http://sa.mlive.com/entertainment/index.ssf?/entertainment/stories/19990817leppard.frm Pop-metal pioneers play 'pure fun' Def Leppard roars into Saginaw. Thursday, August 19, 1999 SUE WHITE THE SAGINAW NEWS ------------------------------------------------------------------ Is Saginaw ready? Mid-Michigan is set to rock to songs like "Hysteria," "Bringin' on the Heartbreak," "Photograph" and "Pour Some Sugar on Me." Joe Elliott, Rick Savage, Phil Collen, Vivian Campbell and Rick Allen, who hasn't let the loss of his left arm still his drums, are ready to give it to them. Def Leppard is a band that makes concerts fun, not with the profanity so many use to charge up the night but with catchy pop hooks, dueling guitars and jump-up-and-shout energy. Never mind that seven years have passed since the British pop-metal band last invaded Wendler Arena. Come Tuesday night, the boys are back. "The time was right," Collen said of Def Leppard's new album, "Euphoria," and the band's return to the road. "It was what people wanted to hear again. For so long, music was gloomy and doomy, all about how ticked off someone was. "Ours is uplifting in some way or another. It's an escape for what's getting you down. And I think it was the Backstreet Boys we can thank for bringing it back around - music is pure entertainment again, pure fun." Collen says the updated playlist will upset some fans and make someone's day. "We've got great stuff in our corner and we make it fun. We have a good time." Def Leppard has gone through good times and bad in its career. Formed in 1977 by guitarist Pete Willis and Savage, who plays bass, the group grew to include Elliott on vocals, Steve Clark on guitar, and, in time, then 15-year-old Allen on drums. Though young - Elliott was the oldest at 19 - Def Leppard drew the attention of AC/DC manager Peter Mensch, who maneuvered the group to a pair of hit albums - "On Through the Night" and "High 'n' Dry" - and enviable road tours with Ted Nugent, Sammy Hagar, AC/DC and Ozzy Osbourne. In the studio, producer Robert "Mutt" Lange helped refine the sound that would identify Def Leppard, a pop sound that led some to title it "The Heavy Metal Band You Can Bring Home to Mother." And MTV caught hold, stoking the fire of stateside success. By the time "Pyromania" exploded on the store shelves, Collen had replaced Willis. Before "Hysteria" came out, Allen had lost his left arm in an auto crash, a tragic turn of events but not enough to keep him away from his drum set. Then, as "Adrenalize" came under way, Clark died of alcohol poisoning. Campbell stepped into the void and that's the line-up that gave the world "Slang" - too mellow for most fans' taste - and the new "Euphoria." They even managed to draw Lange away from wife Shania Twain's side long enough to produce a handful of songs. "He was always into country," Collen said. "In England, in his car, he always had George Jones cassettes. He's the one who came up with the opening licks to 'Pour Some Sugar On Me' and it was pure country. He was the hugest country fan so that's what came natural to him. "But he's the best producer, a musical genius." And "Euphoria" has launched Def Leppard into another round of success. So what took so long? "I think people wonder if we go on vacation and lie around on a beach somewhere," Collen mused. "It's not like that at all. "We toured for a year and a half straight after our last album - that's what takes the time - and then we wrote for about six months." Another 10 months went into recording "Euphoria" - "that really isn't so long," he added - and now it's back to the road. "It took awhile to figure out our direction," Collen said. "We did have to draw from something, and I can tell you it was more T. Rex than Soundgarden. "We decided to enjoy ourselves. But we couldn't have done it three years ago. "Playing live is the reason we came together in the first place. We've done a few state fairs, a club tour, and now we're heading into America's heartland." They'll finish in the states at the end of September and head for Hawaii, Japan and the United Kingdom, "where we'll start a lot more production," he said. "It'll build as we go." " Collen said Aerosmith is a great example of what Leppard is all about. "They overcame drugs and alcohol, they never stepped away from the business and they're still doing great. "We're 10 to 15 years younger than them so it looks like we still have some life left. Our hats are off to them; others don't have that kind of integrity." Did he ever imagine still living the rock 'n' roll dream after all these years? "To be quite honest, when I was 16, the thought of still playing my guitar at 24 was a stretch," Collen said. "And here I am at 41, fitter and healthier than I've ever been in my life. "Everything from here on out is a bonus. I'm not grim about it; it's not something I worry about. "I'm just not making any kind of prediction." Copyright 1999 Michigan Live Inc.