http://www.goerie.com/newsonly/entertain/entertain/leppard.htm Def Leppard: Round 2 September 08, 1999 #Release Date 08 SEP 99 Publication date:09-09-99 In the mid-nineties, Def Leppard's looked as bright as a total eclipse. But pop's wheel of fortune keeps spinning, and these days, the band's number has not only come up again, but come up big. By Dave Richards Staff writer Hang around long enough, and eventually you become cool again. Stick it out for the long haul, and your time will come again. Ask Aerosmith. Ask Kiss. And most definitely, ask Def Leppard, the high- powered English band that ruled album-rock in the eighties. By melding bone-breaking hooks with layers of high, honeyed harmonies, thunder- clapping drums, and walls of overdubbed guitars to make Phil Spector's head spin, Def Leppard sold more than 40 million albums during its hysteria-crazed, arena-rock heyday. Then came grunge and its close-knit cousin, alternative rock. They pushed not so gently Def Leppard (and all hair bands) off rock's pedestal for most of the 1990s. "We couldn't get arrested. People actually hated us," recalled guitarist Phil Collen, in a phone interview from Pueblo, Colo. "Literally, three years ago, it was "you should die" and "we hate you." They were ready to burn us." Their own fans revolted, too, when Def Leppard tried to adapt. They rejected "Slang," the band's stripped-down stab at a rawer, more alternative sound in 1996. Def Leppard can't change its spots, said the fans. The disc bombed (though Collen still likes it). The band's future looked as bright as a total eclipse. Fast forward three years, and you'd think a new millennium was upon us. "Euphoria" an unbashed return to their vintage, "Hysteria"-era, mega- processed sound entered Billboard at No. 11. "Promises," the lead-off single, ruled for weeks at No. 1 on album-rock stations. VH-1, which had aired a "Behind the Music" segment on the band a year ago, requested their humble presence for "Storytellers." The Offspring sampled them. Most ironically, Courtney Love, Kurt Cobain's widow, prattled on about liking Def Leppard when the two bands shared an Edgefest date in Wisconsin. Suddenly, Def Leppard if not exactly cutting-edge hip is no longer a dirty phrase like "Vanilla Ice" or "Hammer." They can show their faces in public without fear of ridicule. "It really has changed," said Collen. "This (tour) reminds me of the Pyromania tour. People are going absolutely nuts, and the younger kids are turning up as well. It's not just a nostalgia fest." Collen said band members Joe Elliott, Vivian Campbell, Rick Savage, and Rick Allen sensed a change when they assembled at Elliott's Dublin home to begin recording "Euphoria." "We spoke to a bunch of people the fans and people in the industry and radio and they all said we should do a classic Def Leppard record or someone else will do it (first). And we made the right record. All of a sudden, everyone thinks we're cool again." Credit pop's cyclical nature for Def Leppard's turn on the comeback wheel. Downbeat, angry music pushed them out, but after that flamed out, in came peppy teen stars, upbeat Latin music, and escapist rock, like Def Leppard plays. There's joy, not angst, in their fist-pumping riffs and surging, sing-along choruses. "Look at the Top 10 now Ricky Martin, Britney Spears. All that is fantastic. I love that," said Collen. "Backstreet Boys? More power to them. It's very well-written songs, and it's very entertaining, whether it brings a laugh or tongue-in-cheek smile to your face. When you hear that, it's entertaining, not moaning and groaning about how crappy everything is. ""Music goes in circles. When Nirvana came out, it was great, done with conviction. Everything that followed wasn't quite as good." Collen has been around enough to witness a few rock cycles. Def Leppard formed way back in 1977, though they didn't release their debut until 1980. Collen didn't join until 1982, just before they completed sessions for "Pyromania," their breakthrough, which wound up selling more than seven million copies. Before replacing Pete Willis, Collen was a Girl. The little-known British band played glam rock, which Collen still loves. Outside Def Leppard, he's played with both Ian Hunter and Mick Ronson. "(Girl) was the London equivalent of the New York Dolls or something, only with a little more hard rock than that," said Collen. "When we were all starting up, we were like 14 years old, and we only had one TV (pop show) in England on once a week, "Tops of the Pops," on Thursdays. So we were glued to that. When we saw Bowie and Marc Bolan coming on, it was like, "Wow. This is really weird." And it had a big effect on all of us. We spent the rest of our careers really making a hybrid." Cullen said Def Leppard's mission was to forge something new by combining the best of glam and best of hard rock. Add in a dollop of Queen (those harmonies), and you've got the Leppard sound. "We also liked Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple and hard rock, and we were trying to make a mixture of that," he explained."It was fun to find that balance. The album we perfected that on, "Hysteria," had a certain amount of tongue-in-cheek (attitude) and still rocked hard. And it had commercial songs with our own sound on it." Def Leppard flashed back to its glam inspiration in the studio. They've cut songs by Ian Hunter, the Faces ("Stay with Me"), and Bowie ("Rebel Rebel") for future B-sides. And they wrote "Back in Your Face" for "Euphoria." "It's a pure homage to 1970s glam rock in the UK and Gary Glitter and all that with a bit more aggression," said Collen. "That was the big thing. We always wanted to inject a bit more venom into it. Some of the glam stuff is more poppy. We wanted to be a hard-rock version of that, with a little more oomph." Adding oomph to "Euphoria" was Robert "Mutt" Lange, their unofficial sixth member and hot-shot producer who helped shape their sound on "High n" Dry." Lange co-wrote three tracks, including "Promises." "We had the music but didn't like what we were doing with the chorus. We'd come to a dead end," said Cullen. "So Mutt said, "Send it over," and he sent us back a tape. We literally did it over the phone." Lange breaking away from wife Shania Twain, whom he also produces later spent four days in the studio with the band, helping out. Def Leppard anxious for world domination, Round 2 will release "Goodbye" as its second single. It's the kind of power ballad that Top 40 programmers normally swoon over. Their upcoming appearance on "Storytellers," which airs in early October, will also boost their profile. And they're also on the road, hoping to win back fans and create new ones, one by one. They started in unlikely places a Wal-Mart parking lot in San Antonio, before moving on to state fairs. But now they're back in mid-sized venues like Erie's Tullio Convention Center, playing a show that throws a dinosaur bone to Leppard diehards. "Tons of energy," said Cullen. "We're doing stuff that goes back to "High and Dry." We're doing a few songs we haven't done in awhile, a real mixture ... (But) we're trying to stay away from the acoustic ballad thing on this tour. We want it to rock a little more." Along the way, they've also played a few package shows with more cutting- edge bands from today, like Hole and Offspring, among others. But there were no fights, no insults. It was more of a love fest. "We did a thing in Miami with Orgy and Everclear, and again, all these bands were going "We love you guys, we think you're really cool." It's such a difference from three years ago," said Collen. "As far as the fans and people in general just loving this stuff, it's been mind-blowing." Def Leppard, Moon Dog Mane will appear tonight at 7:30 at Tullio Convention Center. Tickets, $25.75, are available at TicketMaster outlets, the civic center box office, and by calling 452-4857, 456-7070. Copyright © 1999 CyberInk, LP. All rights reserved. Any copying, redistribution or retransmission of the contents of this service without the express written consent of CyberInk, LP is expressly prohibited.