http://altoonamirror.com/life/story/08142003_lif0814defleppard.asp Long after 80's copycat bands become extinct, Def Leppard roars on. By Lori Matta-Rhode Mirror News Editor They've had more ups and downs than Lakemont Park's Leap-the-Dips. Their story has been well-documented, particularly by VH1's "Behind the Music" and last year's "Hysteria: The Def Leppard Story": Working-class band makes good, selling 6 million copies of their breakthrough third album, "Pyromania." Drummer Rick Allen loses his left arm in a car crash, but Allen and company make a valiant comeback with the blockbuster "Hysteria." Guitarist Steve Clark dies of a deadly mix of alcohol and painkillers. But the band plays on, recruiting former Dio/Whitesnake guitarist Vivian Campbell to complete the lineup with Allen, guitarist Phil Collen, vocalist Joe Elliott and bassist Rick Savage. Since then, Def Leppard has recorded four albums (not counting their greatest hits compilation) and continues to tour - and tour, and tour, and tour. The band has been on the road virtually nonstop since November, playing Japan, the United States, Ireland, England, back to the States, onto Canada and back again. They will return to England and play a few dates in Germany and possibly Poland and Russia before the year is over. "It has been a long tour," Campbell said recently during a stop in Quebec. "But that's all right, you know, it's good to work." Their latest release, "X," continues the band's party rock vibe with sing-alongs like "You're So Beautiful" and "Four Letter Word," along with ballads "Long, Long Way to Go" and "Let Me Be the One." However, despite debuting at No. 11 on the Billboard charts, "X" has gone virtually unnoticed in America because the band's North American record label pulled the plug on the album's promotion. "We are touring at the moment basically on the band's greatest hits," Campbell said. "We're not touring on 'X' because the record company didn't support it." Those greatest hits that concertgoers can expect to hear Aug. 29 at the Bryce Jordan Center include "Rock of Ages," "Photograph" and "Pour Some Sugar On Me," with a mix of less familiar tunes like "Let It Go." But despite the feel-good atmosphere the band generates on stage, life on the road is much calmer these days for the 40-somethings, Campbell said. "We get on the bus afterwards; we have a few drinks. Joe is master of entertainment, so he usually decides what we're going to listen to or what we're going to watch. Just very occasionally, every now and again, we don't watch or listen to anything, and we actually have grown-up conversation. And sometimes we don't. "At the last show, somebody was holding up a sign saying, 'I'll do ANYTHING to meet the band,'" Campbell said. "C'mon, what do you want to come back stage and meet us for? We sit around and drink tea and talk about the validity of gay marriage. It's not exactly Motley Crue here. ... We're low-key. There's nothing wild in our life." Some band members make use of the tour's downtime by putting together song ideas. "We don't generally share them until after we're out of tour mode," Campbell said. "The technology makes it a little bit easier now to further your ideas. ... Most of what Def Leppard does relies so heavily on conceptualizing and being able to conceptualize what the final, produced thing is going to be like. And fortunately, the technology has really come along where we can do that. "Now we have that technology in mobile form to take on the road with us," Campbell said. "But there's so much required to actually develop a song for Def Leppard." No kidding. The band averages three to four years between albums. "We have a tendency to change direction a lot," Campbell said. "We literally change horses in midstream - at least twice on every album. ... We're very unfocused." Unfocused at times, perhaps, but one thing always permeates Def Leppard songs: the band's musical influences, including Queen, T. Rex, Thin Lizzy and David Bowie, to name a few. Campbell is beginning to see some British newcomers that have that "old-school" feel: The Darkness, which he calls "refreshingly nostalgic," and Hurricane Party, an "AC/DC-ish" band. "Guys like Korn and Limp Bizkit ... [are] sort of more angry, more aggressive, darker rock," Campbell said. "I think there's always been an element of 'camp' about U.K. bands. I don't think they take themselves quite as seriously as a lot of their American counterparts." The showmanship that used to come from older bands is not found as much on modern stages, he said. "A lot of today's rock stars don't look like rock stars. They look like the road crew. ... There's an element of show biz that has been missing for a decade or two." Also missing have been the copycat bands from the '80s: Ratt, Cinderella, Winger, Warrant, ad nauseum. Campbell said several factors have been the key to Leppard's longevity. "From a musical point of view, there's always been quality control," he said. "I think a lot of bands are happy that they write 10 songs and they release a record, and they go on tour. ... With Def Leppard we really, really, really do put ourselves through the ringer. Very high work ethic." And there are no ego problems either, as many other bands have. "That's what always what always appealed to me about the band," Campbell said. "I've worked with egos before, and I can tell that [with] Def Leppard, it was always the band was more important than the individual." The band also never has split up, Campbell said, keeping as much of the original lineup as possible and continuing to produce new music. "I think all of those things add up," he said. Mirror News Editor Lori Matta-Rhode can be reached at 946-7451 or lrhode@altoonamirror.com. Copyright © 2002 - The Altoona Mirror