http://winnipegsun.com/Entertainment/AandE/2008/04/10/5245046-sun.html Lounge Act Leppard return to rockin' comfort zone on new CD By DAVID SCHMEICHEL When British rock legends Def Leppard take to the MTS Centre stage next Wednesday, they'll be less than two weeks away from the April 29 release of their ninth CD, Songs from the Sparkle Lounge. Frontman Joe Elliott has described the disc as a return to form of earlier Def Leppard classics like High 'N Dry (1981) and Hysteria (1987). But with the exception of lead single Nine Lives -- a collaboration with country star Tim McGraw released to radio -- the Sheffield sons have done a good job of keeping the album under wraps. We realize you can't wait another six days for your Def Leppard fix, so we've scoured the web for every mention of the new disc we could find. Here's what we came up with: THE TITLE Though Songs from the Sparkle Lounge was floated as a placeholder, it stuck. Elliott told Billboard it refers to a backstage area where the band fleshed out ideas for songs. "It was a mini (drum) kit, mini amps, a tape recorder and sparkly lights," Elliott told the mag. "It had to be on call, like a doctor, so if somebody went, 'I've got this idea!', you just run it, plug up, turn on and bang it out, and then you could work on it over the next few days. We've never, ever written on the road before, so this definitely came from a different head space." THE COVER Classic rock fans won't have any trouble figuring out the inspiration for the album's cover, an obvious homage to The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. But while the Fab Four surrounded themselves with W.C. Fields, Albert Einstein and Marilyn Monroe, Leppard couldn't afford such a VIP guest list. "We had initially hoped to really pay tribute to (Sgt. Pepper), but it was turning into a real hassle," guitarist Phil Collen told Spinner.com. "Putting Elvis Presley's image on it, for instance, would have been $1,800. And the same went for a lot of the other images we wanted to use ... Instead, we just used different pictures of us, our families and road crew." THE CONCEPT Recorded in early 2007, Sparkle Lounge finds the band getting back to their early sound. "The whole record's got a great '70s feel," Elliott says in a press release. "By our standards, it's a very different album, as we've been very adventurous, musically, on certain numbers. On the album, there are classic Def Leppard songs and then there's also tracks that are very New Wave influenced, while others sound like middle-to-late '70s AC/DC. There will definitely be some moments on it where anybody that's familiar with our music will go, 'Whoa! I wasn't expecting that!' " THE COLLABORATION As for that duet with McGraw, the seeds were apparently sown during a 2006 gig at the Hollywood Bowl, where the star joined the band onstage for an encore of Pour Some Sugar On Me. The artists stayed in touch (McGraw's manager is Def Leppard drummer Rick Allen's brother), and while the band was writing Nine Lives, McGraw's name came up as a collaborator. "Each of us brought something different to the table, and we drew on each others' influence to finish it out," McGraw has said. "They are simply one of the best rock bands ever, and it was a great time working with them." THE TIE-INS Nine Lives' official debut comes on the April 29 episode of Dancing With the Stars. The next night, Def Leppard performs a mini-concert for the Jimmy Kimmel show (you can try to score tickets at www.1iota.com), but by then, most diehard fans will have heard the tunes live. The band kicked off their latest tour on March 27, and though REO Speedwagon was on the bill for some dates, local fans get proggy rockers Styx instead. --- DEF LEPPARD Where: MTS Centre When: Wed., April 16 With: Styx Tickets: $59.50 - $79.50 @Ticketmaster Copyright © 2007, Canoe Inc. All rights reserved.