Pyromania is the only good reason to love Def Leppard. Maybe High 'n' Dry. I can see the kitsch/horror appeal of Hysteria (and the appeal is VAST, don't get me wrong), but I'm perfectly happy to let other people enjoy those terrible laffs.
Plus the associations are bad. When people who annoy me sober get drunk, they seem to LOVE THE SHIT out of Hysteria. Bro slapping, titty-shaking purgatory. Makes it hard to join the hug circle.
― Adam Beales (Pye Poudre), Monday, 15 January 2007 18:11 (seventeen years ago) link
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 15 January 2007 18:12 (seventeen years ago) link
― mister the guanoman (mister the guanoman), Monday, 15 January 2007 18:17 (seventeen years ago) link
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 15 January 2007 18:18 (seventeen years ago) link
rock of ages, photograph, foolin', too late for love, etc etc
― M@tt He1geson (Matt Helgeson), Monday, 15 January 2007 18:26 (seventeen years ago) link
― M@tt He1geson (Matt Helgeson), Monday, 15 January 2007 18:27 (seventeen years ago) link
― M. Agony Von Bontee (M. Agony Von Bontee), Monday, 15 January 2007 19:08 (seventeen years ago) link
Specifically addressing that, David Fricke's liner notes for the reissue indicate that nearly all the songs were not only written well in advance of the final recording but had been gone through live in studio at least a few times. (I have to say I actually think he did a great job on these liner notes in particular -- it's the best accounting of the album I've read yet.)
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 15 January 2007 19:16 (seventeen years ago) link
GOT THE REISSUE HOLY SHIT
― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Friday, 1 February 2008 01:19 (sixteen years ago) link
Considering that myself. But the original sounded pretty good (was a digital recording after all) and they should have reissued "Pyromania" at first.
― Geir Hongro, Friday, 1 February 2008 08:57 (sixteen years ago) link
I heard...or, rather, saw the video, for "Animal" recently, and it completely cemented my argument. Hysteria is poop (and no amount of re-mastering/re-tweaking will save it).
― Alex in NYC, Friday, 1 February 2008 13:22 (sixteen years ago) link
"Animal" is nowhere near the best song on Hysteria, you madman.
― HI DERE, Friday, 1 February 2008 15:17 (sixteen years ago) link
It's my favorite, but "Gods of War" (which, holy christ, after the remix sounds like Front 242) and "Rocket" nip at its heels.
― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Friday, 1 February 2008 15:21 (sixteen years ago) link
That's akin to saying that it's not the stinkiest turd in the septic tank. POOP IS POOP.
― Alex in NYC, Friday, 1 February 2008 16:57 (sixteen years ago) link
No it isn't!
― HI DERE, Friday, 1 February 2008 16:58 (sixteen years ago) link
Yes it is!
― Alex in NYC, Friday, 1 February 2008 17:00 (sixteen years ago) link
http://www1.istockphoto.com/file_thumbview_approve/1721346/2/istockphoto_1721346_kids_fighting.jpg
― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Friday, 1 February 2008 17:02 (sixteen years ago) link
REVIVE:
Vindifuckincation: In John Sellers' new memoir, Perfect From Now On: How Indie Rock Saved My Life, the scribe says....
I'd deemed Hysteria the most disappointing album of all time, and it still might be: next to Pyromania it is an overproduced, castrated, one-armed bore.
Fuckin' AMEN!
― Alex in NYC, Saturday, 22 March 2008 18:15 (sixteen years ago) link
The songs are strong, but it's all too glossy and sterile-sounding. It's too bad, because Def Leppard had a really good sense of melody among the hair-metal bands.
― Daniel, Esq., Saturday, 22 March 2008 18:51 (sixteen years ago) link
"C'mon, Steve!"
― Terrible Cold, Saturday, 22 March 2008 20:41 (sixteen years ago) link
martin popoff famously rated this 0 out of 10 in his much esteemed guide to heavy metal!!!
― Charlie Howard, Monday, 24 March 2008 07:24 (sixteen years ago) link
Who the fuck is John Sellers?
― kingkongvsgodzilla, Tuesday, 25 March 2008 02:07 (sixteen years ago) link
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/7/74/JohnSellers-1961SICover.jpg/445px-JohnSellers-1961SICover.jpg Gunter glieben glauchen globen!
― kingkongvsgodzilla, Tuesday, 25 March 2008 02:08 (sixteen years ago) link
I watched the Hysteria episode of Classic Albums last night and I've got even more respect for it now. The detail with which this thing was crafted is mindboggling. I never knew the cut up backwards vocal bits in "Rocket" were actually the choruses of "Gods of War" and "Love Bites".
― Johnny Fever, Monday, 21 May 2012 15:27 (twelve years ago) link
Yeah, I need to watch that -- only just learned the whole series was on Netflix Instant, friend Stripey said it was a stellar episode.
― Ned Raggett, Monday, 21 May 2012 15:29 (twelve years ago) link
There's a bit where Phil is talking about how Mutt brought the song "Love Bites" to the band as a country ballad he'd written, and proceeds to demonstrate the opening verse in that style. IT ALL CLICKS NOW. It really is a country song run through the Def Leppard machine.
― Johnny Fever, Monday, 21 May 2012 15:40 (twelve years ago) link
yeah I really love that Classic Albums ep. the Love Bits cutups were a nice surprise.
