That's kind of what worries me. I much prefer the sound of non-electronic drums and get worried it's a session guy.

The way Leps have recorded since Hysteria (apart from Slang) is that the drums are programmed and Rick only plays the cymbals live. It was even shown on some home video, like Visualize or something. It's no secret, although I'm not sure if they still do it.

To be frank, none of you (or me for that matter) could tell the difference between real and sampled drums anymore, it's not been possible in years. The only way to tell is if the time is too perfect, but even that can be faked.

Ice

I'm not a Leppard fan, but I've heard that the last decade Rick has made his drum kit more acoustic again, so I think he's playing everything again with his feet.

Sure seemed that way the last time I saw them.

Yeah. I'm referring to the songs on Slang and a few here and there that aren't his usual kit. I'm not asking for a full acoustic set, just something a little more realistic. I loved the songs on Euphoria but the production on the drums drove me up the wall.

I love Def Lep, but the only reason people see them are to listen to their old sound - The Hysteria, Adrenalize, Pyromania sound. When they tour they only play the hits (even though albums like Euphoria had perfectly good material). When they tried to expand musically (Slang) then they were met with less success that they had before and never really recovered.

Like Jovi, Leps post 2000 stuff has been mediocre with a few good exceptions. X (2002) was an album that is reminiscent of some of Jovi's efforts from around the same time (Bounce/HAND). Theres a middle of the road, cliched lyrics, wall of guitars, slightly overpolished sound that both of the aging pop metal bands adopted.

Live he's been playing everything apart from a few loops (like Rocket), but it's not "acoustic", it can't be since he's triggering the sounds with his feet.

I was referring to recordings.


Ice

Jon and Def Leppard on stage together 1992

Now that we are discussing drumming, I´m going to bring this up: Can you or someone else confirm if the drums on BJ´s This Is Love This Is Life are actually real or fake? I mean, there are hardly no fills at all and the overall feel on the track is a bit machine-like. It makes me wonder if Shanks has gone a bit too far this time.

Sorry to change the subject, though.

Ditto to No Apologies. Both sound so plastic.

And I've said this before but I wouldn't pin it on Shanks completely. The band can veto anything they don't like. Granted you'd think the machine was there due to the speedy length of time they record songs now.