========================================================================= Press kit -- Def Leppard Slang SINCE FIRST EXPLODING FROM THE BRITISH METAL SCENE IN 1979, DEF LEPPARD HAVE HELPED DEFINE THE ESSENCE OF MODERN ROCK 'N' ROLL. DURING AN 18 YEAR CAREER WHICH HAS SEEN TRIUMPH WALK HAND IN HAND WITH TRAGEDY, THE LEPS HAVE ENDURED IN THE FICKLE, EVER CHANGING WORLD OF ROCK, NOT SO MUCH STOMPING ON THE OPPOSITION AS LUMP HAMMERING THEM INTO THE GROUND. NOW, WITH THEIR BRAND NEW ALBUM, SLANG, DEF LEPPARD HAVE TAKEN THEIR BIGGEST, BRAVEST LEAP FORWARD, AND LANDED SLAP BANG INTO A BRAND NEW PHASE OF THEIR CAREER, WHERE EVERYTHING IS NOT NECESSARILY HARD AND FAST, AND ALMOST ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE. SLANG SEES DEF LEPPARD'S TRADEMARK HARMONY-FILLED ROCK BLENDING FLUIDLY WITH BLUESY BALLADS, BLACK VEILS OF MELANCHOLY, AND WHITE-OUT PSYCHEDELIA. FROM THE TOUGH BARE FACED DEFIANCE OF "GIFT OF FLESH" AND THE ETHNIC FLAVORS OF "TURN TO DUST," TO THE ELECTRIC, EMOTIONALLY CHARGED "ALL I WANT IS EVERYTHING," SLANG IS THE SOUND OF DEF LEPPARD EXPANDING ITS VOCABULARY, ADDING NEW INFLECTIONS, UNCOVERING NEW MEANINGS, AND LEARNING TO SPEAK SOFTLY WHILE STILL CARRYING A BIG, BLOCKBUSTING STICK. PRODUCED BY THE BAND THEMSELVES, WITH PETE WOODROFFE, SLANG IS THE PRODUCT OF A FRUITFUL SOJOURN IN THE IDYLLIC SPANISH RESORT OF MARBELLA, WHERE THE BAND SPENT THE BEST PART OF A YEAR WRITING AND RECORDING THE ALBUM. HAVING CLOSED A GLORIOUS CHAPTER IN THEIR CAREER WITH LAST YEAR'S BEST-SELLING GREATEST HITS ALBUM, VAULT, DEF LEPPARD, (RICK ALLEN, VIVIAN CAMPBELL, PHIL COLLEN, JOE ELLIOTT AND RICK SAVAGE), FOUND THAT MARB ELLA PROVIDED THE PERFECT SETTING FOR THE MUSIC TO GROW. "IT'S THE MOST VIBRANT AND ARTISTICALLY SATISFYING RECORD WE'VE MADE," STATES JOE ELLIOTT. "WE'VE CO-PRODUCED AND WRITTEN THIS RECORD OURSELVES." THE RESULT IS AN ALBUM WHICH IS INDELIBLY EMBOSSED WITH THE INDIVIDUAL STAMP OF EACH BAND MEMBER, AS THE FIVE DISPARATE ELEMENTS OF DEF LEPPARD FUSE TOGETHER IN A RELAXED, FOCUSED ATMOSPHERE. JOE ELLIOTT'S VOCALS ARE RICH WITH NEW-FOUND RESONANCE, WHILE THE GUITARS OF PHIL CDLLEN AND VIV CAMPBELL UNCOVER EVEN DEEPER LAYERS. THE RHYTHM SECTION OF BASSIST RICK SAVAGE AND DRUMMER RICK ALLEN HAVE NEVER SOUNDED MORE TIGHTLY WOVEN, AND THE ORGANIC PRODUCTION ALLOWS THE EMPATHY BETWEEN EACH BAND MEMBER TO SPARK AND TAKE FLAME. "THE THING WE WERE TRYING TO ACHIEVE WITH THIS RECORD," SAYS JOE, "IS THAT YOU DIDN'T PUT IT ON AND SAY, 'THIS IS A GREAT PRODUCTION,' WHICH IS WHAT PEOPLE JUDGED HYSTERIA AND MAYBE ADRENALIZE ON. THAT WAS A BIG THING FOR US, WE WANTED PEOPLE TO HEAR THE GROUP RATHER THAN HEAR THE PRODUCTION QF THE RECORD." DEF LEPPARD FANS WILL BE DELIGHTED BY THE RELENTLESS, DRIVING RIFFS OF "GIFT OF FLESH," "TRUTH?" AND THE ALBUM'S TITLE TRACKS "SLANG," WHICH JOE DESCRIBES AS "POSSIBLY THE MOST OBVIOUS DEF LEPPARD THING ON THE RECORD. WE WANTED TO GET A THING GOING, A CROSS BETWEEN A KINKSY, STONESY ROCK SONG AND A RAP THING." THE MOST UNTRADITIONAL TRACK ON THE ALBUM HAS TO BE "TURN TO DUST," WITH ITS BLEND OF SWIRLING, EASTERN TRADITIONAL SOUNDS AND STRAIGHT-AHEAD WESTERN ROCK. SAYS JOE: "PHIL BASICALLY SCORED THE INDIAN MELODY ON HIS GUITAR, AND WE GOT AN ORCHESTRA TO COME IN AND DO IT." "BREATHE A SIGH," A SONG ABOUT DENYING ONE'S FEELINGS, IS ANOTHER INTUITIVE