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Def Leppard sticks to its sound, and that's sad

DEF LEPPARD

"Yeah!"

It's quite possible that there's no room today for unironic rock. From the 
opening chord of "Yeah!," Def Leppard's first release in four years, the 
album's expectation's are set -- and met with predictable mediocrity.

Nearly every song can be described as "Sounds like Def Leppard covering 
______," and this is precisely what a covers album should not be. The band's 
take on hits by T. Rex and Thin Lizzy flaunt how derivative Leppard is, while 
Bowie and Kinks covers reveal their thinness.

The band themselves may not be to blame; Gen-Xers deflated rock's sincerity. 
Today, only commercial rappers can get away without some amount of irony, 
unabashedly flexing their cash, money and hoes. Really, they're the ones 
rocking out.

Meanwhile Def Leppard will continue to land gigs playing to the same people 
they did two decades earlier, essentially as a tribute band to their former 
selves. There will always be a faction that will hear this album -- or any 
similar work -- and respond the same way: "Yeah!"

Some critics have lauded Def Leppard for not missing a step with "Yeah!" But in 
remaining steadfast, they are left with nothing but enthusiasm to propel them. 
The sad irony of the title "20th Century Boy" is unavoidable: Time has made Def 
Leppard's brand of whole-hearted fist-banging irrelevant.

--Orr Shtuhl, The Roanoke Times

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