Old Story (2002): Getting the Lep out
At first, Def Leppard's new CD, X, looks like an orchestrated attempt to revive the career of a band whose fortunes have faded sharply since the 1980s. The song "Unbelievable" finds Def Leppard teaming with songwriters Andreas Carlsson, Per Aldeheim and Max Martin-the tunesmiths who helped bring Bon Jovi back to that band's platinum-selling ways with the hit "It's My Life" from the 2000 CD Crush, and have written multiple tracks for teen stars. Def Lep also joined forces on three tracks with Marti Frederiksen, the hit-making songwriter who has become Aerosmith's latest primary collaborator.
Def Lep guitarist Phil Collen realizes that such collaborations seem to follow a record company blueprint for crafting a hit album. But that misses the point, he says.
"It wasn't the record company's idea. It was my idea."