Def Leppard Atomic Mess News

While Joe Elliott is happy to endlessly discuss the differences between Def Leppard and Guns N' Roses, he's got no problem discussing embarrassing videos and why his band will never be Radiohead. Before Def Leppard's headlining gig Saturday at the Tweeter Center, the frontman waxed poetic about his past and present.

Herald: So what specifically makes you so different from Guns N' Roses?

Elliott: OK, I'll tell you this. For a long time the Rolling Stones had the tag of the most dangerous band in the world, but I've never heard of them going on at midnight. If they were due on at nine, they came on at nine. If you're going to be a dangerous band you don't have to do it like Axl did where you piss off as many people as you pleasure. With us it's all about the pleasure. We don't have an agenda and we don't try and court the press to make us look better than we are or worse then we are. We get on with it.

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The associated news article can be found here.

Last week, Rolling Stone magazine celebrated the 20th anniversary of "Appetite for Destruction" by slapping a vintage photo of Axl, Slash and the rest of their cronies on the cover.

But with all the gushing over Guns N' Roses' brownstone-fueled, sleaze-filled tour de force, 1987's other hard-rock masterpiece was ignored. If you were a teen in the late '80s, the pairing of "Paradise City" and "Pour Some Sugar On Me" was probably the one-two punch your mixtape packed.

So where's Def Leppard's "Hysteria" cover? Don't hold your breath.

"Am I shocked that they're on Rolling Stone's cover and we're not? Absolutely not," said Def Leppard frontman Joe Elliott from his home in Dublin, Ireland. "Let's be honest. We're not dangerous like G N'R and we never were. If anything we're the opposite side of them."

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The associated news article can be found here.

Currently on tour with no new album to promote, Def Leppard is facing the challenge of giving fans a show that isn't a carbon copy of its production during last year's "Yeah!" tour.

"We've really got to juggle things around, so we've dug deep into our back catalog and we've pulled out songs that we've never played on stage [and] songs that we haven't played on stage in maybe 10 years," lead singer Joe Elliott told LiveDaily.

"'Pour Some Sugar on Me,' 'Hysteria,' 'Animal' and 'Armageddon' are apparently obvious, but sometimes we have to go a little further than that. That's where we're going with most of our back catalog," he added.

Elliott, who hails from Sheffield, England, and lives in Dublin, Ireland, said he doesn't think too many fans will be disappointed by the shows, which feature openers Foreigner and Styx.

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Rock fans get ready. Def Leppard, Styx and Foreigner are coming to the Ford Amphitheatre on Friday, Aug. 24, 7 p.m.

With more than 65 million albums sold worldwide, not to mention two prestigious Diamond Awards to their credit, Def Leppard - Joe Elliott (vocals), Vivian Campbell (guitar), Phil Collen (guitar), Rick "Sav" Savage (bass) and Rick Allen (drums)-continues to be one of the most important forces in rock music.

The group's spectacular live shows are filled with hit after hit from their groundbreaking discography that set the sound for generations of music fans and artists. Def Leppard's powerful rock anthems have become synonymous with their name and it' easy to see why rock fans keep gravitating toward their electrifying live performances.

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To anyone who thought Def Leppard's high energy, rock-your-socks-off performance days were over think again.

The '80s may be long gone, but the British quintet proved to a crowd of 18,000 that they're still red hot and going strong at Sarnia's Bayfest Saturday night.

The enduring rockers hit the stage with full force, kicking off their 16-song set with an electric performance of "Rocket."

Frontman Joe Elliott exploded onto the catwalk, backed by bare chested guitarists Phil Collen and Vivian Campbell, Rick Savage's signature feathered hair, and a knockout performance by one-armed drummer Rick Allen.

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I've added audio from an interview Joe Elliott did on Jim Kerr's Rock and Roll Morning Show on May 19, 2006. The interivew is posted in the Audio section of the Def Leppard Archive.

Def Leppard started out like any other band.

Each member had an interest in music; each wanted to form a band.

Lead vocalist Joe Elliott said the first time the guys got together, they didn't even pick up instruments. Actually, they didn't pick up them up for about six weeks.

"It was really just us sitting around listening to records," he said in a phone interview on the road near Cleveland.

"We talked about our future … and what we wanted to be. Did we contemplate world domination? Absolutely. Nobody wants to consider it a race, but we wanted to be the biggest rock band out there."

