Def Leppard - Hysteria
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Free Music Notes for Hysteria
Free Music Review: Quintessential Eighties Rock that will Last
Hit: 5 Stars
A few weeks ago, scavenging through my somewhat extensive tape collection, dating back to the end of the ice age, Hysteria came into view, and so did my memories of the 1980's. Those of us reared on Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple during the wacky seventies, Def Leopard seemed to be the new force in "true" rock and roll for the old and new generation. Here was AC/DC with a Pop sound and songs you could bang your head to. Needless to say, I immediately jumped in my car and slotted the relic in the player. Wow, I thought, these songs still sound good, particularly, "Pour Some Sugar On It" and "Animal". Here was a great English band that, in my opinion, has withstood the test of time, as their music will continue to resonate when most of us are dead and forgotten.
Hysteria is considered by rock pundits and historians to be one of the top ten rock albums of the late twentieth century. The album's history and its development is a tragedy but a lesson on the strength of the human spirit.
As the story goes, drummer, Rick Allen, was involved in a near fatal car accident, alive but unfortunately lost his left arm. For anyone, particularly a drummer, this would be devastating. The band was about to start production on Hysteria, and actually had a few rough tunes put together, however, all work came to a standstill. The boy's got together and decided, out of respect for Rick, not to continue working on the album. Over a year after the near fatal accident, Rick taught himself to play the drums with one arm. Joe Elliot, lead singer, managed to get the famous Robert John "Mutt" Lange to produce the album. The band had previously had a successful tour in the U.S. with their previous album, which included one of their greatest songs, "Photograph", and was intent on surpassing that album.
Well, after two years of constant work, they succeeded. When the album was finally finished, the band decided to put out "Women" as a single. (It didn't do very well) They then put out "Animal" which skyrocketed up the American charts. The Hysteria tour across America and the world rank, in terms of success, with the Rolling Stones. These northern England working-class boy's had truly made it and had become a significant force in Rock and Roll history.
Many rock experts have said that Def Leopard, more than any other band, is the "icon" band of the 1980's. Listening to Hysteria again after many years, I would have to agree, because their music filled the airways during the decade of greed, sparking some great memories.
If you like great Rock and Roll, eighties style, buy this CD, you'll not be disappointed.
An easy five stars
Free Music Review: 17 Million copies and counting
Hit: 5 Stars
17 million people can't be wrong presumably. But they can give it a pretty good shake. And that is the real issue here. So because I'm a benevolent soul you guys are gonna get two, yep two reviews.
The first goes a bit like this;
After taking three years to get around to having this ablum done the band were really at risk of losing the momentum garnered through Pyromania. But they were ready and willing to take the risk. And the time spent in the studio can be felt in the arrangments, the choral effects, the technology of this album. Of course now it doesn't sound so amazing, but much of this was done before a lot of the computerised tricks of latter day productions even existed. The work that went into producing this hard rock monolith is pretty extraordinary.
And the huge hits are a testament to the experience of the band. Single after single flew up the charts in various territories and rewarded all those who worked on the project. The lushness of the production means that the chorus' sound huge while the verses, which are often carried by the rhythm section in an almost minimalist way, still sound full bodied.
And the track sequencing is pretty clever too, a judicious blend of rockers with bite, party rockin' tunes and ballads. Love and Affection may not work but other than that pretty much every track has something about it. And this means that this album is dragged upwards to be a classic hard rock album.
But then here is #2;
The descent into utterly technology dependant rubbish is here complete. This band, who started as NWOBHM rockers and who were heavily AC/DC influenced on their second album, have here descended into an impotent mess with all the human feel of a Dalek. The guitars are, well they are largely what Prodigy and NIN would call guitar textures and are barely recognisable as coming from the same band that released some of those earlier records. And nowhere on the album is there anything as psychologically thought out or ambitious as Die Hard the Hunter (nope, Gods of War don't come close). No storytelling, no poignancy and no real reason to exist and like circus balloons the whole thing is full of air - no substance at all, right down to the cover art which looks like the album sounds, technologically dependant. It actually looks like the promo for some dodgy sci-fi movie from around 1985.
So this album is either five stars or none, take your pick!
Free Music Review: Pop-metal at its best
Hit: 5 Stars
Def Leppard's Hysteria was their first album after the tragic car accident which left their drummer Rick Allen with one arm. Before this unfortunate incident, the band was riding high on the success of their first #1 album Pyromania which vaulted them to superstar status and made them the unquestioned kings of hard rock. But Def Leppard would not be denied. Using a custom made electronic kit, Rick Allen would continue to not only drum for the band but also become their inspiration. With producer Mutt Lange manning the boards, the band would alter their sound more towards a pop direction while still maintaining their metallic crunch. Lead singer Joe Elliott also toned down his vocals and began singing in a more intelligible and softer tone than his previous raspy voice ala Brian Johnson from AC/DC. As a result, the band did the near impossible. They released an album that would be even more successful than Pyromania spawning 6 huge hit singles. Also, worth noting is that this album helped revolutionize the music industry with both its glossy production and its album length at 63 minutes at a time when most albums were still around 45 minutes long. These aspects would lead to longer and more polished albums in general for most popular music.
