On July 30, 2002, Def Leppard released their album ‘X’. Which is either “X” or “Ten” depending on what you want to call it. It was the band’s 8th Studio album, but 10th album released to date. It saw the band take a lighter side to their rock and had some people calling it “The Love Album”. It went to #11 on the charts and spawned 3 singles, but failed to ever garner Gold or Platinum status.
The Tour started in June of 2002 and went until November 2003 where the band performed 163 shows which is quite impressive for an album that didn’t do that well. It was the last really BIG tour the band has ever done. Since that time, the longest a tour has lasted was around 100 shows. My Tour Book is from the 2003 leg of the Tour
Since this was 2003, it was not a good year for me to see shows since my wife and I had our first child that year. There was no way I was getting out to see a show as the schedule was too hectic. I hate I missed it, but I survived. Since I have no ticket stub to show you this time around, let’s get right to the book.
Def Leppard released their album ‘Adrenalize’ on March 31, 1992 to massive success. The album sold 4 million copies and went to #1 in the US, the UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and in Swtitzerland. It spawned 6 singles and in a time when 80’s Rock was dying out, somehow, Def Leppard still succeeded.
It was the first album without Steve Clark on guitar and would be the first tour without him as well. The tour kicked off with a club show in Dublin, Ireland on April 15, 1992 and was the first with Vivian Campbell on guitar. It was also a warm-up for the massive Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert on April 20, 1992 which would see Def Leppard perform to over 70,000 people and technically introduce the world to Vivian Campbell. It was a rip roaring success. The tour then officially started on May 19, 1992 in Madrid, Spain and would last the rest of 1992 and not end until September 1993.
Some of the opening acts were Ugly Kid Joe, Thunder and Terrorvision (who I know nothing about). It was a massive success as usual as the performed In the Round again and as you’d expect, I did catch the show on November 24, 1992 at the Omni in Atlanta, Ga.
It has been awhile since we’ve gone through a Tour Book and this time around, we have a three set series on Def Leppard Tour Books. Only 3 because that is all I have at this time. And we are kicking it off with the band’s biggest tour, Hysteria. The Tour ran from 1987-1988 and I saw it 3 times. Yep, three times. Twice in Atlanta, one of which I won on a Radio call-in show, and once in Chattanooga, TN because we had to see them again.
Looking back, what was great about these shows is that I got to see Steve Clark play as he passed a few years later. The band was Joe Elliott, Rick Allen, Rick Savage, Steve Clark and Phil Collen and the album Hysteria was their biggest selling album of all time going Diamond with well over 12 million copies. It spawned an impressive 7 singles and they were the biggest band in the world at that time. They are still one of my favorite bands of all time and why I didn’t buy a tour book back then is beyond me…probably because I was a broke high school student…we will go with that. So, here is the book in all its glory…
The cover is above as the header and if you notice the triangle cut out. When you open it, you get to see the same concert shot wrapped by the Hysteria album cover.
Unlike a lot of Tour books, we don’t get an individual band member page talking about each member. Basically every page has all the members as it is a band…
This next page give us a little history on the band from the release of the ‘Hysteria’ album up to the 1988 leg of the tour. It is a nice long essay that is a must read.
More and more band shots…
This next one has a little flap on the right side…
And when folded out, changes the picture to this…
Now we are to the page where the band thanks the road crew. This time they take it a step further and give you pictures of the road crew which I think is an awesome touch!!
And lastly is the Merch page and one last band photo…
Oh yeah, can’t forge the back cover…
And that is everything. I hope you enjoyed the walk through the book and we have two more Tour Books to go through over the next couple weeks. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do. Thanks for hanging around.
Here is a list of all the Tour Books we have reviewed over the years. Links are provided so you can go see some history.
After a year since the release of The Collection Volume 1, Def Leppard released Volume 2. It wasn’t until 2 years later that we finally received Volume 3. I believe the delay was due to the Covid-19 virus so I will forgive them for the delay. And as I did with the first two in the collection, I bought the Vinyl edition. And this was one was crucial to do that because these albums were not available on vinyl so it was even more of a must have buy. You can read those reviews here… click on The Collection Volume 1 and The Collection Volume 2. As I normally do with these box sets, I focus mostly on the packaging and the bonus material as the main albums we all know and love or we wouldn’t be buying this set. I want to know if we are getting a bang for our buck on the whole package.
Look at all the albums and songs you are getting. There are 3 Studio albums and 3 albums of bonus material and there a total of 9 LPs in the set as 3 of the albums are double LPs. It is heavy and chock full of great tunes that will give you hours and hours of fun. I always save the sticker that is on the plastic wrapping and this time is no different. Here is a summary of the box set.
I stumbled across this book at a store called 2nd & Charles. They sell used books, games, cds, vinyl, you name it. I was browsing the book section, in the music section of course, and stumbled across this beauty. As you know, Def Leppard is one of my favorite bands and I will grab anything I can find by them or about them. And this was write up my alley because it is a picture books and few words because me no like words, reading bad!! Picture books are more my speed.
This particular book is called ‘Def Leppard: The Definitive Visual History’ and all the photographs were taken by the legendary rock photographer, Ross Halfin. Ross has photographed Def Leppard literally since the band started way back in the late 70’s. He is the only photographer to be there basically for every step of the way. This book is a beautiful chronological story of Def Leppard told in photos. And if a photo can speak 1,000 words than this books has millions of words.
I know, I know…what am I, 5 years old!! At least that is what my wife thinks, but when I saw these at the store and for only $5 a piece, I had to have them. Why? Because it is Def Leppard and I like collecting things that are Def Leppard.
