http://www.palmbeachpost.com/accent/content/accent/epaper/2006/07/10/a1d_def_leppard_0710.html

Can you spot Def Leppard's new member?

By Leslie Gray Streeter

Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

Monday, July 10, 2006

It's been 14 years since Vivian Campbell joined British glam-pop rockers Def 
Leppard, but for some, he's forever the new guy. He doesn't mind.

"I'll always be the new guy," the Irish guitarist says. "Ronnie Wood will 
always be the new guy in the Rolling Stones, and it's been, like, 31 years."

Still, Campbell, 45, who played with Whitesnake and Dio, is a full-fledged, 
certified member of Def Leppard, whose appearance tonight with Journey at Sound 
Advice Amphitheatre will no doubt draw a cache of Union Jack T-shirts, ripped 
jeans and invitations to have sugar poured on oneself.

There will also be a little Rock of Ages, Photograph and Armageddon It, as well 
as cuts from Yeah!, the band's recent collection of early 1970s British rock by 
T. Rex, Faces, Badfinger and Thin Lizzy. Campbell says the band's material, 
both original and borrowed, has always been about lifting listeners — and 
themselves — out of their day-to-day misery and having a little fun.

"People are depressed enough. Just turn on the TV," he says. "The world is not 
always a happy place. We want to accentuate the happy part of it. What we do is 
fun. We're not writing politically motivated songs. God forbid, there's nothing 
worse than us standing on a soapbox."

That adherence to fun accounts for the current popularity of bands from the 
1970s and '80s, Campbell says, as well as the relatively short shelf life of 
grunge, the early 1990s brand of moody rock that hard-rock musicians blame for 
their downward turn in fortunes.

"Grunge took itself too seriously," he says. "All those bands stood on stage 
and moped around, looking at their shoes, and played depressing music. A lot of 
great stuff came out of (that era), but it doesn't resonate long-term. It 
doesn't endure. Other than Pearl Jam, I can't think of one other of those bands 
that endured. The great thing about Def Leppard is that it never went away... 
they never packed it in. We met some resistance, but we said '(Forget) it, 
we're gonna do what we're gonna do.' "

The reward for "sticking to our guns," Campbell says, is still being around.

"We've come full circle in this genre," he says. "Not that we've changed. The 
climate has changed. We do have fun, and as long as we have fun, it's reflected 
in our music. It's an interactive experience. We rely on our audience."

The audience embraced Campbell, who joined Def Leppard after the death of 
guitarist Steve Clark, who succumbed to the ravages of substance abuse. 
Campbell, who says he's always been a fan of the band and of Clark's, had no 
reservations about joining. Although "I would love for Steve to still be alive, 
I always felt that it was right for me. Years later, when (singer) Joe Elliott 
called me and said, 'We feel you're the perfect guy,' I gotta say I totally 
agreed with them. They said, 'We're talking with a couple of other guys,' and I 
said, 'Talk to whoever you want.' I felt I was right."

Campbell says that part of his obvious confidence came from his considerable 
experience in his other bands, and also because he brought some skills to the 
party. Clark was "a great riff writer, which has been difficult to step up to," 
he says.

"But I'm a pretty strong singer, vocally right up there with Steve," he 
continues, "And this is a very collective (organization). It's not like it's 
Joe Elliott's band, where Whitesnake really was David Coverdale's band, and Dio 
was Ronnie James Dio's band, obviously. Duh."

Besides keeping in check the band's egos, Def Leppard has survived because it's 
"professional," Campbell says.

"We take what we do seriously but not ourselves." The band, he says, has "an 
incredible work ethic. We show up when we're supposed to and get the job done. 
We're not dangerous like Axl Rose. It's not, 'Is he gonna show up? Is he 
arrested?' We're not that kind of band. We just have fun doing this, more than 
anything else."

Copyright © 2006, The Palm Beach Post.