John” Mutt Lange. Phil had stated the following…per songfacts.com

“We’d revisit it and I remember we were recording vocals in Paris for something and one day Joe [Elliott] had done this vocal and Mutt Lange had said, ‘Wow, this vocal’s killer. Let’s rewrite the song around that.’ So we did and it was our first English Top 10 single, so it was worth waiting.” Collen credits Lange for taking the song to the next level. “He said, ‘Yeah, this is okay but this can be great.’ That’s always his thing. ‘Yeah, it can be alright and it can be an okay song but we want to make it great.’ And I think we achieved that. Certainly with the album, Hysteria. It had a different kind of response to it than if we had just sat there and released the first draft.”

A SIDE:

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