http://fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2009/072009/07092009/478540 British Hair Band Still Maintains First-Pumping Youthful Spirit, Though Song Lyrics Have Matured Def Leppard has matured in many ways, but still keeps the rock hits coming in concert Date published: 7/9/2009 BY DAVE SMALLEY You're in Def Leppard. Your band has written some of the most popular rock songs of all time--tunes like "Photograph," "Rock of Ages," "Foolin'" and "Bringin' on the Heartbreak," to name just a few. Your album sales--including "Hysteria" and "Pyromania"--are among the best-selling rock albums of all time, with more than 65 million copies sold. And then the market changes. Grunge and then hip-hop start to dominate the charts, and the rise of file-sharing means that it's all the more difficult for any artist, in any genre, to sell in the numbers of previous eras. What do you do? If you're in Def Leppard, you respect the music and keep on rockin'. "There's a real strong ambition in the band," guitarist Vivian Campbell told Weekender in a recent phone interview. "There's a desire within Def Leppard to be one of the great British bands. We're always striving to write the best songs we could write. 'Cause that's what it's about. It's not about getting the supermodel or getting in the tabloids. It's about writing a [expletive] great song--something that's going to endure." The candor from Campbell is refreshing, and might even be surprising to those who just remember the band from more lighthearted hits like "Pour Some Sugar on Me." But the band's most recent album, "Songs from the Sparkle Lounge," deals with some more adult topics--while still maintaining the trademark Leppard wall-of-guitar sound and singer Joe Elliott's signature vocals. "The lyrics have changed because the perspectives have changed," said Campbell. "Most of us are parents now. 'Songs from the Sparkle Lounge' is a very strong example, because lyrically it's very diverse and very different from any other Def Leppard record." Some of the topics include the loss of a father, and a tribute to deceased Leppard guitarist Steve Clark (whose spot Campbell filled nearly two decades ago, after having worked with performers like Ronnie James Dio and Whitesnake during the '80s). Still, don't think you'll get hit with a lot of heavy new stuff that you might not know at Def Leppard's show on Sunday at Nissan Pavilion. The band knows better than to mess with success. "We made that mistake before," laughed Campbell. "In 2002, we had a record out and started the tour playing five or six songs from the new album, and it very rapidly went down to three, or two, and then eventually one." So despite the band's fondness for the new songs and newest release, it will largely stick with the hits. "It's not like we're playing a lot from the new album," Campbell admitted. "We realize we're blessed to have a lot of genuine radio hits, and we understand that most people who come to see us are going to be more casual fans--and they're going to want to hear the songs they've heard on the radio for the last 20 or 25 years." The battle to get new music into fans' hands can be a difficult one, even for bands like Def Leppard that soared to stratospheric heights in earlier eras. And the current state of the music industry doesn't help. Told that most classic rock stations won't play new songs even from legendary classic rock bands, Campbell voices his concern. "It's a very shortsighted view," he said. "And it's certainly not going to help the record industry. It's going to continue the downward spiral." Campbell has a prescription for the problem--though he has to get the rest of the band to sign off on it: Give new albums away, completely free. "Personally--and this is just my personal opinion, not Def Leppard--I'd be happy to give the music away, certainly with every concert ticket sold, you know?" he said. "It would be more important to me that people would know the music than that they paid for it. "Maybe in the future we'll do that--everyone that buys a concert ticket gets a new album. So at least some of them will have a fighting chance at hearing it before they come to the show." Still, expect a heavy dose of fist-shaking rockers at the Nissan Pavilion concert when the band hits the stage. "You kind of become married to what it is that made you famous," Campbell said. "It's difficult for us to grow old gracefully--so, in a way, we're just kind of not growing old. That's what I've always loved about what I do for a living, because even though I'm 46, I kind of don't feel grown-up, you know? "I've got kids and a mortgage--and I pay a lot of tax--but to a certain extent, you say it's arrested development." The show promises to be a blockbuster, bringing not only Def Lep but Poison and Cheap Trick, too. Add in the hits from those groups--songs like "Something to Believe In," "Every Rose Has Its Thorn," "Dream Police" and "Surrender"--and this one should be the classic rock concert of the summer. Dave Smalley: 540/374-5430 Email: dsmalley@freelancestar.com What: Def Leppard brings on the rock, with openers Poison and Cheap Trick. Where: Nissan Pavilion, 7800 Cellar Door Drive, Bristow When: Sunday, 7 p.m. Cost: $29.50 to $125 Info: 703/754-6400 Web: nissanpavilion.com Copyright 2009, The Free Lance-Star Publishing Co.