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EP just heard Pyromania for the first time. I think he needs to give us a full album review.

 

Ladies and gentlemen, a "full album review."

 

Def Leppard is not the first band you're told made essential classic albums when you first get into music. People point you towards Zeppelin, Yes, Floyd, The Beatles, et cetera. Now I have a hunch that the reason for this is that period from around 67-75 is when the album as an artistic statement was really invented and codified (for popular music anyway, jazz had been doing this for years). Naturally if you want to know what a great album is, the historians will tend to point you towards the first examples since they held the most influence. Just like when you want to learn about classical architecture, you'll be pointed towards the ancient Greeks before the Romans, and both of them before ever touching the Renaissance. I understand why this is the trend, but I do think it leaves a lot of great and essential works undervalued by history. Pyromania is just that kind of work.

I've known the biggest singles from this record probably for half my life at this point. Photograph, Rock Of Ages, and Foolin' have been mainstays of the classic rock radio format since its inception, and I've enjoyed them since I first started paying attention to the radio in middle school. As familiar as I am with these songs, hearing them in the context of the record has brought out new subtleties and new enjoyment from the music, and that's always a sign of a great record. For example, I've always known the melodies and the choruses of these songs, but I've never paid much attention to Joe Elliot's voice or his lyrics. Far from a cheap histrionic hair metal screamer, Joe puts palpable emotion into each line, meaning every word he sings. And while the lyrics aren't Ian Anderson or Neil Peart, they have a lot of heart and introspection. I never knew Foolin' had a touch of paranoia, but there it is at the end, "I'm not foolin' myself!" And on the topic of vocals, Leppard's backup vocals and gang choruses are second to none in their scene, and better than most outside their scene as well. They give every song another instrument to work with, and work with it they do! Some of my favorite hooks across the record are from the backup vocals (from the aforementioned Foolin' "is anybody out there?"). These songs are from the "Carry On Wayward Son" school of writing hook-laden songs, there's rarely a dull moment. Many duel guitar wielding bands will ride a single riff into the ground (even great ones like Priest), but Leppard have a knack for cramming at least three or four great riffs into a single song, lending different sections of each song their own feel and creating a sense of tension and drama as the song progresses from bridge to chorus, from verse to pre-chorus, from pre-chorus to guitar solo, and so on. There's also plenty of great lead work (I'm assuming all from Steve Clark), just doing what guitar solos do best. You couldn't put a shredder in this band and still evoke that immortal rock and roll spirit that Steve just channels with ease. I can easily picture any of these songs on stage, with a sold out crowd of adoring fans, dazzling colored lights, massive sound, and the credits threatening to roll over my mental 80s movie at any moment. In fact movies are a great comparison for this record, it's cinematic in scope and sound. Songs like Too Late For Love and Stage Fright trigger my mind to take me where the music fits best. Whether that be a cold, rainy, empty street in an 80s flick, or the ridge of some stony mountain in a fantasy movie. It's not so much about what the lyrics are saying as what the music feels like. They seem to strike the perfect balance between everything on this record. It's rebellious and dangerous without ever sacrificing radio-viability or threatening anarchy. It's epic sounding and complex without ever pushing into progressive territory and turning away most of their audience. It's a feel good party record without being vapid or one-dimensional, yet its also an introspective headphones record without ever loosing its pulse. It's polished and well-produced but still feels like a live band that really plays off of each other. I have a lot of admiration for this record, and I also get a lot of enjoyment out of listening to it. Those two things don't always go hand in hand.

Some extraneous notes: Rick Allen catches my ear more often than I expected, and he may just be my favorite cowbell player. Joe Elliot pulls off a mean Brian Johnson impression on the opening cut, showing once again the unassuming versatility of his voice. I can hear someone chuckle at the start of Rock Of Ages after that iconic "globin gleebin" bit, and I think that little laugh shows how much the band really enjoy this material. Bands can make great music that they hate, but it's a pleasure to hear great music that the musicians had fun making.

 

My favorite songs: Too Late For Love, Foolin', Photograph, Billy's Got A Gun, Stage Fright, Rock Of Ages

My least favorite song: maybe Die Hard The Hunter, which I enjoy but isn't quite as exciting as the rest of the record.

