Band:
Joe Elliott (Vocals)
Rick "Sav" Savage (Bass)
Rick Allen (Drums)
Phil Collen (Guitars)
Vivian Campbell (Guitars)
Discography:
On Through the Night (1980)
High 'n' Dry (1981)
Pyromania (1983)
Hysteria (1987)
Adrenalize (1992)
Retro Active (compilation 1993)
Slang (1996)
Euphoria (1999)
X (2002)
Yeah! (cover album 2006)
Songs from the Sparkle Lounge (2008)
Guests:
Piano/Backing Vocals on 'Kings Of The World' by Dick Decent
Info
Producer: Def Leppard / Ronan McHugh
Recording Location:
Live: Various venues worldwide during the“Sparkle Lounge” Tour 2008 & 2009
Studio Tracks: Recorded at Joe’s Garage, Dublin Ireland / Phil’s Sweat Shop & Rick’s Place, California, USA
Released 7/6-2011
Reviewed 19/6-2011
Links:
defleppard.com
myspace
youtube
frontiers
The best selling Def Leppard album has alone sold more than 20 million copies, where the US-market alone stand for more than 12 million copies (certifying the band for 12x platinum status). All in all, Def Leppard has sold over 65 million albums and is one of only five rock bands that have two albums that has sold more than 10 million copies separately in the USA (10 million copies is defined as the "diamond" certification which both 'Pyromania' and 'Hysteria' has been certified for). In a total of nine studio albums and one cover album Def Leppard has released 50 singles (an average of five singles per album). They've been number one at album charts in at least six different countries and reached at least gold status with eleven albums (also counting their three compilation albums). All in all, Def Leppard have a total of 70x platinum status in USA, United Kingdom, Canada and Australia alone (not counting the rest of the world) and been at the top ten 22 times in the charts of the same countries. Single-wise they been at top three 14 times and top thirty 76 times on the charts world wide (this figures comes from wikipedia and might not be complete). However, this is when I always say that none of this has any kind of meaning when it comes to a new album. But, in this case when we're talking about a live album it do have some significance to have 50 singles that's been at the top 30 charts 76 times. It actually have a huge significance.
As a band that statistically is much bigger than Judas priest, Motörhead and Yes, Def leppard hasn't really got the respect they deserve in Europe. I can't really say why but one reason might be their huge success in the US where they've lined up successful singles and reserved platinum awards. Now, I'm not saying they're badly respected in Europe, but compared to less successful bands and their acceptance, Def Leppard isn't really seen as great as they are. On this first ever live album by the band, they line up classic songs that most of us recognise and like. First up is the live classic, that's only been a single in Mexico so far, Rock Rock (Till You Drop) and following that is two of the biggest hits the band has done - Rocket and Animal (which both comes from their most successful album, Hysteria - along with five other singles). C'mon, C'mon takes over from there, which is one of the newest singles from this band and comes from the album 'Songs From the Sparkle Lounge' from 2008 (the album for witch they toured when they recorded the album), and this is a song that sounds excellent live! The top ten Irish charted single Make Love Like a Man from 'Adrenalize' is also a great live song and this is followed by Too Late For Love and Foolin' from 'Pyromania' (the second most successful album released by Def Leppard). After Foolin' we return to the newest album with the song Nine Lives before we round up the first disc with the super hit-single Love Bites (charted #1 on the Billboard hot 100 and Canadian single charts) and the hit single they covered from David Essex on 'Yeah!', Rock On.
The second disc begins with the hit single Two Steps Behind, a song that also featured in th movie Last Action Hero, and Bringin' On The Heartbreak, which later was covered by Mariah Carey and became somewhat more successful than the Def Leppard original, even though it got some new attention from this. Following this is one of the few songs on this live album that hasn't been a single anywhere, Switch 625 from the album 'High 'n' Dry' and then three more of the seven singles from 'Hysteria' - the title track and Armageddon it (tenth and third respectively on the Billboard hot 100) and Pour Some Sugar On Me with Photograph (from 'Pyromania') sandwiched between the second and the third. Another 'Pyromania' song follows these, called Rock Ages and this is the songs that first uttered the words "Gunter glieben glauchen globen" which probably are more recognised in the song Pretty Fly (For a White Guy) by The Offspring, who took the words straight off from Rock Ages. Next in line comes Let's Get Rocked (from 'Adrenalize'), which is one of the most successful singles by the band peaking at a second place on the UK single charts. All these hit singles that's been, the next one is probably the biggest of them all - the cover of Sweets Action that became a huge hit after Def Leppard had covered it in both its original and covered form. This is also the first of the two "on cores" in the live part, with Bad Actress (picked from the album 'Songs From The Sparkle Lounge') as the second one.
The album isn't over as Bad Actress ends the live section of the album, because there are three more songs rounding up the album, three new studio recorded songs called Undefeated, Kings Of The World and It's All About Believin'. My guess is that these songs will return on a new studio album that will be released sometime during the upcoming year. The first of these songs actually reminds me a lot of the new Journey album with the heavier and darker sound with a somewhat longer running time. The second of the three is a ballad that I believe have the hit-potential of something big, like perhaps making the deaf leopard to run freely with the cheetahs up front. The last of the three is a typical glammy Def Leppard rock song in the softer way.
The live part of the album sounds more or less like live music usually do. Pretty uninteresting, actually. But as a accustomed listener to rock music you ought to be familiar to the songs on this album and that normally makes it a better experience to everyone that isn't a super fan of the band. As I said earlier, this is their first live album and after 30 years as album releasing band I think it's legitimate for them to make one. I really must say it's admirable for a band not to release a single live album despite their success and record with 50 singles, nine studio albums, two special studio albums and three best-ofs. It's something different to the modern bands that release a live album every third or fourth album. Def Leppard seems to realise that live isn't the shit. Live is dull and boring and this live album, sadly, isn't an exception. However, I do think it's a good live album and absolutely worth checking out if you like good rock music and doesn't hate the concept of live.
The biggest disadvantage of the album is the length. Two discs stuffed with songs... that's never a good experience. However, in this case two discs are better than one because if they had only made one they would need to cramp in 30 years and 50 singles of history with well over 100 released songs on a single disc with maximum 80 minutes of space. That would call for a special thought in to picking songs. In the end this feels like a live album that's as close to a good live album as you can come. If you feel an urge to buy a live album this year, 'Mirrorball' seems to be one of the best tips I can give.
HHHHHHH
