Def Leppard Atomic Mess News

It's obvious that Def Leppard tries to compare themselves to The Beatles with the cover of their new album Songs From the Sparkle Lounge. One look and anyone who has paid attention to popular culture over the last 50 years will instantly see the similarities to the Beatle's hugely important Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band.

That said, there are a few things the two groups have in common, and they mostly revolve around riches, fame, and nationality. What the two groups don't share is a knack for experimentation and studio trickery - and that's where Songs From the Sparkle Lounge is largely a bust.

Named after a room backstage that the band utilized on their last tour to write songs and warm up, Songs From the Sparkle Lounge continues a trend and change in sound that Def Leppard has been toying with for years. In addition, for the lengthy amount of time it takes Def Leppard to make a record, Songs From the Sparkle Lounge sounds like it was hastily thrown together.

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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:

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You would think a near-legendary band like Def Leppard would be certain of their rock-star status. After all, they're the ones behind such fist-pumping anthems as Rock of Ages, Photograph and Pour Some Sugar on Me, and have sold millions of albums around the world.

They've been at it for more than 30 years and have survived death (guitarist Steve Clark died in 1991) and dismemberment (drummer Rick Allen lost his arm in a car accident in 1984 and plays with a modified drum kit). And though their old songs endure on classic-rock radio stations, the band, which comprises singer Joe Elliott, guitarists Phil Collen and Vivian Campbell, bassist Rick Savage and drummer Allen, is still a creatively viable entity. In fact, a new disc is due for release later this month, and the first single, a collaboration with country superstar Tim McGraw, is already a hit.

Plus, the touring never stops. Def Leppard is headlining a major arena excursion with fellow 1980s survivors R.E.O. Speedwagon and Styx (featuring Canada's Lawrence Gowan) that's making its way across North America. Pulling into Ottawa on Saturday, it's the hottest ticket of the season — a sold-out show with more than 15,000 fans expected at Scotiabank Place. The buzz is deafening.

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An enthusiastic mostly over-40 crowd at the Mohegan Sun Arena Tuesday was treated to a raucous ride in the way-back machine, courtesy of Def Leppard and REO Speedwagon.

One of the top record-selling bands of the 1980s and an icon of the British heavy metal movement of that era, Def Leppard headlined Tuesday's performance.

Fronted by Joe Elliott, the current incarnation of the band — with the exception of former Dio guitarist Vivian Campbell, who joined in 1992 — has been together more than 25 years.

That familiarity with the material and with each other showed as the band sawed through a 90-minute set devoted mostly to songs that sold tens of millions of albums.

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For four hours last night at the Dunkin' Donuts Center, it was as if punk and hip-hop had never happened. Whether you think that's a good thing is up to you, but the triple bill of Def Leppard, Styx and REO Speedwagon gave a good accounting of the time when rock music was pop music, and at the same time the headliners showed they have at least a little left in the tank.

Def Leppard was preceded by a montage of their history and the legend "That was then, this is now" and a mention of their new record, Songs From the Sparkle Lounge. They started off, however, with blasts from the past - "Rockit," "Animal," "Let's Get Rocked" and "Foolin'," straddling the line between classic '80s rock and occasional dips into proto-adult-contemporary.

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The platinum-selling British pop-metal act Def Leppard is hitting the road for the fourth year in a row, and coming to Providence Wednesday with a new record and a new attitude. A couple of new attitudes, in fact.

Guitarist Viv Campbell says the new record, Songs From the Sparkle Lounge, is a return to the Def Leppard formula - "There's no mistaking any of the songs, because we have a very distinctive sound that's driven by our vocals," particularly lead singer Joe Elliott - but with a new method.

The new album was written largely in a backstage area (lit with little Christmas lights, hence the title) on the road, but Campbell says the most important new influence on the making of this record was Def Leppard's previous record, Yeah!, the 2006 collection of '60s and '70s rock covers that got the band members into playing music in the first place.

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On March 21, Joe Elliott was interviewed by 93.3 WMMR in Philadelphia.

On March 31, Phil Collen was interviewed by 95.1 WZZO in Allentown, Pennsylvania.

Recordings of both interviews are available from the Audio section of the Def Leppard Archive.

After Ace Frehley, Edgar Winter and Rick Derringer rocked the House of Blues Thursday night, '70s and '80s nostalgia weekend continued Friday night at Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa with a triple bill of REO Speedwagon, Styx and Def Leppard.

Before Borgata came to town, these three acts would easily headline on their own. In other words, the fans got their money's worth on Friday night.

The sold-out concert may have been the biggest arsenal of hits released on Atlantic City in one night. Of the 33 songs performed throughout the evening, not only were 23 of them hits, they were absolute smashes. Instead of unnecessarily prolonging the night with obscurities, openers Styx and REO both played tight 50-minute sets - mostly full of Top 10 charters.

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While many of Def Leppard's peers seem content to rely on their tired back catalogs as they hop from shed to shed this summer, the rockers will be augmenting fan favorites like 'Photograph' and 'Pour Some Sugar On Me' with tracks from its new album, 'Songs From the Sparkle Lounge,' due April 29, which features a collaboration with country star Tim McGraw, and a cover inspired by 'Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band'.

"We had initially hoped to really pay tribute to [Sgt. Pepper]," guitarist/songwriter Phil Collen tells Spinner, "but it was turning out to be a real hassle. Putting Elvis Presley's image on it, for instance, would have been $1800. And the same went for a lot of the other images we wanted to use. And we thought about people like Hitler and the Stones, but we realized how much effort it would have been to get the art work finalized.

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Def Leppard, a guitar-blazing, one-armed drumming and bass-thumping heavy metal band filled Germain Arena on Sunday night.

The fans, starved for a big-name concert in town, packed the place to see Styx, REO Speedwagon and then Def Leppard put on a show that rocked the ages.

Returning to Estero for the first time in five years, vocalist Joe Elliott and company played a 90-minute set list largely comprising their greatest hits.

They opened with four songs of sonic fury: "Rocket," "Animal," "Let's Get Rocked" and "Foolin'."

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A thousand pairs of tight jeans and at least a dozen heads of crimped hair turned out to Germain Arena on Sunday night.

They came for Styx and REO Speedwagon, which both put on decent 45-minute sets, but neither of those opening acts held a swaying lighter to the headlining band.

The first two groups merely warmed up the arena for the band concert-goers wore the Union Jack for, Def Leppard.

"That was then, this is now," appeared on a giant video screen as the group took the stage. The screen showed several photos, notes, album covers and clips from the band's decades of history. Then: "Welcome to the Sparkle Lounge," as the packed arena screamed.

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