http://jam.canoe.ca/Music/2005/08/21/1181629.html

Rick Allen reveals spiritual side
By MIKE ROSS -- Edmonton Sun

It turns out that Def Leppard drummer Rick Allen is "one with everything." He's
been dabbling in the philosophies of Hare Krishna for quite some time - but
don't expect him to turn up at the airport dancing in saffron robes and banging
a tambourine.

"No, but I'll talk to those guys," he says. "They're just doing their thing, you
know? It's very noble. If there were more people like Hare Krisha in this world,
we certainly wouldn't be at war."

It's hard to argue. But it's also surreal to hear this kind of thing from the
wild and crazy rocker whose former excesses are well-documented. There are the
drugs, the booze, the spousal battery charge and the terrible car accident on
New Year's Eve 1984 that resulted in the loss of his left arm. Now, at the ripe
old age of 41, he comes across like a mellow English gentleman - one who still
curses like a rock musician, mind you - as he talks about his spiritual
awakening. Def Leppard plays Tuesday at Rexall Place. Expect to hear such hits
as Pour Some Sugar on Me and Love Bites - a bit of a contrast to the music Allen
listens to in his off time. It would have to include the devotional yogic
chanting of Krishna Das, who invited Allen to play percussion on his latest
record.

"That was incredible," Allen says in a recent phone interview. "I really
couldn't say no."

The drummer says he's been interested in eastern spiritualism ever since he can
remember. He says there was always a copy of the Bhagavad-Gita next to his bed
in the place where the Gideon bible might've been.

The mind interest became extreme when he had his accident. "When you're
traumatized to that degree, your normal senses really shut down and you go to a
place within yourself that is seldom visited," he says. "But when you get there,
you realize it's an extremely powerful place. I think some people call it a
near-death experience."

Producer Mutt Lange arranged for a Krishna couple to come stay near the hospital
near Sheffield and cook vegetarian meals for the musician every day. The whole
ward smelled of an Indian restaurant, Allen recalls, and a projected six- month
hospital stay was over in less than a month.

He goes on: "So I started to ask (the couple) about their beliefs and they told
me about the intention that they put into their food. It really struck a chord
in me. After that, I remained interested, involved. I was in Boulder in 2000 and
me and my wife walked into this store called Tibet and there was this music
playing. We both had tears rolling down our cheeks and went, 'Wow, what is this
music?' We found out it was Krishna Das."

Now, of course, he has to play Pour Some Sugar on Me - and he's happy to do it.
With the recent release of Rock of Ages: The Definitive Collection - at least
the second collection of hits from the band - Def Leppard was able to take a bit
of time off. It wasn't meant to "recharge their batteries," Allen stresses.

"That was already in place. After we lost Steve (guitarist Steve Clark, of a
drug overdose) and ultimately what happened to me, you look each other in the
eyes and say, wow, it's f--- all to do with the music. It's about friendship.
That never goes away. And that's something that's grown so strong over the
years. We're basically a family. So there's never any doubt about moving forward
with Def Leppard. That's just a given."

That said, he says the band sounds and looks better than ever. There's also the
matter of the '80s revival that has supposedly yielded a spike in interest in
Def Leppard, though the band was formed in 1977.

Allen says, "We're thought of as an '80s band because that's when the success
happened. Interestingly enough, we have a covers album coming out (the release
date has been pushed back to the new year) and the criteria was music that
inspired us prior to getting signed. We're already playing a couple of them.
We're doing No Matter What by Badfinger and then Rock On, the David Essex
classic. They're '70s songs. Technically, we're a '70s band."

Yes, Def Leppard is in a strange place, existing in the shadowy netherworld
between the '70s and the '80s - too young to be considered classic rock, too old
and too established in their slick, hard-rocking craft to get in on the
explosion of alternative music.

One thing you can say for this Leppard: It has never changed its spots. 

Copyright © 2005, Canoe Inc. All rights reserved.