― Peppermint Patty Hearst (VegemiteGrrl), Monday, 21 May 2012 17:45 (twelve years ago) link
BITES ragh
Happy 25th birthday! Released August 3, 1987.
Adrien wrote a great piece about it today:
http://social.entertainment.msn.com/music/blogs/headbang-blogpost.aspx?post=b9f0d5a5-25ec-4d1f-b9bc-c6e30e0ed424
― EZ Snappin, Friday, 3 August 2012 16:38 (eleven years ago) link
Though it's not my favorite Def Leppard album, goddamn it's a a beauty.
There's not a bad song on it! Well, I mean 'Don't shoot shotgun' is kinda *shrug* but it's not horrible and all things considered it doesn't interrrupt the flow of the album at all. You can listen to this whole thing and rock out the whole time.
bless their poppy little hearts
― set the controls for the heart of the sun (VegemiteGrrl), Friday, 3 August 2012 16:45 (eleven years ago) link
I loved it at the time, but now I have to mentally separate it from what came before in order to appreciate it. I love, love, love High 'N' Dry (the best 80s AC/DC album they never made), and this has nothing from that band - even the singer has lost some power in the intervening years. As its own thing, however, it's a monumental beast.
― EZ Snappin, Friday, 3 August 2012 16:51 (eleven years ago) link
Eh, even as a kid this one disappointed me. It's not all band, but it's SUCH a letdown after what came before.
"Pour Some Sugar On Me" has a great chorus. That's about all I can really say for it. They only got wimpier and more out of touch from here.
― Nate Carson, Friday, 3 August 2012 16:55 (eleven years ago) link
I read that the clean chords in "Hysteria" were recorded one note at a time, just layered brick by brick. What insane attention to detail on this album.
― A. Begrand, Friday, 3 August 2012 16:59 (eleven years ago) link
Probably mentioned already on this thread but well worth the viewing:
http://www.amazon.com/Classic-Albums-Def-Leppard-Hysteria/dp/B0000649L7
― Ned Raggett, Friday, 3 August 2012 17:02 (eleven years ago) link
^^^ still my favorite episode
― set the controls for the heart of the sun (VegemiteGrrl), Friday, 3 August 2012 17:21 (eleven years ago) link
EZ otm - High N Dry is badass, Pyromania is killer too...Hysteria's nothing really close to those, but yeah, as its own album it's pretty great.
― set the controls for the heart of the sun (VegemiteGrrl), Friday, 3 August 2012 17:22 (eleven years ago) link
It's funny - I"m listening to "Don't Shoot Shotgun" at the moment and there are enough different sections, hooks and sounds to build a competent pop/rock album from it's disparate parts. And that's one of the songs most people consider filler! Truly is a crazy amount of work and detail in every song.
― EZ Snappin, Friday, 3 August 2012 17:29 (eleven years ago) link
I lack the imagination to imagine a world without "Animal" in it.
― a regina spektor is haunting europe (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 3 August 2012 17:33 (eleven years ago) link
That Classic Albums documentary of Hysteria might just be my favourite Classic Albums documentary of them all; the amount of effort put into the making of that album was beyond incredible, not to mention they come across as incredibly down-to-earth during the interviews.
― The Jupiter 8 (Turrican), Friday, 3 August 2012 20:06 (eleven years ago) link
i don't get the complaints about 'hysteria', it's a masterpiece. it made everything after look worse than it already was. though i mean adrenalize looked bad in any context i guess.
― omar little, Friday, 3 August 2012 20:10 (eleven years ago) link
Oh god, Adrenalize is a terrible album. In my humble opinion, anyway!
― The Jupiter 8 (Turrican), Friday, 3 August 2012 20:12 (eleven years ago) link
adrenalize was probably the most disappointing album of my youth, it's like the ghostbusters 2 of pop metal.
― omar little, Friday, 3 August 2012 20:19 (eleven years ago) link
adrenalize is worse than terrible. AWFUL
― set the controls for the heart of the sun (VegemiteGrrl), Friday, 3 August 2012 20:19 (eleven years ago) link
adrenalize was probably the most disappointing album of my youth, it's like the ghostbusters 2 of pop metal. --omar little
booming post
― MUBU gai pan (Whiney G. Weingarten), Saturday, 4 August 2012 04:01 (eleven years ago) link
adrenalize was probably the most disappointing album of my youth
appreciate this but wd remind the jury this is a board where people rep for the Smiths
― Shrimpface Killah (Noodle Vague), Saturday, 4 August 2012 04:08 (eleven years ago) link
There are some songs I like on Adrenalize, but I'm willing to admit they sound like Hysteria rejects.
― Johnny Fever, Saturday, 4 August 2012 04:20 (eleven years ago) link
MOW THE LAWN!WALK THE DOG!TAKE OUT THE TRASH!
― set the controls for the heart of the sun (VegemiteGrrl), Saturday, 4 August 2012 04:30 (eleven years ago) link
Not that one! That song is criminally bad. (And its video is even worse.)
― Johnny Fever, Saturday, 4 August 2012 04:30 (eleven years ago) link
It strikes me as weird that this multi-platinum album that was almost inescapable in pop culture for over a calendar year now has sort of a cult following.
― Johnny Fever, Saturday, 4 August 2012 04:33 (eleven years ago) link