Am I the only one that feels this way about Def Leppard?

As always, when it comes to musical opinions this is pretty much the best place on the web to share.

I loooove DL's first 3 albums. Especially their first, might be my favorite. It's just so raw and powerful!

Then I listen to Hysteria, and wow... They certainly made a whoooole bunch of new fans with that album, but they lost plenty of fans of the first 3 albums. I'm one of those they lost. Sorry to be a little blunt here but boy, they absolutely lost their bullocks with that record. It's softer than... freaking Charmin! Lol but that's just me. What do you guys think of Def Leppard, do you like their first three albums where they played heavy or their commercial efforts like Hysteria or Adrenalize?

 

High n dry is a jamming l.p...

 

I'm with you, bro. First 2 are just. Plain. Awesome. They started to lose it on Pyromania, IMO. (Photograph? Please ... But I do really like Rock! Rock! (Till You Drop), Foolin', and some others.)

And then they jumped the shark, and became a bubble gum pop rock band.

I remember the press saying after their 1st record, that they were the next Led Zeppelin. What happened ...

 

Glad to see I'm not the only one I really do like Pyro though. Photograph is alright, still much better than anything on Hysteria IMO. Die Hard the Hunter is an excellent track, as is Stagefright.

 

Saw them on Pyromania tour (opening for Billy Squire) right when "Photograph" and "Rock of Ages" were lighting up MTV. They killed it live. High and Dry is their high water mark IMO.

They totally lost me with Hysteria. Tracks like "Pour Some Sugar On Me" and "Hysteria" were for the ladies and said nothing to me about my life.

I was on to Metallica and Danzig by then. Still, "Animal" has some great hooks.

 

Gods Of War is an absolutely stunning track, as is White Lightning. Some truly high class guitar work.

 

Their songwriting just went downhill. They had some excellent lyrics going back to "When the Walls Came Tumbling Down", "Overture" and "Answer to the Master".

 

I got on board with the very first album ("Rock Brigade" rules!) and of course love the first three. That in no way diminishes my appreciation of Hysteria as well. Of course it's a different tempo, but it's chock full of great songs and is great driving music.

After Hysteria is where my interest wanes.

 

Wow. I swear that I was going to start a thread like this today. I played the Hysteria lp, and watched some of the new live BD.
Hysteria has a few moments. I really like Animal, Armageddon It, Run Riot, and Love and Affection. But lord, their first 3 lps are worlds better. I was literally thinking this evening that they are probably the most disappointing bands that I've liked through my life. I was 8 and OBSESSED when Pyromania came out. OTTN is a good debut, but High N Dry is phenomenal. I'll always have a huge part of my soul that loves Pyromania.
Afterwards it was pure schlock. Unapologetic schlock, too. That makes it even worse.

 

I enjoyed their first three albums...

 

I only listened to them very recently, having heard they were part of the NWOBHM, and to these ears they sound very pop.

If I'm wrong, please send me to the relevant album(s).

 

The 1st 3. They are not pop. They are very good hard rock.

It's almost like 2 completely different bands.

 

Hysteria is a very 50/50 call ...... there's too much crap on there that's for sure.
They just seemed to get lost in a sea of over-production and soft pop ballads ........ and they liked it ?? !!
On Through The Night is a good first run, but High'n'Dry is also a fantastic hard rock album.

To me, Pyromania took that polished production to the limit, but the songwriting still had balls to it.
It's one of those perfectly crafted hard rock albums, like Back In Black.
I'm not really interested after that.

 

Give me those first three. They where a great hard rock band. Wish Mutt had left them alone.

Look out for the rock brigade.

 

The thing is that it was a very conscious decision. Histeria was designed to be an album fully made of potential chart-topping singles. Lush production, and broader appeal.

Nonetheless, I really consider Gods Of War to be the best song they ever did. Steve Clark shines on it, and the Mutt lange production style really suits the song. And I'm quite of a classic rock/hard rock fanatic.

