Def Leppard
Adrenalize

I learned about the death of "Stephen Maynard Clark" from a fucking hypocritical 'friend', him and his whole family of false do-gooders, essentially someone who wasn't even worthy of uttering Clark's name. The public housing, and the stupidity of my age, made me think it was cool to die at thirty, stuffed with shit and forgotten by everyone. Then in the spring of 1992, Def Leppard released "Adrenalize", the new work after five years, the new work without Steve. I bought it, listened to it for a few months, and was so foresighted as to decree that it wasn’t up to the predecessor, and... period.

Period, my ass. Clark's departure, beyond the tragedy, generated the greatest imbalance a band like the "Leppards" could experience. The dirty, incisive, gritty, and damn sublime sound was his doing. Listen to the instrumental "Switch 625", from 1981, you’ll understand what I'm talking about. The guitarist was the glue between melody and brazenness, differentiating between commercial but tiring music and commercial and kick-ass music. An album, unsurpassable in its genre, like "Pyromania", is an eloquent testament to that.

In "Adrenalize", six out of ten tracks are also credited to Clark, although all his parts were recorded by the other guitarist Phil Collen. I believe a good part of them still retain that heritage of his music. Tracks like "Stand Up" and "Tonight" were indeed written years before.

"Make Love Like A Man" and "I Wanna Touch U", although they are two of the seven singles released and musically acceptable, describe the deplorable side of the band, with two juvenile choruses, quite embarrassing. "Let’s Get Rocked" was the leading single, "White Lightning" a beautiful tribute to the late friend, "Have You Ever Needed Someone So Bad" the MTV ballad, and the concluding "Tear It Down" driving and powerful, the right final act.

"Adrenalize" must be considered a lucky album, considering that at the time the Seattle sound was rampant everywhere, it was one of the last best sellers, followed by a monumental tour. But it is also a watershed between the life of a group, troubled by adverse events but in full creative and productive swing, and a band of excellent musicians with a healthy and serene life but creators of studio exercise productions.

The Californians Tesla dedicated "Steve Clark" "Song & Emotion" to the Englishman, which roughly stated "When he starts playing, suddenly the suffering fades away"; I like to think that since that distant January of 1991, Clark has kept Saint Peter and his pals awake.

FOUR STARS: Of which three to "Steve". Regardless.