I'm not advocating for piracy or posting any links here BUT the album leaked and its....wild. Skipping around it's very much a mix of genres. Country ballads, LOTS of string arrangements. Closest album I'd compare it to is X in that they're not trying to damn hard to sound like themselves. There are quite a few tracks that do but it's bringing out the songwriter element of the band on some of these tracks.

I think at 15 tracks I'll eventually realize there's a lot of fat that should have been cut but I'm really digging it, it's taking some ballsy changes.

DeF LEppARd
 

I listened to it today on YouTube. My favourites so far are “Take What You Want”, “SOS Emergency” and “U Rok Mi”. I know what you mean, there are some very interesting directions taken with many of the songs. Very nuancy and unpredictable at times as well. It’s probably not as experimental as Slang or X but is really sounds like a band who are just having fun and letting creativity flow this time. I liked my first listen very much but, like with the previous say 3 albums, it kinda looses its spark during the last 3rd. “Open Your Eyes” for example, I just found boring. There are a few ballads on there that don’t really do much for me but in my opinion, the last album to have any decent ballads was Euphoria.

Joe’s vocals are very on point here (he’s 62) and there are times where he really soars that it just hits me! They’re quite weak on the high notes for “Take What You Want” however. The trademark backing vocals are still as great as they ever were as well. The guitar solos, whilst very good, I don’t think are particularly stand-out and comparable to what we’ve heard on the previous 2 albums.

The whole album just sounds really “alive” and even though it’s very early at this stage, I’d say it’s a better effort than Def Leppard (2015 self-titled) and probably their best effort of all the albums they’ve put out within the last 20 years. In case people weren’t aware, the band wrote and recorded the album remotely during the pandemic and enjoyed it so much that they probably won’t make an album “the usual way” ever again. If future albums are anything like this I’m happy with that.

Since it's been on TV I'll post it:
Couldn't help, but think if Jon could still sound this good.

I gave it a few listens and it's a grower, However it needs to grow a lot, I still don't recognize many songs.
My instant favourite is Kick - it's fcukin' damn catchy! It has a Leppard sound but not a copycat of any of the previous songs plus it shows their love of the 1970s.

Take What You Want is one I'll end up liking but I don't like how it's trying hard to have the same elements as Rock Rock Til You Drop. I love that Viv and Phil both play the solo. And kudos to Joe for providing such live vocals.

Those that stuck and I remember their titles are SOS Emergency a U Rok Mi and then I love the last one or the one before that :)

On the other hand, the duet is terrible :(

Spot on summery. It really does remind me of X and it's probably their most diverse record. I love This Guitar. It's getting a mixed reaction from the fan base, but I think it has the potential to be a big song for them. It's just a little too early in the running order in my opinion. A lot of Phil's stuff is just usually too predictable, This Guitar being the exception. I do enjoy Kick too. Joe is a really underrated song writer, he just doesn't get to show it often in Leppard.

It's a strong record, but it's too long. Cut 3 of the weaker tracks and you have 12 tracks that makes their strongest record in a long time

After quite a few listens, this album needs some pruning. I was saying last night that I skip SOS Emergency because it's TOO Def Leppard. It reminds me a lot of Dangerous and I skip that for the same reason.

My biggest gripe is Phil's guitar playing. Predictable is the right word for his solo style. Stylistically he brought some songs to this one I never thought I'd hear from the band.

What would everyone's ideal 12 track version be?

Yup - that one is definitely one that I'd skip too.

I think it's his chorus melodies for me. I can usually tell a mile off that it's Phil. Agree 100% on his guitar playing, same thing over and over. I find Viv a much more interesting player, by a long way.

It will probably change, but

Take What You Want
Kick
Fire It Up
Liquid Dust
This Guitar
All We Need
Open Your Eyes
Angels (Can't Help You Now)
Lifeless
Unbreakable
Goodbye for Good This Time
From Here to Eternity

Viv has no songwriting credits on this record in the other hand, Phil dominates. I'd love to hear more of Viv's solos and guitar work.

No writing credits but Viv does get quite a few solos on the record. The last 3 songs all have Viv solos, and well as various bits elsewhere, but I agree he is fairly held back in Leppard.

"SOS Emergency" is one of my favourites (As is "Dangerous" from the previous album) but yeah, it's by-the-numbers. I suppose you've got to have enough familiarity in there. The song actually reminds me of "Hallucinate" from Songs from the Sparkle Lounge father than an "old-school" Def Leppard song.

There's a few songs on this album that "borrow" ideas from previous songs from the last 10 years or so. "U Rok Mi" has those "Sha!" sounds which they used on "Undefeated" and "Liquid Dust" uses similar guitar pull-offs used on the last bridge on "Let's Go". Maybe some of these songs are more "refined" versions of previous songs?

Completely agree. which is probably why none of the solos really stood out for me. No real surprises or spontaneity there.

I'm not sure what my ideal tracklist would be but I'd definitely leave out some, if not all, of the ballads. I feel some of them sound rather dated and 2000's rock/country-radio-sounding. They started writing "This Guitar" I believe back to 2003 which they eventually finished for this album so that would explain that one.

On repeated listens I feel the album is very patchy and could do with more rockers on there, more in keeping with "Take What You Want".

All that being said, I applaud them for being more adventurous with this album and that we are still getting new music from them. I hope it's not another 7 years before the next one.