 

Some interesting points made. We could play the 'what if' game all night. 'On Through The Night' was a collection of songs that they'd 'play in' for a number of years. Was Tom Allom the best person to produce that album? Questionable. He killed a lot of the live rawness (a bad thing) but did a cracking job promoting their vocal harmony skills on record (a good thing). I know Joe Elliott wanted Roy Wood to do their first. Next up, a more rocky LP. Kind of AC/DC-flavoured. Hardly surprising. It was meatier, more representative of the band live. 'Pyromania' blew me away. Not what I was expecting at all. All those early 80s sounds which feel so dated now hit me hard in the gut back then. Loved this new direction. That's when it all went mental. NO band can be blamed for making the type of records that their fans like. 'Pyromania' and 'Hysteria' sold gazillions worldwide. Not a shock that the albums that followed were aimed at those fans. I was one of 'em! Here's the 'what if'. What if 'Pyromania' had bombed? Would they have rewound, said to Mutt "Well, that didn't work, where now?". I suspect they'd have gone back to the 'High & Dry' sound. Less effects, more earthy. But I love Def Leppard. Always have. Always will. For the record, my favourite will forever be 'Slang!'. A confident act having the courage to try something a little different to what was expected of them. It's the one I play most.

 

Hey, I wrote the lyrics to 'When The Walls Came Tumbling Down' (well, the verses anyway. Joe did the chorus). I wish they'd put it back in their live set! Man... I'm never going to be able to afford to retire.....

 

When a drummer loses an arm you have two choices. Stick with him or replace him.

Give Def Leppard credit for their friendship.

A one armed drummer had to change the sound. In a way they inspired a whole new sound because they were forced to do so.

I happen to appreciate both Def Leppards. Where I stop though, is when Steve Clark committed suicide. He had a great influence on the music.

 

The first album is great, but lacks production. High and Pyromania have the best production with quality songs. Hysteria has great production and songs, but is too slick and radio friendly, for me.

 

I love 'em from the debut to "Hysteria" and kinda grew up with them - my favorite song after that is "Paper Sun" love the solos in that one and the over the top chorus - IMO their last hurrah

 

High 'n' Dry was the first one I heard and it's still my favorite. I like Pyromania a lot too. I finally went back and listened to On Through The Night many years later and didn't really get into it. Maybe I needed to give it more time or maybe it's one of those albums you need to hear when it's released.

The Hysteria album was such a radical departure though. I understand things have to change when your drummer loses an arm but there was a lot more to it than that. The production is completely different. I like the album enough but I still reach for HnD when I need a Def Leppard fix. Hysteria certainly did well for them though!

I don't suppose they did one of those retro tours where they played High 'n' Dry in it's entirety? That could be cool.

 

I liked the first album, LOVED High N Dry and started to loose interest when Pyro got out. But this band can rock...

 

I like all of the albums up to and including Pyromania. Those early albums were still mostly accessible hard rock, but with more meat on the bone than the lightweight (but obviously popular) later albums.

I had to play Pour Some Sugar on Me in the band I was in for many years and eventually it grew to be one of my most disliked songs ever. I hated playing it.

 

Def Leppard was probably my 2nd favorite band growing up in the 80's. Only somewhat recently did I hear their first album and I couldn't really get into it.

High n' Dry is great though. I liked it when I was a kid, but I like it even more now. The dueling guitars on this album are SO nice. And I had no idea that "no no no" had Joe Elliot screaming "no" in the run-out groove till you stop the record. That was a surprise!

Hysteria was what got me into the band, so naturally I like it and probably always will. Turns out, I like Adrenalize and Slang a lot more now than I ever did years ago. I just wish Slang had better pacing (3 slow songs at the end, why?)

 

I enjoy their first five, plus Retro Active. I'm just recently digging into Slang. It's definitely different, and with all of the material on the deluxe edition, a lot to take in. Not bad though!