Altsounds - Def Leppard - Pyromania (Deluxe Edition) [Album]

In 1980, after a 5 week tour of the USA, I flew into Manchester airport, picked up my tent, sleeping bag and ticket and headed straight down to Reading for the Festival. There were a lot of bands on that year that I really wanted to See. Iron Maiden, Gillan, UFO, Whitesnake and many others. For those of you who weren't born, or old enough to remember here's a brief history lesson!

Whitesnake headlined the Sunday night, and were preceded by Def Leppard..... Unfortunately for the Leppard's, Ozzy Ozbourne had canceled his appearance at the festival, as if following Ozzy wouldn't be hard enough; it got worse. They had to follow Slade. This hailed the start of the 1980's Slade revival. In those days you were allowed, no, positively encouraged to take tins and bottles into the arena, you can guess what happened.

Now, Iron Maiden released their self titled debut album roughly the same time Def Leppard released their debut album "On Through The Night". The album's both got a lot of press attention and were well received generally but you either fell into the Maiden camp or the Leppard camp. Despite being a Yorkshire man, I turned my back on Def Leppard and planted both feet firmly in the Maiden camp where they remain to this day. I could go on, but, here endeth the lesson.

I haven't bothered to see Def Leppard since that memorable August Sunday night. I never bought any of their records, although I have heard plenty of them over the last 29 years. So now I have "Pyromania (Deluxe Edition)" which is a double CD set. The Original album is joined with "Live - LA forum 1983", a previously unreleased live album.

The Deluxe package comes in a gate fold CD sleeve, with a glossy book which documents some of the history of the band. Pyromania kicks off with "Rock! Rock! (Till You Drop). I guess that Mutt Lange, producer of this offering (as he had produced the second album "High And Dry") had decided that the band should take a more commercial approach to their music. To this end he gets a writing credit on each and every song. The whole album has been engineered for the American audience. There's nothing wrong with that though, right? Another snippet of useless information that the keyboard credit on the album for "Booker T Boffin" should actually be Synth-Pop star Thomas Dolby who begged Leppard not to tell anyone! Oh well, its over 25 years ago now so how much harm could it do to your career Thomas? "Rock! Rock!" is good time riff driven rock & roll. The striking thing on the production is that the drums have an electronic sound quality to them, a few years before necessity introduced them into Rick Allen's kit.

"Photograph" follows, this is possibly one of my favorite Leppard song's and it's very commercial, pop-metal. Another bouncy song. There is some great guitar work and the solo flows seamlessly. Joe Elliot's vocal style fits this tune like a glove.

The next track has added "Audience" noise although it's not a live recording. "Stagefright" is a novel approach to a studio recording, although I expect it was done before, and most certainly done since. I sometimes wonder why? Perhaps to fool the listener? The guitar solo starts off well enough but halfway through degenerates into a blur of notes, but recovers well in the end. Had I produced this one I might have had the backing vocals up a bit in the mix, but then who am I to tell Mr Lange how to do his job?

Helicopters, yes, Helicopters open "Die Hard The Hunter" At over six minutes long this is the longest track on the CD. The opening is very atmospheric, but, after a while though the song explodes, it's not lightening fast though. Going for power over speed, they accomplish this well, once again the drums nail the beat, and the (extended) guitar solos are well performed.

"Foolin'" is the power ballad on the album. It's nicely written and performed, but to my tastes slightly overproduced. That said, I can't help tapping my foot as I listen. The solo doesn't seem to fit as well as the others here, and I wonder if this has anything to do with Phil Collen replacing Pete Willis during the making of this album?

A cowbell intro signals the beginning of "Rock Of Ages". Another good time rock & roll song. This really is the sort of stuff that makes you stamp your foot and drink your beer! At this point, I am seeing why this collection of songs could possibly be regarded by some as one of the seminal works from the Sheffield rockers. "Comin' Under Fire" does nothing to distill this view. Once again, we have a foot tapping beer-swilling song. The guitar solo has an uncharacteristic build up, and is short and sweet.

"Action Not Words" is more up tempo than the previous three or four tracks, I was expecting this to be perhaps the weakest song on the album, but it's not at all and again the foot's tapping, but, instead of beer-swilling, it's time to volunteer someone to go the bar for another round! Action, not words!

"Pyromania" is brought to a close with "Billy's Got A Gun". I keep thinking about Aerosmith's "Janie's Got A Gun" but apart from those three words there the similarity ends. I am not even going to compare the two, or suggest which song is better.

