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Suddenly cool, and the feeling's not familiar

Friday, August 22, 2003

By ED CONDRAN
SPECIAL TO THE RECORD

Cool and Def Leppard have been mutually exclusive throughout much of the veteran
British band's 22 years. During the summer of '83, Def Leppard's breakthrough
album, "Pyromania," catapulted the band into rock's upper echelon, but you were
asking for it if you wore Union Jack outwear, which members did onstage.

Their 1987 "Hysteria" sold millions, yet they were critical whipping boys. By
the early Nineties, the pop-metalists were torpedoed by Nirvana and all things
grunge.

Still, as the century closed, a number of rockers with credibility - Courtney
Love, ex-Nirvana drummer-Foo Fighter frontman Dave Grohl, and Everclear's Art
Alexakis, among them - gave the band credit.

"Who could have guessed that was going to happen?" asked Def Leppard vocalist
Joe Elliott in a call from Eau Claire, Wis. "We were amazed by that."

But Def Leppard may not be doing much to improve its image Saturday at the Trump
Marina - after all, how cool can a rock band that plays a casino be?

"Are we blowing it?" asked Elliott with a laugh. "We don't care. As long as our
fans show up, we're quite content."

Q. How did you guys go from being uncool to kind of cool?

A. I don't know. It's funny that it seemed like it all changed for us overnight.
We got cool after all these years. I guess it's OK for people to like us if the
guy from Sugar Ray (vocalist Mark McGrath) likes us.

Q. "Pyromania" doesn't get the credit it deserves. Forget the hooks, for its
time "Pyromania" was a great-sounding album.

A. If you listen to "Pyromania," you can hear how big the album is. It's bloody
huge. Mutt (Producer Mutt Lange) had some ideas, and we were just kids, and we
were like, "Yeah, sure," to everything he suggested.

There was no album back then that sounded like "Pyromania."

Q. Any trace of cool you've accrued may go out the door since you worked with
Britney Spears' Svengali Max Martin. Why did you hook up with the pop master
when you were working on "X"?

A. Max is great at what he does. When we worked with him, we weren't sure
anything he did would make the album, but it did. We co-wrote "Unbelievable"
with him. As far as cool goes, well, that's beyond our control.

Q. What do you make of Mariah Carey covering "Bringing on the Heartbreak?"

A. I understand that she picked it and she's a fan. I'm actually excited that
there is a legitimate Def Leppard cover out there.

Q. Why are bands like yours and Bon Jovi packing arenas 20 years after their
heyday?

A. The music stands up. That's what it's about. I think it's wonderful. We and
the Jovis go back to 1986, when we toured together in Europe. It's nice the
Jovis and we are getting some respect. This makes up for how things went in
1991.

Q. When Nirvana broke in '91, every band that was even remotely metal, save
Metallica, was knocked out of the loop.

A. And I totally understand why. By 1991, if you didn't have your fill of us,
there were 100 bands that copied us out there. If I wasn't in our band, I would
have formed Nirvana.

Q. Why is grunge dead and pop-metal alive and well?

A. By 1998, it was all apparent. Kurt Cobain was dead. [Alice in Chains
vocalist] Layne Staley was in no position to say anything, and now he's dead.
Nobody was listening to Eddie Vedder. People were discovering that their heroes
are paper tigers. They either died or didn't have the stamina to last.

Q. If anything, Def Leppard has stamina. Your band has survived the death of
guitarist Steve Clark. Your drummer, Rick Allen, lost an arm but continues to
handle percussion. How long will Def Leppard last?

A. I think we have quite a future. Since we were so young when we started, our
average age is only 42. We have a lot of gas in the tank. We're still out there
looking to write that next great rock song. As long as we have that desire,
there's no reason to quit.

Q. You live in Dublin and you're neighbors with such rock royalty as Bono and
the Edge.

A. Yeah, you go to the local pub and you'll see Bono and it's no big deal.
Everyone just lets him be. That's why it's so great to live there. We're not
rock stars there, just people.

Copyright © 2003 North Jersey Media Group Inc.