 

Now I don't really rate albums, mostly because if I rate something an 8, then a few months later rate something a 7, then realize I actually like the second album more than the first, the whole scenario just winds up confusing me and I can never settle on what an album should be rated. I do however love ranking things and comparing them. As for Pyromania, I'm confident in ranking this above most other 80s rock heavyweights, including: Back In Black, Shout At The Devil, New Jersey, Reckless, Escape, Eliminator, Blizzard Of Oz, and possibly even 1984. That puts it in the league of juggernauts like Appetite For Destruction, Pump, Master Of Puppets, Screaming For Vengeance, and The Number Of The Beast.

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EP just heard Pyromania for the first time. I think he needs to give us a full album review.

 

Ladies and gentlemen, a "full album review."

 

Def Leppard is not the first band you're told made essential classic albums when you first get into music. People point you towards Zeppelin, Yes, Floyd, The Beatles, et cetera. Now I have a hunch that the reason for this is that period from around 67-75 is when the album as an artistic statement was really invented and codified (for popular music anyway, jazz had been doing this for years). Naturally if you want to know what a great album is, the historians will tend to point you towards the first examples since they held the most influence. Just like when you want to learn about classical architecture, you'll be pointed towards the ancient Greeks before the Romans, and both of them before ever touching the Renaissance. I understand why this is the trend, but I do think it leaves a lot of great and essential works undervalued by history. Pyromania is just that kind of work.

I've known the biggest singles from this record probably for half my life at this point. Photograph, Rock Of Ages, and Foolin' have been mainstays of the classic rock radio format since its inception, and I've enjoyed them since I first started paying attention to the radio in middle school. As familiar as I am with these songs, hearing them in the context of the record has brought out new subtleties and new enjoyment from the music, and that's always a sign of a great record. For example, I've always known the melodies and the choruses of these songs, but I've never paid much attention to Joe Elliot's voice or his lyrics. Far from a cheap histrionic hair metal screamer, Joe puts palpable emotion into each line, meaning every word he sings. And while the lyrics aren't Ian Anderson or Neil Peart, they have a lot of heart and introspection. I never knew Foolin' had a touch of paranoia, but there it is at the end, "I'm not foolin' myself!" And on the topic of vocals, Leppard's backup vocals and gang choruses are second to none in their scene, and better than most outside their scene as well. They give every song another instrument to work with, and work with it they do! Some of my favorite hooks across the record are from the backup vocals (from the aforementioned Foolin' "is anybody out there?"). These songs are from the "Carry On Wayward Son" school of writing hook-laden songs, there's rarely a dull moment. Many duel guitar wielding bands will ride a single riff into the ground (even great ones like Priest), but Leppard have a knack for cramming at least three or four great riffs into a single song, lending different sections of each song their own feel and creating a sense of tension and drama as the song progresses from bridge to chorus, from verse to pre-chorus, from pre-chorus to guitar solo, and so on. There's also plenty of great lead work (I'm assuming all from Steve Clark), just doing what guitar solos do best. You couldn't put a shredder in this band and still evoke that immortal rock and roll spirit that Steve just channels with ease. I can easily picture any of these songs on stage, with a sold out crowd of adoring fans, dazzling colored lights, massive sound, and the credits threatening to roll over my mental 80s movie at any moment. In fact movies are a great comparison for this record, it's cinematic in scope and sound. Songs like Too Late For Love and Stage Fright trigger my mind to take me where the music fits best. Whether that be a cold, rainy, empty street in an 80s flick, or the ridge of some stony mountain in a fantasy movie. It's not so much about what the lyrics are saying as what the music feels like. They seem to strike the perfect balance between everything on this record. It's rebellious and dangerous without ever sacrificing radio-viability or threatening anarchy. It's epic sounding and complex without ever pushing into progressive territory and turning away most of their audience. It's a feel good party record without being vapid or one-dimensional, yet its also an introspective headphones record without ever loosing its pulse. It's polished and well-produced but still feels like a live band that really plays off of each other. I have a lot of admiration for this record, and I also get a lot of enjoyment out of listening to it. Those two things don't always go hand in hand.

Some extraneous notes: Rick Allen catches my ear more often than I expected, and he may just be my favorite cowbell player. Joe Elliot pulls off a mean Brian Johnson impression on the opening cut, showing once again the unassuming versatility of his voice. I can hear someone chuckle at the start of Rock Of Ages after that iconic "globin gleebin" bit, and I think that little laugh shows how much the band really enjoy this material. Bands can make great music that they hate, but it's a pleasure to hear great music that the musicians had fun making.

