http://www.mansfieldnewsjournal.com/news/stories/20030318/localnews/1199617.html Tuesday, March 18, 2003 'Hysteria' put Def Leppard back on top By JOHN BENSON ---------------------------------------------------------------------- The year 1987 proved pivotal for many acts, including U2 with its definitive release "The Joshua Tree" and Guns N' Roses with their groundbreaking debut "Appetite For Destruction." However, no band was more on the bubble than Def Leppard with its comeback of sorts "Hysteria." Just a few years prior, the darlings of hard rock and MTV seemed poised for heavy-metal greatness with their 1983 breakthrough disc "Pyromania." Instead, fate paid a visit, leaving the British act on uncertain times after the band's drummer Rick Allen lost an arm in a tragic automobile accident. Eventually, Allen would come to use an electronically enhanced drum kit but upon its release, "Hysteria" was met with a tepid response. Seemingly, fans of Def Leppard had jumped ship and found safe harbor with New Jersey rockers Bon Jovi. It wasn't until the late winter/early spring of 1988 that "Hysteria" took off with one hit single after another -- "Animal," "Pour Some Sugar on Me," "Love Bites," "Armeggedon It." All told, the album sold more than 17 million copies worldwide and Def Leppard was back. If you ask Leppard guitarist Phil Collen, he knew the band was on the right track while in the studio recording the monster album. "The one song that from the day I heard it, I felt like this was a smash was 'Love Bites,' which was basically a Mutt Lange [producer, currently married to Shania Twain] song," said Collen, calling from a band rehearsal in Pennsylvania. "He played it to me and Steve Clark on acoustic guitar but it sounded like a hick version of Don Henley. It was all acoustic but it was an amazing song. I played the demo for my mom and she bawled her eyeballs out. That song pretty much early on, we felt like that was a real hit." Considering Def Leppard's first decade of success was marred with tragedy -- Allen's car accident and guitarist Steve Clark's fatal bout with alcoholism -- the last decade has been pretty normal with the British act releasing numerous albums, without any front page attention. While trends have changed, Def Leppard has attempted to embrace new directions with mixed results. For example, the band's 1996 disc was slightly alternative with a self-evident hard rock crunch that made the band appear to be out of its league. Several albums have followed, including their latest "X," which was released late in 2002. "To be honest, we wanted the new album to be really different," said Collen. " We didn't want to do the same old (stuff) all over again. With 'Euphoria,' the album before, we tried to make it a collage of Def Leppard songs. And it wasn't fun recording it. This record was quite liberating. We weren't sticking to any rigid walls or boundaries." While the band did work with pop songwriter Marti Frederiksen (Aerosmith, A- Teens and Eminem), the truth is "X" sounds, for good or bad, just like a quintessential Def Leppard album. Which means their upcoming show March 24 show at Gund Arena will be exactly what fans expect. "We're not a 'Where are they now?' band," said Collen. "We've sold 45 million records, we've been all around the world and have had a gazillion hits. We have a diamond award [10 million copies] for one album and we're about to get another for 'Pyromania.' We're pretty secure." Originally published Tuesday, March 18, 2003 Copyright ©2003 News Journal. All rights reserved. Use of this site indicates your agreement to the Terms of Service (Terms updated 12/20/02)