http://www.readingeagle.com/re/weekend/8218626.asp

Def Leppard's 'X' factor 
The band has managed to survive and thrive through 10 albums thanks to its
ability and willingness to change with the times.

By Tracy Rasmussen
Reading Eagle 

There's irony in the fact that rockers Def Leppard (originally Deaf
Leopard but changed in the late '70s) have hovered near the top of the
charts for nearly 25 years by their ability to change their spots ... but
it's true.

"We try to do something different every time," said lead singer Joe
Elliott, from his home in Dublin, Ireland, just a week before the band
will arrive in Reading for a performance at the Sovereign Center on
Friday.

"You need to know that you're really a product and you have to stay aware
of how the tastes might change," he said. "We were the first to do arena
shows and a lot of people said they'd never do them ... but they did. They
had to."

And it's not just the band's performance style, it's also their music.

"X," the band's appropriately named 10th album, debuted at No. 11 on
Billboard's Top 200, and it's not the same metal pop that Def Leppard
pioneered in the '80s and early '90s.

For one thing, you can actually understand the words.

"My mom and dad actually called and said, 'Oh, I can actually hear what
you're singing,'" said Elliott, laughing. "People are describing it as the
'love' album, but it's really about all different emotions. Love, hate,
greed, envy ... it's all there."

Elliott, who writes most of the band's material, is quick to point out the
collaborative synergy of men who have known each other for more than two
decades is really what drives the band.

"I do most of the writing," he said, "but if I'm stuck I'm more than happy
to hand it off."

Elliott said that it was his intent to write several songs for "X" that
had a radio appeal.

"They're about three minutes ... not a lot of guitar solos," he said. "It's
the first record where we try and have the vocals up front."

The point, he added, was that it's possible to be artistic, and
thoughtful, and smart with a pop song.

"I'm a working-class man," he said. "And I write for the common man. I
can't write about something that doesn't exist. Rock grew out of the
blues, and that is about all the (stuff) that happens in life. I want to
write songs that tear your heart out."

But, he adds, rock doesn't often get the credit for expressing the
emotional stuff of life, in the way that other genres of music do.

"People seem to think that rock is incapable of that," he said. "But I
still think that 'White Lightning' is better than 'Blowin' in the Wind,'
but since I'm not Bob Dylan, no one else sees it."

Elliott said it's always his intention to find a way to connect with
people like himself.

"I want to connect with the common man," he said. "That's me. I'm a
working man and I come from a working-class, no-frills background. I don't
think I have to be pretentious and change my accent, but I hope when we
get off this phone conversation you'll realize that I'm a relatively
educated chap."

Elliott's brain and those of his bandmates have also, in fact, been
helpful in keeping them in circulation and on radio while other bands fade
away.

They understand the business of staying on top, as much as the art.

"The fans, the record company, radio ... they're all our allies," Elliott
said. "Some of these new bands coming up ... they don't realize that, they
think of the business as adversarial. And that's why you don't hear about
them after one album. Really, what happens is that you make as artistic a
record as you can, and deliver it to the record company and they look at
it like a can of baked beans."

If the beans don't sell they won't want any more of them.

So Def Leppard keeps in touch with its fans, appreciates the efforts of
the record company, deals with the same questions over and over and over
again from the press and doesn't take anything for granted.

And so they get to debut at No. 11 and they get to have their greatest
hits compilation ("Vault") spend the last seven years on Billboards list
of top 20 catalog albums.

Elliott says it's not rocket science that the band would continue to be at
the top.

"We've been together for a long time," he said. "And we've gotten better.
I think music is the only place where they tell you you're great when
you're 17 or 18, but then you're worse when you're 30. If you do something
for a long time, you're supposed to get better. And I think we have."

He said that he's very proud that Def Leppard has a reputation of 
consistency.

"There's a reliability factor," he said. "Very rarely do we go on stage
and suck." 

And, always aware of what their fans want, the Sovereign Center show will
include a couple of songs off the new CD ("Now" is getting a lot of radio
play already) as well as their hits.

"I love the Rolling Stones," Elliott said. "But I wouldn't want to listen
to 45 minutes from their new album. I want to hear 'Brown Sugar' and
'Jumping Jack Flash.' The legacy of what we've done is nothing to be
embarrassed about."

Contact reporter Tracy Rasmussen at 610-371-5066 or 
trasmussen@readingeagle.com
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