Leppard set to delve into 'rock of ages' with covers album
For a guy named Savage, Def Leppard's bass player has a friendly, soft-spoken demeanor on the telephone.
"The blueprint for Def Leppard was guitars, hard rock, melodies and harmonies," Rick Savage says from a tour stop in Peoria, Ill. "We've always believed the song was the most important thing. It was just a matter of how we presented it. We like guitars loud, but we also like melody. It's a fine line of not compromising one or the other."
Savage formed Def Leppard in his hometown of Sheffield, England, in 1977. Since then, he's seen both the highs of rock stardom, with Def Leppard's string of hit albums and singles in the '80s, and its lows, when personal tragedy struck the group twice: On New Year's Eve in 1984, drummer Rick Allen lost his left arm in an automobile accident, and in 1991, lead guitarist Steve Clark died of alcoholism during the recording sessions for "Adrenalize."