I’m certain that the musical/movie Rock of Ages was named after that one Def Leppard song and Def Leppard has made a point to make the most out of this situation. They played at the Film’s premier and even called their recent summer tour (with Rock of Ages alumni Poison in the supporting slot) Rock of Ages. Why else would they name their recent tour after a 29 year old song? I’m actually surprised that Def Leppard has been so cooperative with these people being that they’ve (mainly singer Joe Elliot and to a lesser extent guitarist Vivian Campbell) spent the last decade or so trying to DISTANCE themselves from the type of music scene Rock of Ages attempts to emulate.
http://www.sleazeroxx.com/news08/0622def.shtml
Mr. Elliot was quoted in one interview as saying: “We refuse to go out Poison or Winger or Warrant or any of those shite bands.” Mr. Elliot’s smack talking even led to a bit of a feud during a press conference on June 6 of 2008. He said that LA Glam bands from the 80’s “totally missed the point.” That these type of bands “didn’t have any substance musically” and alluded to Poison and Motley Crue being “fake.” The next day Poison singer Bret Michaels responded to his remarks in a different press conference. He was mostly civil about the whole thing but did rag on Def Leppard for lip synching on the TV show “Dancing with the Stars.” Poison drummer Rikki Rokket wasn’t as civil and challenged Mr. Elliot to a Mix Martial Arts Fight. The next summer, Poison and Def Leppard did their first U.S. Tour together.
http://www.blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=100855
I guess pride doesn’t pay the bills like it used to…It is very tempting to rag on ole Joe for his remarks and dismiss him as being full of shit but there is some truth to what the man was saying. Despite Def Leppard being one of the biggest selling Rock bands of the 80’s and having TWO RECORDS that have sold over ten million copies EACH in the U.S. ALONE they are still odd men out within their own genre/peer group.
It wasn’t always this way. When Def Leppard got started, the band was part of the “Rock Brigade” known as the New Wave of British Heavy Metal a movement that served as a bridge of sorts between the Metal of 70’s (Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Judas Priest etc) and what became the Thrash/Speed Metal sound of the 80’s. Def Leppard’s debut On Through The Night was musically compatible with what NWOBHM peers such as Tigress of Pan Tang, Sweet Savage (which featured future Dio/Def Leppard guitarist Vivian Campbell ) and yes even Iron Maiden were doing back then. Then Mutt Lange came along.
On the first album Mutt and Def Lep did together High N Dry Mutt essentially did for Def Leppard what he did on the three AC/DC albums he produced. He polished the group’s rough edges but kept the music big, loud and Heavy. It also helped that the band’s material was stronger on album number 2. I ain’t gonna lie; High N Dry is STILL my favorite Def Leppard album. The main reason being the song “Lady Strange” but the album is solid all the way through.
The big difference between High N Dry and Pyromania is that Mutt Lange produced the fuck out of Pyromania to the point that it made High N Dry sound like a bunch of cheap demos. Legend has it that he cracked the whip them Leppard boys pretty damn hard in an effort to reach some ridiculous level of perfection. Rumor has it that a good chunk of Rick Allen’s drumming was replaced by a drum machine in the studio. Even with all the studio tricks, Pyromania essentially picks up where High N Dry left. Pyromania was in part so successful because it was poppy enough to attract a wide audience while still being heavy enough to satisfy fans of the first two albums. Even some of the quieter moments on songs such as “Foolin” and “Too Late for Love” are pretty dark. Then Def Leppard recorded Hysteria.
Def Leppard released Hysteria in summer of 1987. Back then, MTV was not only all about music but they were all about Heavy Metal. Granted, it was mainly the lighter, makeup wearing, hair teasing form of metal but nonetheless…Even though Def Leppard’s music and videos were embraced by MTV the guys looked relatively normal compared the other glammier bands. Of the five guys in Def Leppard only two members (bassist Rick Savage and the late guitarist Steve Clark) kind of sort of had the typical “Rock Star” look of the day. Even then, those two guys would have never been confused for a member of Poison, Motley Crue or even Dokken. Lead singer Joe Elliot back then preferred ripped jeans and a mullet to teased hair and spandex and guitarist Phil Collen was one of the very few Metal guitarists with short hair way back then.
According to what I read on Wikipedia Def Leppard and Mutt Lange set out to make Hysteria the Rock equivalent of Michael Jackson’s Thriller. A rock album was every song in it could potentially be a big hit. Commercially Def Leppard achieved this goal. Hysteria had SEVEN singles which consisted of the ENTIRE first side of the record and the title track which was squeezed at the tail end of the record. All seven songs charted on the U.S. billboard chards and benefited from heavy MTV rotation. With all that mainstream success a backlash was inevitable. Especially if the band in question was actively seeking far reaching mainstream commercial success.
Despite all the studio tweaking, Pyromania is still a heavy guitar driven Metal record. Hysteria on the other hand, might have had enough heavy guitar work in it to qualify as Hard Rock/Heavy Metal but it’s a pop album at its core. It is understandable to some degree why older Def Lep fans and many other Metal heads feel so much scorn towards Hysteria but the album still “Rocks” in its own overproduced poppy sort of way. Sure opening track “Women” doesn’t come out the gate swinging the way “Let it Go” (off High N Dry) and “Rock Rock Till You drop” (off Pyromania) do, it’s slower and moodier but it has some pretty cool guitar playing. It is also true that the “heavier” songs (“Don’t Shoot Shotgun,” “Run Riot) on the record are pushed aside to tail end of side two but they’re just as good as anything on Pyromania.
Another thing that a lot of people (and in all honesty I didn’t for the longest time) realize about Def Leppard is that despite not embracing the “80’s Glam Metal” look of the day that Hysteria was heavily influenced by 70’s Glam Rock. Take for example their hit single “Rocket” which is a love letter to 60’s-70’s rock with lyrical “shout outs” to 70’s Glam artists David Bowie, Sweet and T Rex. Also, whenever Joe Elliot isn’t employing high pitch squeal to go along the 1500 vocal harmony tracks the guy has a raspy croon that tries to channel the spirit of Marc Bolan.
Speaking of Marc Bolan, had the ‘Metal Guru’ himself lived to see the 80’s…
I’m pretty damn sure he would have written a song along the lines of “Pour Some Sugar on Me.”
ahandfullofnapalm 