Def Leppard
Pyromania

(This review is also from ancient times, dated November 22, 2011. Enjoy it!)

When we think of the past NWOBHM (New Wave Of British Heavy Metal), that renowned period between the years 1979 and 1984 when the concept of classic heavy metal was born through some bands, which later led to the development of extreme metal (thrash metal in particular), what are the first groups that come to mind? Iron Maiden first, followed by the less famous Saxon, Diamond Head, Venom, etc., just to name a few. Yet, have you ever tried asking this question to some of your friends or companions? How much do you want to bet that, even if they mention those bands with similar sounds but that are not officially part of this movement (Judas Priest, Motörhead), they won’t remotely mention the band I am about to review now?

Def Leppard (a play on words from deaf leopard, which indeed means deaf leopard.... well, not so deaf!), a band at the time composed of the historical founder Rick Savage on bass, Steve Clark and the new member Phil Collen on guitars, Joe Elliott on vocals, and Rick Allen on drums, had already made a name for themselves on the global rock scene of that new decade with the good debut "On Through the Night" and the subsequently more than decent "High 'n' Dry," thanks also to the production of the latter entrusted to perhaps one of the best rock record producers in the world, Robert "Mutt" Lange, already famous for having collaborated with the giants of world hard rock AC/DC in mixing "Back In Black," the second best-selling music album in history. For their third feat, the band, satisfied with his work, decided to bring him back on board, and so one of the most famous and best-selling hard rock albums of all time was born, and, without exaggerating too much, a historic monument of '80s music.

In this album, Phil Collen replaced Pete Willis due to alcohol-related issues; nonetheless, before his departure, he collaborated on the writing of some guitar rhythm parts. This album takes a slightly different turn from the two predecessors. Along with the hard rock and heavy metal sounds in the style of AC/DC, Thin Lizzy, and Kiss, it adds an evident AOR influence, a radio-friendly rock music format very widespread in the '70s, which makes the songs quite catchy and memorable, but here there is no problem at all. In fact, there is absolutely no problem or flaw in this album. If it will be remembered among the best albums of that decade and capable of selling 20 million copies to date, 10 of which in the United States alone, the reason is simple: it is melodic rock that is very smooth, yet at the same time hard and powerful, in full '80s style. And above all, an honest and passionate work, born from the mere desire to make music, and the success it earned was well-deserved.

You can understand this yourself by simply starting the listening of this album, beginning with the opening track Rock Rock ('Till You Drop), where the talented young Rick Allen demonstrates his drumming prowess and Joe Elliott's voice, legendary in his genre, seems almost a fusion between Bon Scott and Brian Johnson. If the track didn't thrill you much but you intend to continue, with the following track you will encounter their most famous song, Photograph, so famous that it’s now a fixture in their concert setlists and has been included in a list (albeit debatable) of the 100 best hard rock songs by VH1. There are no small particular moments in this song; the entire song is unique, from the captivating opening riff, the fantastic chorus engaging every voice in the group, to Steve Clark's emblematic heavy solo, supported by a decent performance from Phil Collen. You then move on with a very rock n roll track, titled Stagefright (the initial phrase “I said Welcome to my show” is very striking, recorded live on purpose), arriving at one of the album's strongest pieces, Too Late For Love, and the most massive and complex track, Die Hard The Hunter. We have thus arrived at another of the three best songs on the record after Photograph, Foolin', slower than the latter but still energetic and strong. Completing the trilogy is Rock Of Ages, with its nonsensical German opening phrase "Gunter glieben glauben globen" (the band explained that the idea for this phrase was suggested as a joke by Mutt Lange, to replace the original opening "One, two, three, four"). Who would have thought that a certain Chris D'Arienzo would later decide to use this song's name to create a musical entirely dedicated to the '80s glam metal scene? Too bad the song itself is not included. To close the album, there are three more tracks: two of them are perhaps the slightly less successful ones on the entire album, Comin’ Under Fire and Action Not Words, but to console the listener, they immediately get back on track with the remaining track Billy's Got a Gun, the second in complexity after Die Hard The Hunter. The album ends here, though a bit short for my taste, but it has completely satisfied me. Moreover, I wanted to wait until the end to tell you without repeating myself too much: among the many strengths present in the album, what immediately stands out are the choruses, the beautiful choruses, present in every single song, which enhance them in a stunning way, and in live performances manage to engage from the first to the last spectator, becoming even more beautiful, reaching epic levels (in the glory days, today they perform a bit less).

Unfortunately, they will never reach such high levels of hard rock again, as in December of the following year Rick Allen will have a car accident (due to a "fool") which will cause him to lose his left arm. Yet, the band didn't even dare to think of replacing Rick with another drummer. After a long recovery, he returned to the group with a stronger spirit than before, which, together with the great leopards, will give birth to what I personally consider the album that most perfectly marries two very opposing genres, ROCK and POP, in history.

To Be Continued......

SCORE = 100 / 100