Do you wanna get rocked? February 25, 2003 11:22 Ipswich Evening Star By Kahn Johnson ONCE upon a time, five boys from Sheffield decided to skip years of working in a factory and go for rock stardom instead. It took them some time, there were some tragedies along the way, but they got there. Ladies and gentleman – I give you Def Leppard! Formed in 1977, the band's initial line-up settled down a year later as Rick Allen (drums) joined up with Joe Elliott (vocals), Rick Savage (bass), Pete Willis and Steve Clarke (guitars). The band's debut release – On Through The Night, since virtually disowned by the band – was unleashed in 1980. The band had been signed with the sole idea of breaking America, and much of 1980 was spent touring The States. When they did return to these shores – 1980's Reading Festival – they were greeted with tomatoes and beer cans! How times change! With album number two – High n Dry – proving a hit, and its follow-up Pyromania shifting 100,000 a week in America at one stage, British fans were quick to welcome the band back. By the time Pyromania was released, Pete Willis had been replaced by Phil Collen, and the band's relationship with Mutt Lang (now otherwise known as Mr Shania Twain) was firmly in place – and everything was set for album number four. The plan was to get in the studio and record the new album quite quickly to capitalise on its success. Sadly, immediacy quickly turned into four years. On New Years Eve 1984, Rick Allen was involved in a car crash, resulting in the loss of his left arm. Once he overcame the shock of the injury, Rick started planning how to drum with one arm – helped by an electronic kit triggered by foot pedals. In 1987 Hysteria was unleashed on the world – with a nervous band waiting to see if anyone remembered who they were. They were not disappointed. The album went on to exceed worldwide sales of 14million, spawning half-a- dozen singles in the process. Def Leppard were back and nothing, it seemed, could stop them. Sadly, they were wrong. Once the tours had finished, and the band started work on album 5 – to become Adrenalize – it became clear they had a problem. Guitarist Steve Clarke was losing his battle with alcoholism, and the band took the decision to suspend work for a year while they spent time trying to help Steve battle his demons. The battle was sadly in vain, and on January 8 1991, Steve Clarke was found dead in his flat. He had mixed alcohol with painkillers, prescribed for ribs he'd broken late the previous year. The decision was made to carry on as a four piece, and work on Adrenalize was completed in 1992, and first Single Do You Wanna Get Rocked, was premiered at the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert – along with new guitarist Viv Campbell. Initially, Campbell was recruited for touring purposes only, but 10 years on he's still very much part of the band! The last 10 years have been very stable in Lep terms, albums have arrived – Retroactive, Vault, Slang, Euphoria and X – without any of the tragedies and struggles that marked their predecessors, and life seems, at last, to be treating the band with some respect. Since On Through The Night was unleashed on an unsuspecting world, the boys from Sheffield have seen off more changes in musical trends than you can shake a paw at – and more tragedies than the average person should see in several lifetimes. And still they go on. X has all the hallmarks of a Leppard record, with the maturity and substance that only over 20 years of touring and recording can bring. Here's to the next 20 years... Copyright © 2003 Archant Regional. All rights reserved.