Def Leppard returns to Rock Rock 'til you drop.
Def Lep has spent some time in the wilderness following 1992's Adrenalize, they've bounced around between experimentation and throwbacks yet nothing really clicked with listeners. In 2006 they found their footing with the covers album Yeah! by returning to their Sweet / T. Rex roots. The Lep handpicked material and stripped back their sound a touch to allow some crunch in their previously teflon coated production. On their new disc Songs From The Sparkle Lounge, Def Leppard continues on this path but with original songs this time out.
In a surprising move, the Leppard wrote separately instead of the usual write-by-committee they usually utilize. The result is an album that has a great sound as the Lep bang out the rockers and bring back the shred guitar solos but the songs seem a touch underwritten. Song titles like "Gotta Let it Go" or "Come Undone" seem pretty generic. At least there aren't any song titles with the words "Angel" or "Can't Stop" in it. Though it's not that big of a deal, I could never understand half the lyrics Joe Elliot sings anyway and just like the sound of his singing. Elliot comes from that sort of raspy sort of smooth school of singing perfected by Sammy Hagar.
The one song written as a group, the lead single "Nine Lives", sticks the most with its classic "Armageddon It" style groove and chorus. "Nine Lives" is a little odd in that it heavily advertises the presence of Country singer Tim McGraw but then gives him about six lines to sing and then that's it. Other highpoints include the classic Leppard style rawk of "Hallucinate" and the four on the floor hard edged "Bad Actress". "C'mon C'mon" effectively Sweet-ens the template made from "Rocket" into a bit of glam rock fun.
The rest of the album is uniformly strong in performance, guitarists Vivan Campbell and Phil Collen cut loose with squalling solos at several turns particularly on the opener "Go". Joe Elliots voice is a little weaker than his prime but he works up enough power to bring a convincing performance. Rick Allen (drums) and Rick Savage (bass) remain a solid rhythm section.
The lone disappointment on the album is the Beatlesque "Love" which sounds great but doesn't quite past muster in the chorus. In the middle of the album are some nods to modern rock including "Tomorrow" which borrows a melody from Bowling For Soup's hit "1985". That's the only weak spot of the album, there's nothing as hooky as "Photograph" or "Pour Some Sugar On Me." Then again, you can strike gold only so many times. Def Leppard definitely shines on Songs From The Sparkle Lounge and have retained the pure rock fire gained from making Yeah! Songs is not a classic though it still answers that age old question: Do you wanna get Rocked?
Def Leppard featuring Tim McGraw "Nine Lives"
4 comments:
Love Def Leppard. They were so great in their heyday. I even thought they did a hell of job on that remake song... you know which one I mean... "Rock On", is it called? I always loved the original version, and when I heard Def Lep do it, I was amazed at how true to the original they stayed and what a good job they did on it.
To me, Def Leppard always delivers the goods even in their more experimental moments. They've only released two albums that really disappointed me and one was the debut record, which is OK because before 1984 most debuts were weaker because record companies used to develop career artists. They did do a good job with "Rock On", that whole Yeah! disc was pretty good. I saw them live in both the 80's and 00's, they've held up well.
I admit I haven't heard another Def Leppard album for fear they changed their style. I adored them in the 1980's especially since at the time synth rock was basically it. I needed a bit of metal to my diet and they fit quite nicely (much to the shagrin of my parents LOL).
Def Leppard did change their style pretty often after the 80's except for the Euphoria album in 1999, that was done in the classic Leppard style.
Great pick for a metal band to listen to in the 80's!
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