Yes, Funk Pop! have released a set of figurines for each current member of Def Leppard. And they do a pretty good job on getting it right, but I have a few complaints. First, who do they have?
For My Sunday Song #160 and the final in the Def Leppard series, I bring you “Die Hard the Hunter” from the multi-platinum album ‘Pyromania’. The song was never released as a single; however, was played live back in the day.
The song opens with the sound of a helicopter and machine gun fire and is representative of war, the Vietnam War to be exact. The song is about a war veteran who comes back from war, but can’t seem to let it go. The battles the soldier faces being home as he can’t seem to stop fighting the battles and now they are in his mind. The evils of war are following him everywhere and he is struggling to let go of the bad and find the good. A common problem with soldiers then and even today.
What I love about the song is the seriousness of the music. The heavy metal chords that are used give an impending feel of doom and gloom. There is a darkness to the music, an eeriness, a sadness that captures the feelings the soldier is going through. You can actually feel the heaviness of it all through the music. It is quite fantastic how they captured that feeling musically.
Steve Clark’s solo on this is fantastic. He has a really cool riff and along with Pete Willis’ rhythm guitar, the two made a great pair and helped deliver the sound that captured the essence of the song. It was simple sounding, yet brilliant. Not too flashy, but not understated either. Joe delivers the vocals in a way to also help convey the emotions of the song. Always has been one of my favorites on ‘Pyromania’.
For My Sunday Song #159, I want to discuss the song “Blind Faith” off the self-titled album Def Leppard from 2015. The final song on the album and not a rocker, but not sure it is a ballad either. The album has helped see a jump in popularity for the band as it is probably the best album they have done in about the last 20 years. And for me, this song is part of the reason.
“Blind Faith” was written by Rick Savage and Joe Elliott and is a commentary on religion and cult-like faith groups. I think I connected to it due to his viewpoints are similar to mine. It is not that he doesn’t believe in God, it is not a knock on religion, it is more that sometimes organized religion is kind of futile.
Joe said this about the song in an interview with Claire Sturgess for Absolute Radio:
“We’ve always touched on the real side of life if you like. Mostly it’s in with relationship stuff but with this it was like just observation of the that humanity can be abused if you like. And I set out writing this thing and I just had this stream of consciousness. It just came pouring out of me but I made a very conscious effort to not be preachy and finger waggy about it. If you actually read the lyrics. And I did say to the guy when he was putting the artwork together. I want a question mark putting at the end because I want everybody to realise. I’m asking a question and I’m not telling you what’s going on. I’m asking is it really what’s going on?. You know. Make your own mind up. So in that – it is poking a little bit but it’s not preaching. I want the listener to make their own mind up as to whether you know what they’re hearing is representative of what they’re thinking as well because it’s certainly what a lot of people think.”
For My Sunday Song #158, I bring to you “Getcha Rocks Off” from the band’s 1979 debut E.P. simply known as the Def Leppard E.P. The song would go on to be re-recorded for the band’s debut full length album ‘On Through the Night’ but there it is known as “Rocks Off”.
What is cool about this song? Well, everything actually. It is as early Def Leppard as you can get. It is raw, it is rough and it completely gets your rocks off…really! The band sounds so young, so hungry and so damn good. Steve Clark’s guitar riff instantly grabs hold of you and won’t let go. And let’s talk about that solo. Damn, Steve was immediately letting the world know that this band meant business. There is a little back and forth on the guitars with Steve and Pete Willis and then Steve just tears into that solo with a blistering pace and so much fire and passion. This is guitar rock at its best.
Another cool thing about this song is the drumming. This is not Rick Allen on drums. This was before he joined the band. The drummer on this is Frank Noon. Frank was a session drummer and wasn’t really a full member of the band. He wasn’t the first drummer either as that was Tony Kenning, but he isn’t on this record so no more about him. Frank did a great job and pounded the hell out of those drums.
Lyrically there isn’t much to the song. It is a pure rock & roll song about a beautiful woman that comes to the dressing room door and is looking smoking hot. She wants to get her rocks off. When the band goes on stage the girl is in the front and she has lots of pretty friends, enough for every one in the band…funny how that works out. This song is really great for the music, not the lyrical content for sure.
For My Sunday Song #157, “Blood Runs Cold” from the 1996 album ‘Slang’ is our song of discussion this week. The song is certainly a deep cut as it was never a single and not sure if they played it live. ‘Slang’ was a highly underrated album and was at a time when Grunge had killed the 80’s rock so Lep went out and did their own thing. Most people wanted more of the same, but this was from it. This song is a ballad, but not like any ballad they had done before.
The song is another tribute to their fallen comrade, Steve Clark. “Blood Runs Cold” was written by Joe Elliott and Phil Collen and this is the second tribute they had written for Steve, the first being “White Lightning” which we discussed several weeks back. This one was a cold, feeling ballad full of sadness and emptiness for missing their friend.
It really is a dark song and I love how the bass playing by Rick Savage is really the focused instrument. Just give a listen to how he plays the song and how the notes are hit with the right tone and timing. He does a stellar job with this song.
Joe’s sadness shines through as he sings the lyrics and I love in the middle of the song, Phil’s backing vocals sound amazing and adds an extra level of pain to the lyrics with his delivery of the lyrics. Then the guitar solo also has the sad feel to it as well. It is really a heartbreaking song especially when you listen to the lyrics.
2 Loud 2 Old Music 