#9 Def Leppard - Pyromania (Released 1983) 10x Platinum #2 Billboard Album Charts
Joe Elliot (Yes kids, he used to have brown hair) - Vocals
Phil Collen (Yes kids, he used to shred) - Lead Guitar
"Steamin" Steve Clark (Yes kids, he used to be alive, RIP Steve) - Rhythm Guitar
Rick Savage (Yes kids, his rockstar look used to be en vogue) - Bass
Rick Allen (Yes kids, he used to have two arms) - Drums
I WANNA TOUCH YOU!
Is the scream heard towards the end of Def Leppard's transcending, mega-hit "Photograph", a line that my entire family loves to belt out. Def Leppard, Van Halen and Scorpions represent the three compromise bands that my family can always agree to listen to on road trips and the album, Pyromania by Def Leppard has the most hits that all my family loves.
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| I WANNA TOUCH YOU! How many of you clicked because of this? Be honest. O your hand is busy. I understand. |
Coming off the mild success of High N Dry, Def Leppard remained steadfast in their goal of breaking into America, something no other New Wave of British Heavy Metal band had succeeded in doing (only Iron Maiden would also achieve that feat. I do not consider Judas Priest and Motorhead as NWOBHM, but American success also extended to them.) Def Leppard began as a NWOBHM band with the hard and fast debut, On Through The Night. They retained the aggression and metallic playing on their more commercially palatable offering, High N Dry. In recent years, High N Dry has become one of my favorite albums of all time, just a real smoke-show, barn-burner. Def Lep sought for even a slicker sound and called upon producer, Mutt Lange. Lange had just produced AC/DC's mega-hit Back In Black and demonstrated how to do a tough hard rock album with big balls and still have it sell. Thus Pyromania represents the culmination of Def Leppard as a heavy metal band with the muscular riffs of a metal band, but with the glossy production for the album to eventually go Diamond. Def Leppard is one of the few bands in the world with TWO Diamond albums and how are they NOT in the Hall of Fame. After this Def Lep, would take the production to whole new heights with the bit too-poppy Hysteria, but on Pyromania Def Lep strikes a perfect balance between metal and production.
This was also, Collen's first album with the band as the more metal-oriented Pete Willis was fired due to drug problems. Collen's background was in a British glam rock group, Girl with Phil Lewis, who later joined L.A. Guns as their lead vocalist. Collen is not a shredder, he plays very sugary, compact melodic solos, occasionally he will shred on this album, but by Hysteria the shredding has been removed from the arsenal. I always find the solos and riffs I really like from Def Leppard usually come from Steamin Steve. Also, this album marked the beginning of Def Lep's trademarked hyper-harmonized, multi-layered gang-vocals.
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| Always knew we were a shoe-in to win the American Revolution |
Rock Rock Til You Drop, harkens back to the old days of NWOBHM with that livewire circular riff that just doesnt let-up and instantly becomes ensnared in your brain. Yes, Def Leppard really likes songs with rock in them, just in case anyone forgot they were a rock band. Elliot's devotion to the phrase "Come On" is not as fervent as it would become on Hysteria. I have always loved the chorus of "Rock Rock Til You Drop! Rock Rock Never Stop!". One of the best solos in Steamin Steve's repertoire leading into a brilliant bridge from Joe Elliot. Is their a better genre at doing the bridge than glam metal? If so, I think someone's nose is growing.
Foolin', is my brother's favorite Def Leppard song and is definitely in my top 5 (picking between Def Leppard songs is like picking between ice cream flavors just can't be done by intelligent beings). Of the songs of this album it is their best from a technical and emotional perspective. The acoustic intro with Elliot in his high-pitch, desperate crooning, I loves me some crooning. Then they hit you over the head with a bone-crushing, head-banger of a riff, but balance it with those sugary, multi-layered vocals. Fuckin Genius. Then it is time for the drums to dominate in the bridge before bringing in the cowbell and the chugging riff for the HUGE chorus. The dynamics in this song are perfectly executed. Like I was saying remember when songs had multiple hooks? Probably not because you were born in the late 80's like me.
We wrap up this review with the song that transformed Def Lep from a NWOBHM band into one of the biggest bands to ever melt faces and moisten panties on this planet: Photograph. Not even that bimbo, Taylor Swift could ruin this masterpiece. Everything about this song just works. It is a pop metal song about London's Photograph killer, but sounds like a hard rock love song. It is the perfect confluence of might and beauty with that signature metal riff balanced by the melodic signature vocals. The cowbell signaling the beginning of the pre-chorus is one of my favorite metal hooks. The rhythm riff that is played over on loop one of the most recognizable riffs of all time and so elegant in its simplicity. This solo in this song demonstrates Collen's best solo that fits so well with the rest of the song structure. The song is punctuated by the powerful shout of "I WANNA TOUCH YOU!" before revving back into the outro.
Pyromania was not the commercial peak of Def Leppard that would come with the glossy Hysteria, but for my money this is the peak of Def Leppard's metal prowess, which culminated after three albums. Def Leppard remains one of my all-time bands and their albums are diverse ranging from NWOBHM to pop metal and thus their albums are essential for any 80's metalhead's cache.
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