http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/entertainment/14716429.htm Posted on Fri, Jun. 02, 2006 This Leppard's a copycat All-covers album a tired retread of everyone from ELO to the Kinks By Teresa Gubbins Special to the Star-Telegram Your opinion of Yeah!, the latest release from British rock band Def Leppard, will likely spin on how you feel about cover songs. If you're an old-school thinker who equates a band's prowess with its ability to write original material, then this collection of covers is likely to leave you feeling -- to quote an original Def Leppard song -- high and dry. And considering that before this, the only DL CD released since '02 is a greatest-hits compilation, it's easy to conclude that the fivesome is tapped out. But if you side with music fans who like the comfort of a familiar song or who think covers are cool, there's no reason you won't say "Yeah" to Yeah! And one supposes that some "artistic merit" could be gleaned here, in the way the selection of songs so deliberately traces the band's roots, from T. Rex to David Bowie to Thin Lizzy to David Essex. Many of Def Leppard's original tunes over the years have been little more than polite lifts from the originals, anyway; why not just come out and acknowledge the sources of inspiration? And for the many younger fans that classic-rock bands seem to attract, this collection of oldies-but-goodies may well be educational. That's it -- Def Leppard is providing a public service. Let's hope that "education" is the mission on a cover such as Badfinger's No Matter What. Because it sure ain't in the execution, which is pretty much a knockoff of the original, with virtually nothing added. It's more than possible that if you're old enough to have heard these cuts when they were originally released, this entire venture will rub you the wrong way. The quintet does a more palatable job on rockers such as the Faces' Stay With Me and the Kinks' Waterloo Sunset, which ends up coming off as a ballad. On Electric Light Orchestra's 10538 Overture, they sound like Cheap Trick. There are also special-edition releases with extra songs, tied to particular chains such as Target and Best Buy. Def Leppard Yeah! Bludgeon Riffola/Island GRADE: C