[Dave 1986]

They are a very close runner-up favourite to Bon Jovi for me. I listen to them alot and they are the most underrated band ever!

I remeber seeing them for the first time on TOTP on TV back in 1992 when I was much younger, singing Let's Get Rocked. (I don't care, that is a great song! )

I own most of their albums and my favourite I have to say is Slang, and I own both DVD's which rock even though the video quality wasn't brilliantly mastered for the DVD and it was great to see the promo's for the Slang and Euphoria albums on the extras!

I am definately seeing them on their next tour whenever that is.

[Iceman]

Originally Posted by Flash77

I own every Lep cd.

Same here. My faves are Hysteria, Euphoria and Pyromania. I like a lot of Slang too, and High&Dry is great.

Play an entire side of a cd in order. My vote would be side one of "These Days".

I didn't know CDs had sides?

Ice

[*ºÇåptäîn¤Çrä§hº*]

Originally Posted by Iceman

I didn't know CDs had sides?

Well, they have. The music is only on one side though. :P

[Bleeding Purist]

Considering the Def Leppard related threads under the General Discussion forum....it's already known I'm a Def Leppard fan.

Like Bon Jovi, Def Leppard was a band the fans could experience watching and listening to grow artistically while overcoming many obstacles. They kept the progression going from the very beginning all the way up to Hysteria. Unfortunately, they released that steaming pile called "Adrenalize" that set them back immensely. That album nearly cost them a fan in me until they released Slang and put it all back on track.

Slang really isn't as experimental for the band as some might think, no more so than Pyromania and Hysteria.....all were very much Def Leppard....the band that set trends with new styles and sound. It's in fact an honest, natural progression for the band that should have occured following Hysteria. The band had always been trend setters. It's difficult to recognize the brilliance of Pyromania and Hysteria respectively when viewed from the current vantage point when there have been so many poor copies that degenerated the value of what the Leps achieved. You have to remember they and the albums were cutting edge. There was nothing like Hysteria when it was released. This was Def Leppard's calling card.

But then they released the mistake of their lives with Adrenalize. The album was a poor sequel to Hysteria......instead of going on to the next level...they stayed the same. Only this time...the music and the image became more of a parody of themselves. That permanently skewed the perception of many fans and the world towards the band. Because they were enjoying the public spotlight still due to their previous achievements....the album still sold well...the songs were fairly popular...all within a climate where bands like Metallica and Nirvana were rising up and Ozzy (arguably one of the band's peers) was enjoying his biggest solo success. That made Def Leppard the Clown at the funeral...and that was not a good thing at all. It made Def Leppard a damnable name to mention among rock fans when the dust settled...a name to be laughed at that invoked images of big hair and songs about telling daddy off. That was not Def Leppard.

So they finally got back on track being trend setters and pushing forward with Slang...unfortunately.....no one cared anymore because they had wasted their spot light time.

For the most part I've been happy with their work post 1995. Euphoria, though it does back track, modernizes their 80s sound with the adult Leppard mentality making it respectable enough.

X, unfortunately, is hurt by their attempts to be current, a futile pursuit at this point in their career. I'm happiest with the band when they set trends...they were following trends to an extent with this album. "Let Me Be the One?" "Girl Like You?" Oh Gag. The song titles alone are very Un-Def Leppard-like. The lyrics on many of the songs that might otherwise be winners, kill the tunes.....Torn To Shreds is a prime example. It's going great all the way up to the opening verse.."I don't wanna fall in love..." Hit the "next" button. I'm hoping the next studio outing will find them simply concentrating on making the best possible album they can find within themselves. That album should reflect the adult artists they are....X comes off as an attempt to sound young. It's ok to do an album about love....but do one from an adult perspective....X comes off like a teen romance novel.

[Dave 1986]

I really like X and thought it was a nice little move. Joe and Phil said in an interview in 2002 that when recording X they simply went in to the studio with an open mind and not sticking to a particular medium of song writing or genre even, and didnt really care weather it sounded like Def Leppard but more so that they were good songs.

One thing I dislike the album for is that it is too bogged down with ballads and only mid-tempo rock songs.

They should have included songs like Gimmie a Job and 10 X Bigger Than Love (which were b-sides) instead of songs like Let Me Be The One and Love Don't Lie.

Overall I did/do like the albumbut yeah, the next album should be a little more creative and yet still stay true to the sound of the band.

[grant]

I love Def leppard !
They had excellent albums Hysteria and Pyromania.
They were the greatest 80s band ever!
Their albums were overall had better songs on them than BJ if we're talking about all 12 songs.
They were great!!