http://jam.canoe.ca/Music/Artists/D/Def_Leppard/2008/08/07/6374021-sun.html

Def Leppard having time of Nine Lives
By DENIS ARMSTRONG - Sun Media

Say his name quickly and you understand how Def Leppard's Phil Collen is 
constantly being mistaken for that other Phil Collins who sings for Genesis.

The bigger mystery is how the individual members of one of Britain's biggest 
selling rock bands have managed to remain virtually invisible despite selling 
more than 65 million records over their 30-year career.

"It's strange," the 50-year-old guitarist admits, "We're stars when we play. 
But then we can be completely anonymous when we're on the street.

"But I think this is one of the reasons why the band has stayed together as 
long as we have. No one really feels like a star, so no one plays the rock 
star. We all want to work hard and have a good time. We have a real working 
class ethic. That's what keeps us together, and keeps our heads on our 
shoulders."

So it seems, beneath those monster shags, vocalist Joe Elliott, guitarist 
Vivian Campbell, bass player Rick Savage and one-armed drummer Rick Allen are 
just regular folk. It's probably a reason why the band is still working hard 
after three decades.

"It's unbelievably fun, to be honest," he says. "We've been together longer 
than most people are married. We've been through death, divorce and 
dismemberment together. We're not boys any more. We're grown into men. I trust 
these guys. We're better than ever."

Def Leppard was originally scheduled to play Ottawa last April until vocalist 
Elliott got sick and their tour with 1980s superbands Styx and REO Speedwagon 
was postponed. Def Leppard is back on the road, this time with Billy Idol. They 
play Scotiabank Place Sunday.

Someone should tell Collen that he and his mates are entitled to a little 
celebrity treatment.

Formerly a member of the glam-rock band Girl, Collen joined the band in 1982 
before releasing the band's third, and biggest-selling album Pyromania.

In 1987, the band released their fourth album Hysteria. It's only the third 
rock record to have charted seven singles on the American Top-100. One critic 
described it as "Hard rock's equivalent of Thriller."

Though they've never duplicated that success, the band continues to record.

In 1996, they released the darkly industrial sounding Slang only to return to 
their classic sound in 1999 with Euphoria. On their 10th album X the band went 
bubblegum. Collen describes the new album Songs From the Sparkle Lounge as 
"aggressive fun."

The album, released in April, features the single Nine Lives, written and 
recorded with country superstar Tim McGraw.

"We don't care about flash or our image," he insists. "We'll try anything to 
keep it interesting for us. It's all about the music."

Including a sideline project called Man-Raze, Collen's alternative trio with 
Sex Pistols drummer Paul Cook and Simon Laffy.

"We're like The Police on steroids," he laughs.

Doors open at 6 p.m. The show begins at 7 p.m. Tickets are $49.50-$79.50 plus 
service charges at the box-office, all Sports Experts retailers and online at 
www.capitaltickets.ca or call 877-788-3267. 

Copyright © 2008, Canoe Inc. All rights reserved.