From: "Mike N. Reinemann" Date sent: Fri, 4 Jun 1999 01:17:35 -0400 Subject: For those about to rock, Def Leppard salutes you Heavy mettle ---------------- For those about to rock, Def Leppard salutes you Def Leppard June 3, 1999 Web posted at: 12:40 p.m. EDT (1640 GMT) By Donna Freydkin Reporting for CNN Interactive (CNN) -- Def Leppard knows what it's like to go from aces to outcasts. They lived through every band's nightmare, tumbling from metal godfather status, with three consecutive multi-platinum albums -- "Pyromania," "Hysteria" and "Adrenalize" -- to musical nobodies within a matter of years. In their heyday, Def Leppard helped pioneer the sensational, overwrought music that flourished during the "Me" decade, generating bombastic, hook- driven pop-metal tunes that brought out the cigarette lighter-wielding, hairspray-wearing, fist-thumping concertgoer in all of us. And up until the mid '90s, the British band was riding high, with "Hysteria" ranking as the third best-selling album of 1988, according to Billboard. Their future seemed certain until the fall of 1991, when the smell of teen spirit virtually wiped out '80s power music. And by 1995, in the wake of Nirvana and grunge, Def Leppard found themselves about to go the way of p arachute pants and MC Hammer. "When a certain kind of music is successful, there's going to be a backlash," says drummer Rick Allen. "The whole Seattle scene, and Nirvana especially, took music back to basics again. It was pretty much a total reaction to what Def Leppard was doing. Radio jumped on board, and we found ourselves in no-man's land. There was no real room for us." But now, with "Euphoria," the June release that reunites them with famed producer (and Def Leppard veteran) Robert "Mutt" Lange and recaptures the unabashedly ostentatious Def Leppard sound, the band hopes to recover some of that old glory. "We took a good, hard listen to our past stuff, and knew we wanted to make a really classic Def Leppard album," says Allen. "That's what we came up with, and more. Our last album was an attempt to fit in with more of the '90s sound, but I guess the stigma that was attached to Def Leppard at the time made that album too much for some people to bear. "So, we decided, if you can't beat 'em, just join 'em." For Def Leppard's members, that meant "Euphoria," an album waddled in their signature pop-metal resonance -- one listen, and you'll be in "Hysteria" all over again. Or, at least, the band hopes so. "This is a band that has always been about larger-than-life sound," says guitarist Vivian Campbell. "The last record we made was the complete opposite of that, but it was the mid-'90s, and production values were distastef ul to the public, so the band went in a different direction. But this is the real record that embodies the Def Leppard ethos." Allen, in turn, insists that the time is right to reintroduce the Def Leppard sound. "People want to be entertained again," says Allen. "Our music is like 'Star Wars' for the ears. The production, the music -- it's all about entertainment." Metal's monarchs Though to kids today they may seem like the quaint old granddaddies of metal, at their peak, Def Leppard was the first band ever to sell more than 9 million albums consecutively in the United States. Sum total, they've so ld 43 million albums to date. Def Leppard came together in Sheffield, England in 1977, with vocalist Joe Elliot, bassist Rick Savage, guitarist Pete Willis and drummer Tony Kenning. By 1978, Allen had become the band's final drummer, and guitarist Steve Clark joined the lineup. The band released its debut, "On Through the Night," in 1980 and hit the road in the United States, opening for acts includi ng Judas Priest and AC/DC. Two years later, Def Leppard's sophomore album "High 'N Dry" came out. With Phil Collen replacing the outgoing Willis, the band hooked up with mega-producer Lange to work on its third album. And despite the internal staffing upheaval, 1983's "Pyromania" and the first single "Photograph" trul y launched full-fledged Def Leppard mania in the United States. The album sold some 100,000 units per week for the first year, ultimately selling seven million copies in the States alone. But a year later, the band found itself dealing with more chaos, when drummer Allen lost his left arm in a car accident outside Sheffield on New Year's Eve, 1984. Instead of replacing the drummer, the band returned to the studio and Allen adapted to a Simmons electronic drum kit, learning to play one-armed. The band maintained its winning streak with 1987's Lange-produced "Hysteria," which went on to sell some 15 million albums -- 12 million in the United States -- and yielded the hits "Woman," "Animal," "Pour Some Sugar on Me," "Love Bites," "Armageddon It," "Hysteria" and "Rocket." The downward spiral In January 1991, Clark died from a drug and alcohol overdose, and in 1992 was replaced by veteran metal guitarist Vivian Campbell, who'd played with DIO and Whitesnake. Musically, at least, things seemed back on track whe n Def Leppard's 1992 album and final collaboration with Lange, "Adrenalize," entered the U.S. charts at No.1, stayed there for five weeks and sold six million units. But the band's wild winning streak ground to a halt when, thanks to the advent of grunge, its music became trés passe. Although the musicians managed to cash in with "Vault," a 1995 greatest hits compilation that sold alm ost 2 million copies, musically they found the rug pulled out from under them. So Def Leppard's members tried to regroup. Returning to the studio, in 1996, they released "Slang," their own effort to fit in with the unadorned, lucid music mainstreamed by Nirvana. "'Slang' was a really stripped-down, live-sounding record. But this time, we wanted to return to our sort of sound, because the climate in the industry was warming up to it," says Campbell. "We put on 'Hysteria' and 'Pyro mania' and took our sonic cues from those albums." This time, though, they stuck to what they do best. And that meant bringing Lange back into the picture. ---------- ALSO: Mini-review: Def Leppard's 'Euphoria' returns to signature sound "Euphoria" Def Leppard (Mercury) One of the biggest-selling rock acts of the '80s follow up their poorly received, sidetracking 1996 album "Slang" with a return to their signature sound on "Euphoria." The key to their trademark bombastic, big-rock, melod ic sound: a reunion with super-producer -- and Shania Twain spouse -- Robert John "Mutt" Lange ------------ Is Def Leppard touring in your area? Check the World Beat tour dates The band that stays together, plays together They stuck together, figuring that eventually, the tide would turn in their favor. "We actually really like each other and that's the biggest reason why," says Allen. "Every person has talked about leaving at one time or another, but we never did because we couldn't think of anything else we'd like to d o. And besides, it would be like leaving your family." Enter "Euphoria." Recorded in slightly less than a year in Elliott's Dublin home, the album is unapologetically ostentatious. Its similarity to Def Leppard's three signature metal tomes is no accident -- the band consciously tried to tap into their old, winning riff-driven sound. Producer Lange worked on three songs, including the first single, "Promises." "The emphasis is back on really good songs," says Allen. "And it's nice to return to our larger than life sound." Aural entertainment Shortly after the release of "Euphoria," the band will shoot an episode of VH1's "Storytellers." And the cable music network continues to air its edition of Def Leppard's "Behind the Music" biopic. "Yes, it's a bit of a gamble that people are going to respond to the album, but I think that grunge has run its course," says Campbell. "That's not to say our music is going to be huge today, but we have a much bigger chance, because people will be more open-minded." And while he doesn't know if the current musical climate is ready for another dose of Def Leppard, Campbell declares that audiences are primed for a little unadulterated entertainment. "Our music is all about aural entertainment. We try to give people aural escapism, to create an illusion, because we feel enough proselytizing goes on in the world. And I think while in the early '90s people didn't want pure entertainment, they're ready for that now," he adds. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------ Back to the top © 1999 Cable News Network. All Rights Reserved. Terms under which this service is provided to you. Read our privacy guidelines.