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Inventory: Six Unlikely Covers Albums By Overqualified Hard-Rockers

By Noel Murray
June 21st, 2006

Def Leppard, Yeah! (2006)

Aging hard-rock bands have been piling up the covers albums lately, baffling 
their fans by revealing heretofore-unacknowledged influences. If Def Leppard's 
Yeah! is any indication of what makes a veteran metal act's heart beat, then it 
appears 20-odd years of arena bombast have been masking a glam-rock band. On 
Yeah!, Def Leppard muscles through songs by David Essex ("Rock On," naturally), 
Roxy Music ("Street Life"), and David Bowie ("Drive-In Saturday"), as well as 
more power-pop-inclined acts like E.L.O. ("10538 Overture") and Badfinger ("No 
Matter What"). They render most of these into slop, because, frankly, the 
monster-riffing behemoth that is Def Leppard can't be expected to master 
sweeter, trickier melodies. But as a statement of self, Yeah! is kind of 
heartening. When the band serves up an unfortunately booming cover of The 
Kinks' elegiac "Waterloo Sunset," the song choice puts the band's Union Jack 
stage costumes into context. Who knew these dudes loved Britpop?

Most unlikely cover: A remarkably credible—and likeably brisk—take on Blondie's 
"Hanging On The Telephone."

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