 

My favorite songs: Too Late For Love, Foolin', Photograph, Billy's Got A Gun, Stage Fright, Rock Of Ages

My least favorite song: maybe Die Hard The Hunter, which I enjoy but isn't quite as exciting as the rest of the record.

 

Now I don't really rate albums, mostly because if I rate something an 8, then a few months later rate something a 7, then realize I actually like the second album more than the first, the whole scenario just winds up confusing me and I can never settle on what an album should be rated. I do however love ranking things and comparing them. As for Pyromania, I'm confident in ranking this above most other 80s rock heavyweights, including: Back In Black, Shout At The Devil, New Jersey, Reckless, Escape, Eliminator, Blizzard Of Oz, and possibly even 1984. That puts it in the league of juggernauts like Appetite For Destruction, Pump, Master Of Puppets, Screaming For Vengeance, and The Number Of The Beast.

 

Too bad you weren't around when these bands first came on the scene. You would've loved it

EP just heard Pyromania for the first time. I think he needs to give us a full album review.

I was just looking for a place to ask him when his review was going to be posted when i saw this.

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As for Pyromania, I'm confident in ranking this above most other 80s rock heavyweights, including: Back In Black, Shout At The Devil, New Jersey, Reckless, Escape, Eliminator, Blizzard Of Oz, and possibly even 1984. That puts it in the league of juggernauts like Appetite For Destruction, Pump, Master Of Puppets, Screaming For Vengeance, and The Number Of The Beast.

 

EP, I agree whole-heartedly. Pyromania is a top 5 album of all time for me.

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I would give even more credit, where credit is due to "Def Leppard". On what they've done, and been through, they do deserve more recognition, and be recognized. They haven't ever been like "Bon Jovi", too.
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Funny! I am cranking "Adrenalize" right now. "Pyromania" is up next!!

 

That beautiful box set of the early albums with the bonus live stuff is INCREDIBLE.

 

"On Through The Night" and "High N Dry" and brilliant masterpieces!!

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Yesterday was Joe’s birthday.

He's a good man. I don't care what he's done to whom; he saved a life.

 

What are you talking about?

He could have told Rick Allen to go pound sand, but he didn't. He gave him a reason to keep going on.

 

How would you have felt if you had been the drummer in a rock band that had finally made it big and then lost your arm - which meant your livelihood - in an auto accident?

 

Most people today would have used it as an excuse to drug themselves to death.

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Yesterday was Joe’s birthday.

He's a good man. I don't care what he's done to whom; he saved a life.

 

What are you talking about?

He could have told Rick Allen to go pound sand, but he didn't. He gave him a reason to keep going on.

 

How would you have felt if you had been the drummer in a rock band that had finally made it big and then lost your arm - which meant your livelihood - in an auto accident?

 

Most people today would have used it as an excuse to drug themselves to death.

 

Oh ok.

 

Saying he saved a life was a strange way of wording that since it was a band decision to keep Rick. I thought you were talking about something completely different.

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Yesterday was Joe’s birthday.

He's a good man. I don't care what he's done to whom; he saved a life.

 

What are you talking about?

He could have told Rick Allen to go pound sand, but he didn't. He gave him a reason to keep going on.

 

How would you have felt if you had been the drummer in a rock band that had finally made it big and then lost your arm - which meant your livelihood - in an auto accident?

 

Most people today would have used it as an excuse to drug themselves to death.

 

Oh ok.

 

Saying he saved a life was a strange way of wording that since it was a band decision to keep Rick. I thought you were talking about something completely different.

But he did save Rick's life. He gave Rick a reason to go on.

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Yesterday was Joe’s birthday.

He's a good man. I don't care what he's done to whom; he saved a life.

 

What are you talking about?

He could have told Rick Allen to go pound sand, but he didn't. He gave him a reason to keep going on.

 

How would you have felt if you had been the drummer in a rock band that had finally made it big and then lost your arm - which meant your livelihood - in an auto accident?

 

Most people today would have used it as an excuse to drug themselves to death.

 

Oh ok.

 

Saying he saved a life was a strange way of wording that since it was a band decision to keep Rick. I thought you were talking about something completely different.

But he did save Rick's life. He gave Rick a reason to go on.

 

True.

 

I just never thought about it in that way at all.

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