Def Leppard has been one of the best hard rock bands. They stole the heart of the fans with their 1983 album “Pyromania”. The band’s 3rd record saw them mix their fiery heavy metal roots with radio-friendly, stadium-ready songwriting that would go on to shape ’80s glam. “Pyromania” alienated some fans who missed the edgier side of the band, but it became a massive success worldwide, earning a Diamond certification by the RIAA.
Joe Elliot reveals visiting gay club with Mick Jagger
One of the most traumatic incidents for the band had come to light and it was the accident of drummer Rick Allen, which cost him his left arm. The musician re-learned how to play one-handed and work on what would become “Hysteria” continued.
When it finally came out in 1987, the record was the culmination of Del Leppard’s new pop-friendly sound, cementing their commercial appeal through the force of hits like “Pour Some Sugar On Me” and “Animal”.
In an interview with Consequence, frontman Joe Elliott looks back on the writing sessions for the album, which took place across the Netherlands, Ireland, and France:
“We were stuck in Holland. While all the other bands that people often compare us to were kicking off in the States doing the Sunset Boulevard thing, we were living next to a windmill in Holland, making this album! Isolated.”
“It was a four studio complex, and Mick Jagger came in, and he brought Jeff Beck along with him. He took us all out to a nightclub, and it just happened to be a gay nightclub that played loads of disco. That inspired us to write ‘Excitable’, and it all came about from the little bit of networking that we did.”
“But the rest of it, you’re just listening to the music that’s happening at the time. When we first got together in 1984 in Dublin to start recording, Frankie Goes to Hollywood were just kicking off, and the sonic sound that they achieved with producer Trevor Horn’s sounds … we would sit there listening to this, and even Mutt [Robert Lange, producer] would be going, ‘Wow. This is something else’.”
Guitarist Phil Collen had chimed in, with his own feelings towards what became the band’s defining record:
“It’s the most successful album of our career, obviously. Our biggest seller. And I think artistically, it cemented something. You heard so many other bands and artists copy that kind of sound – and inspire other people, as well. We get that. And we wanted to make something very different when we were doing it.”