The songs presented here are nearly all top notch and featured catchy hooks that were instantly recognizable and stayed in your head for years upon hearing them. The tracks "Pour Some Sugar On Me" and the ballads "Love Bites" and "Hysteria" are as good as it gets in pop-metal and still sound fresh. These tracks along with "Armageddon It", "Animal", and "Rockit" were all top 20 hits and all feature memorable riffs and catchy choruses. What really makes the album work though is that the remaining tracks are just as strong as the hit singles. Songs like "Don't Shoot Shotgun", the heavy rock of "Run Riot", and the catchy "Excitable" are all very strong tracks. In fact, the mid-tempo rock ballad "Love And Affection" could have given them yet another huge single if they chose to release it. "Gods Of War" is also a great track featuring several memorable riffs and never gets repetitive or boring despite its 6 1/2 minute length. The opening track "Women" is also very good although it's carried more by its stellar production than its content. All told, this is one of the best pop-metal albums ever released and along with Pyromania is their best work. Highly recommended.
Free Music Review: Leppard's Finest? Nope, but a very close second.
Hit: 5 Stars
Hysteria contained seven charting singles plus a defacto 8th hit in the B-side Tear it Down (fueled by their performance of it at the MTV music awards), amazing by any feat, putting Lep in category with only a handful of other artists. (Michael Jackson, Bruce Springsteen, Janet Jackson). The remaining 5 tracks on the album are all very good, with the exception of 'Excitable', the one weak link in the Hysteria machine. Any of the other remaining songs (Gods of War, Love and Affection, Don't Shoot Shotgun, Run Riot) could have easily been yet another chart climber during the 4 years that spanned Hysteria and their next release. So with all this consistency, why do I not rate Hysteria the best of Leppard's Best? For one thing, the songs, while all great, seem to have lost their 'bite' that Pyromania (The Best) had. This is due in part to Steve Clark's drinking problem, which hurt his guitar playing on the album so much Phil Collen had to take lead for a good 75% of the material.
It's also due in part to Rick Allen's mech-drum kit, which made every song go at a slower tempo than it could have been. Give the man props for drumming with one arm, but it really could have been a little faster. The only real fast-tempo rocker on the album is Run Riot, and even that seems a little too 'pop'.
Def Leppard always did their hard rockers better, Pyromania was a perfect blend of pop and rock, even 'Euphoria' has more of a rock edge than Hysteria. Hysteria leans a little too much towards singalong lyrics and loud drums than their patented guitar attck.
Finally, what really killed the album was the constant scrapping of material, and the use of three different producers. There's no telling how utterly amazing this album could have been had Def Lep stuck with Jim Steinman (of Meat Loaf's Bat out of Hell fame, 35 million copies sold, end of ad) as their producer.
As is, these are all flaws that I'm sure no one cares about. Hysteria sounds perfect while it's playing, and only in retrospect does one see that it's just not QUITE Leppard's finest work. It still is arguably the best pop-metal we're going to hear in our lifetimes.
Free Music Review: Probably the best rock album ever!
Hit: 5 Stars
Def Leppard's Hysteria is probably the best rock album ever. And there is a reason for that; each and every one of the songs is a possible hit (maybe with the exception of Excitable) and the production could not be better. Six of the seven released songs were chart bending hits. The songs hit home on the first listen and that is the point. The album opens with the moody classic 'Women' and then launches into the loud and bombastic, yet equally melodic, 'Rocket'. 'Animal' with its gloriously singalong chorus is followed by an incredibly touching and emotional ballad: 'Love Bites'. Def Leppard have never, and probably never will, write a ballad as timeless and mournful as 'Love Bites'.
Probably the biggest highlight of the album is the perfectly executed 'Pour Some Sugar On Me' which became an MTV favourite. The anthemic 'Pour Some Sugar On Me' is as loud and tongue-in-cheek as it gets. The lyrics are humorous and are delivered in an unparalled style by Joe Elliott ("You got the peaches, I got the cream" or "Do you take sugar? One lump or two?"). The loud drums, the throaty vocals on the verse and the musical interlude with its guitar solo all drip of pure sexiness.
The effervescent 'Armageddon It' never loses its sparkle. Neither does the energised 'Don't Shoot Shotgun'.' Run Riot' is just about the fastest rocker on the album and reminds us that Def Leppard are a metal band.
'Gods of War' is more a piece of music than a hit single. Although just as melodic and tuneful as anything else on the album, it really is a different kind of animal in comparison with the rest of the songs. The chorus is an absolute storm of vocal harmonies which could shake the very foundations of your house if played too loud! The title track is definately one of my favourites here. It's windswept verse and slightly anxious chorus make it incredibly compelling.
Overall, the album doesn't let the listener go for one minute. It certainly is a must have in any rock collection because the longer you wait before acquiring this album, the more time you are spending missing out the the great music that makes Hysteria.