"Pyromania" is a good collection of songs, even though I was not a fan but, by the late 80's I was warming to the band. Of course, Def Leppard went on to greater things, but their success came at a price. Drummer Rick Allen lost an arm in a motor accident on New Year's Eve 1984 and Steve Clark's untimely death in 1991.

Onto the Live CD then and like the studio album this too opens with "Rock! Rock! (Till You Drop)". Well that's not quite true, the band's intro starts with Air-raid sirens, then it's into the first song. The crowd go wild, just before the song breaks into the main riff. The sound is quite different as you might expect from the polished studio recording. It's a lot faster, and, Joe Elliot's vocal's seem really raw. There is more incidental guitar solo'ing through the verses too. If the first song was at a gallop, then the second was equally brisk "Rock Brigade" which is from the pretty awful first album, only here it seems a half decent song. The guitar solo soars, and the drums canter along nicely.

"High And Dry (Saturday Night)" from the second album comes next, after a "Good Evening Los Angeles!" from Mr. Elliot. The song is performed at an equally brisk pace. The drum sound so far on the recording is good, and sounds like drums should do! No electronic wizardry here, well, maybe a bit, but nothing to detract from the acoustic sound of the kit.

The fourth track is "Another Hit And Run!” and there is no time to catch your breath between songs. It would seem that Def Leppard are keen to get as many songs in the time available as possible. This is high octane rock music after all. Even the slower mid section of this song seems hurried.

"Billy's Got A Gun"; again, significantly faster than the studio version. It's better for the tempo increasing and the backing vocals are clear and well up in the mix here. J oe seems to be struggling to get to some of the higher notes in this one. Steve Clark plays some acoustic guitar; "by popular request" we are told on "Foolin'". And, it's nicely done. The tempo has slowed considerably giving Def Leppard a chance to get their breath’s back maybe? But after the first verse the song takes off again....

During "Photograph", the intro sounds odd. It's a sort of challenge / response thing between Collen and Clark, but it doesn't work very well at all, it just seems confusing. Once we get the first chorus out of the way, everything settles down and the foot is starting up its tapping function again. The vocals are very raw, in a gravelly sort of way and in total contrast the backing vocals are silky smooth. The guitar solo is piercing but not in a bad way. I mean it really cuts through the rhythm section. After a slight pause there's a reprise of "Photograph" in the form of a solo and chorus. The solo doesn't quite cut through like the previous one, then into "Rock of Ages" after some non-sense from Elliot. If I had been at this gig I would be stamping my foot, drinking my beer and enjoying. The glass might be empty by the end of the song though! The vocals are delivered much quicker than the studio version, the actual tempo of the song is up a notch and the sound falls a bit flat through the guitar solo. There is another challenge/response section, but this time it’s between Elliot and the audience, which is all too brief. Anyway if my glass is empty, should I head off to the bar now?

Guitar Harmonies introduce "Bringin' On The Heartbreak". Not something you normally hear from Def Leppard. This atmospheric, almost moody song from "High and Dry" would stop you going for a refill at the bar. It's got a lovely melodic tempo, and the solo matches this. It makes me think I should get a copy of "High and Dry" to give it another listen, maybe borrow it from my local library first though, just to be on the safe side! If it's as good on the studio release as this live version then it might be worth buying as this rendition is very impressive. A thumping Bass intro into an instrumental "Switch 625" followed by "Let it go" further encouraged me to give the studio album I disliked so much for nearly 30 years ago another chance.

For the final track, Queen Guitarist Brian May joins the band on stage for a rendition of John Fogerty's, 1970, Credence Clearwater Rival song "Travellin' Band". Brian May is one of my all-time guitar legends and nobody has a sound like him. Only tonight he's left his trademark sound at home. There are some elements of it like the licks are vintage Brian May. The song in general is delivered well, both the band and Brian May remain tight throughout. More beer, more foot stomping especially when they play a few bars of Led Zeppelin's “Rock & Roll”. The show is over far too quickly as the air raid sirens signal the end.

Perhaps the fact that the live album set only included two tracks from "On Through The Night" might give the impression that the band felt the same way about the album as I did. However, "Pyromania" has shown me how far Def Leppard had come from their previous two releases. The fact that I largely ignored the original release is to my shame! The live album has made me want to revisit both the previous albums as well as familiarize myself with later releases. As for going to see them live, well that is another matter. They have progressed to fully fledged stadium rockers now, and with tickets £35+ a pop, they will remain low on my list of priorities but should they play a festival that I want to go to I will stand and watch them, and quite probably stamp my foot until it hurts, and get very, very drunk!