DEPARTURE FOR THE BAND, A SOUL TINGED TUNE WHICH BUILDS UP TO A HEARTLIFTING CLIMAX, AND WHICH FINDS JOE STRETCHIN6 HIS VOCALS AS WELL AS HIS EMOTIONAL RANGE. ----------------------------------- A SONG WHICH EVOKES THE MEMORY OF GUITARIST STEVE CLARK, WHO DIED IN 1991. THE DRIVING BEAT OF "WORK IT OUT" IS POWERED BY THE BRILLIANT DRUMMING OF RICK ALLEN, PLAYING AN ACOUSTIC DRUM KIT FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE LOSING AN ARM IN A CAR CRASH IN 1984. IN CONTRAST IS THE GENTLE, ACOUSTIC TOUCH OF "WHERE DOES LOVE GO WHENIT DIES." SLANG CLOSES WITH THE SPARKLING, PSYCHEDELIC "PEARL OF EUPHORIA," AN EPIC FINALE WHICH SOUNDS DECEPTIVELY LIKE THE RESULT OF PAINSTAKING WORK IN THE MOST HI-TECH STUDIO SETTING. "IT'S AMAZING, BECAUSE WE GOT THAT SOUND IN A HOUSE," LAUGHS JOE. "THERE WAS NO FANCY STUDIO, IT WAS JUST RECORDED ON A LITTLE CHEAP DESK IN A HOUSE IN MARBELLA." ESCHEWING THE USUAL STATE-OF-THE-ART TRAPPINGS OF CORPORATE ROCK, THE BAND COBBLED TOGETHER A 32-TRACK STUDIO USING FOUR 8-TRACK DIGITAL VHS MACHINES AND A COUPLE OF CHEAP DESKS, AND GOT DOWN TO THE SERIOUS BUSINESS OF MAKING A GREAT RECORD. "IT WAS LIKE GOING TO SUMMER SCHOOL," RECALLS JOE. "IT WAS LIKE BOYS TOGETHER OUTRAGEOUSLY. WE GOT ON WITH DOING THE JOB. WE DIDN'T HAVE TO CLOCK-WATCH. WE [IMAGE] COULD LOOK OUT THE WINDOW AND SEE THE OCEAN. WE WEREN'T STUCK IN SOME POXY STUDIO SOMEWHERE, AND THE CLOCK'S TICKING AWAY AND YOU DON'T KNOW WHETHER IT'S RAINING OR SNOWING OR THERE'S A RIOT GOING ON OUTSIDE. WE WERE JUST IN OUR OWN NON-CORPORATE WORLD. WE WANTED TO DO A SIMILAR THING TO WHAT ZEPPELIN AND BANDS LIKE THAT DID IN THE '70S, WHEN THEY WENT INTO A HOUSE AND JUST CREATED THEIR OWN ENVIRONMENT, AND THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT WE DID. IT WAS SO RELAXING THAT IT GAVE US MORE ENERGY TO BE AS NOISY AS WE WERE ON 'PEARL OF EUPHORIA' OR 'FLESH,' AND WHEN WE DID ACOUSTIC GUITARS ON 'WHERE DOES LOVE GO WHEN IT DIES,' THEY WERE ACTUALLY RECORDED OUTSIDE AT MIDNIGHT WITH INCENSE, CANDLES, DOGS BARKING, CARS GOING PAST - IT'S ALL ON TAPE." NOT ONLY HAVE DEF LEPPARD FOUND THEIR OWN VOICE ON SLANG, THEY'VE ALSO NEATLY SIDESTEPPED THE WEIGHT OF THEIR OWN ENORMOUS SUCCESS. WITH THEIR ALBUMS PYROMANIA AND HYSTERIA, THE LEPS BECAME THE FIRST BAND EVER TO SELL MORE THAN NINE MILLION ALBUMS CONSECUTIVELY IN AMERICA. THEY'VE HAD NO LESS THAN 14 TOP 40 HITS IN THE UK, AND TO DATE THE BAND'S ALBUMS HAVE COLLECTIVELY SOLD AROUND 40 MILLION COPIES WORLDWIDE. WITH SUCH A TRACK RECORD, YOU'D THINK THE WOULD BE UNDER IMMENSE PRESSURE TO TOP THEIR LAST ACHIEVEMENT WITH SOMETHING EVEN BIGGER, HEAVIER AND MORE STREAMLINED. INSTEAD, DEF LEPPARD MADE A DARING DEPARTURE FROM THE FORMULA ROCK BLUEPRINT, AND HAVE BEGUN TO MAP OUT A NEW ARTISTIC DIRECTION FOR OTHER HARD ROCK BANDS TO FOLLOW. VAULT CLOSED THE DOOR ON DEF LEPPARD'S FIFTEEN YEAR REIGN OVER ADOLESCENT HARD ROCK. SLANG SPEAKS A NEW LANGUAGE, ONE WHICH CAN BE UNDERSTOOD EQUALLY BY BOTH NEW FANS AND LOYAL FOLLOWERS. "THE ONE THING THAT ANYBODY IN A BAND HOPES IS THAT THEIR AUDIENCE GROWS WITH THEM," CONCLUDES JOE. WITH SLANG, DEF LEPPARD HAVE ONCE AGAIN, PROVED THAT CAN HAPPEN. WITHOUT SACRIFICING INTEGRITY -- WITHOUT LOSING SIGHT OF WHERE YOU CAME FROM IN THE FIRST PLACE... -----------------------------------------------------------------------