http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/ae/articles/0413defleppard13.html Nostalgia? No, Def Leppard stalks the future John Nemo St. Paul (Minn.) Pioneer Press Apr. 13, 2003 12:00 AM Please don't lump Joe Elliott's group with those 1980s hard-rock/heavy-metal bands clogging up clubs and small theaters around the country with nostalgia tours. "I would hate to be called a nostalgia act," said Elliott, lead singer for Def Leppard. The English band was one of the most successful hair bands of the late '80s, towering above the scene thanks to 1987's Hysteria, an album that sold 16 million copies. But before you assume Def Leppard is another one of those groups that haven't put out a new album since 1989 and are still touring on the strength of songs that were popular back when mullets and T-top Trans Ams ruled the day, listen to Elliott. "For one thing, we're still creating and playing new and original material," he said, talking before a gig in Detroit. "We've put out albums in 2002, 1999, 1996 . . . we're still putting out records and touring. . . . We're playing arenas and large theaters." Def Leppard is on the road again in support of X, the band's 10th studio album. Elliott, who started Def Leppard in 1977 with bassist Ric Savage in a factory in Sheffield, England, said the group has no plans to slow down. "I never put a time on anything," Elliott said. "When it feels unnatural, it will just come to its natural end." Elliott said Def Leppard spent weeks before this tour rehearsing 35 songs, including all the tunes from X and at least one song from every other album the band has put out. The band then picks about two dozen songs from that pool to play at each concert, with the set list changing every night. "Of course, when we get into the home stretch of a show, there are certain songs . . . I don't want to say we have to play them because we don't, but there are certain songs we will play, like Pour Some Sugar on Me, because we enjoy playing them," Elliott said. "And we don't want to disappoint people." X, the fourth album written by the band's current lineup of Elliott, Savage, guitarists Phil Collen and Vivian Campbell and drummer Rick Allen, has done anything but disappoint. Critics have lauded it as a guilty pleasure, comparing X to Hysteria, which spawned Animal, Pour Some Sugar on Me and Rocket. "The critical reception of X has been more than we have expected," Elliott said. "But in this business, for every good review there's a bad one. . . . I think the biggest thing is getting the songs on the radio so people can hear the music themselves and make up their own minds about an album." Although the band went back to its trademark 1980s sound - blazing guitars, fist-pumping, shout-along choruses and screeching vocal harmonies - in making X, Def Leppard also gave a nod toward the present. The new album's signature ballad, Unbelievable, was written by the Swedish songwriting trio of Max Martin, Andreas Carlsson and Per Alderheim, which penned It's My Life, the smash that re-ignited the rockets of late '80s relic Bon Jovi a few years back. "We just roll along, doing our thing, and everybody seems to be enjoying it," Elliott said. "We all still create and have energy and get a buzz from working together. "As long as it keeps happening, and there's a decent fan base out there that wants to hear it, we'll be happy to keep going." Copyright 2003, azcentral.com. All rights reserved.