Revisiting the Seventies
They could have concentrated on pop standards of the '40s and '50s, or classic-rock tunes of the '60s, or hits by bands that peaked, as they did, in the 1980s.
But for their first collection of cover songs — "Yeah!," which was released last month on the Mercury/Universal label — British rock quintet Def Leppard looked to the days of glam-rock, power-pop and proto-punk. The album is an affectionate tribute to artists like T. Rex, Thin Lizzy, Sweet, Free and David Bowie, who are represented, mostly, by songs that came out between 1970 and 1974.
"It's why we got into music, when we were 14, 15," said guitarist Phil Collen, 48, of "Yeah!" selections like David Essex's "Rock On," the Faces' "Stay With Me" and Mott the Hoople's "The Golden Age of Rock & Roll." "It was the moment in time where it's kind of like, 'This is my music, this is really speaking to me.' We were impressionable 14-year-olds or 15-year-olds.