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Def Leppard: Rock legends who sold more than 65 million records and — apparently — nerds. We took some time with the British band to get an idea of what they have in their back pockets, and it's not always picks drumsticks: These guys love iPhones, Macs, and even super high-speed Internet.

Def Leppard hits US shores this summer with a huge tour, by the way. They even play with Styx and Foreigner on a couple dates. To see when they'll be playing near you, visit www.defleppard.com.

What gadgets do you always bring with you to the set (for down-time)?

Joe Elliott (vocals): iPod, what else?!
Phil Collen (guitar): I bring my Mac, iPod, and cell phone and my workout bar.
Vivian Campbell (guitar): I'm never without my cell phone and laptop!

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Roughly 20 years after their career hit the stratosphere with the album Hysteria, British rock band Def Leppard are still on the road, trying to recreate 1987 all over again. And while they're getting a bit long in the tooth, the quintet can still take fans back to a certain place in time as they did last night at Toronto's Molson Amphitheatre.

The British band, who have seen their star power diminish in recent years, gave the fans what they wanted with a roughly 90-minute set of early favourites that relied on guitar-driven solos by Phil Collen and Vivian Campbell.

With a wide video screen above them that at times featured three different camera angles, Def Leppard opened with Rocket as images of rockets and satellites provided the almost obligatory eye candy. Lead singer Joe Elliott glad-handed fans in the front of a walkway extending out from the main stage while fans got into the show early.

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I've added the recording of the June 20, 2007 Rock Line interview to the Audio section.

Part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5.

Any rock band striving for longevity faces the prospect of going through some difficult years, stylistically speaking, in an effort to keep up with the times. Take for example Def Leppard, headlining the Tweeter Center Saturday night nearly 30 years after getting its start.

Throughout the band's storied history ("storied" an apt descriptive considering the tribulations they've collectively gone through), trends have come and gone, perhaps most awkwardly during the height of the glam metal movement in the late '80s.

There was the requisite stone-washed jeans, cowboy boots, leather jackets, sleeveless flannels and yes, the hair. And while not near as serious as the overdose death of guitarist Steve Clark in 1991 or the car accident that claimed drummer Rick Allen's arm a few years prior, frontman Joe Elliott has battled valiantly to keep his coif in shape throughout the decades.

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Q: Why should anyone bother to catch Def Leppard this time around?

A: We changed the set around. We're playing songs we haven't played in years. We're playing some acoustic songs. We don't want to repeat ourselves. We owe it to our fans to present something different since they're so good to us.

Q: Particularly in the Philly area, which is one of your hottest markets.

A: We know it. The Tweeter Center is a fabulous place to play because we get such a great reaction. The shows sell well there. It's easily one of the best places for us to play.

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Chalk one up for the proletariat.

Before 20,000 fans in a jam-packed Germain Amphitheater last night, English hard rock band Def Leppard took average to new heights.

Lead singer Joe Elliott is affable enough in a bloke’s sort of way, but his voice is the very definition of mediocre and the years have not been kind to it. He sang off key for much of the band’s hour and a half set and strained to reach high notes on hit singles that most assuredly were reached in the past thanks to the magic of the recording studio.

He’s functional at best.

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For 30 years, Def Leppard has rocked venues around the world. Germain Amphitheater looks to be no different as it hosts the legendary band Sunday night.

Alongside REO Speedwagon and Styx, Def Leppard hopes to pack in fans both old and new.

"The crowds get bigger (each year)," said guitarist Phil Collen. It's been getting better I think."

The tour kicked off June 27 in Cincinnati and looks to be in full swing as it arrives in Ohio's capital this weekend.

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Sweat dripped off my brow as I waited for Def Leppard to arrive for the sound check at Cincinnati's Riverbend Music Center, a venue nearly identical to the Post-Gazette Pavilion, where the band will play on July 7. I had watched the stage crew build the custom-designed drum set for one-armed drummer Rick Allen.

"Bring 'em out?" a worker asked before he got the OK from the technician.

The worker left and retrieved the band.

The band dressed and behaved casually for this round of songs. Joe Elliott had a baseball cap on. Vivian Campbell went shirtless. Rick Savage smoked a cigarette in between guitar riffs of "Photograph."

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