Def Leppard - Pyromania P-P-P-Pollin'!

The soundtrack to an otherwise lamentable year in the eighth grade (and really, Junior High School is the worst) and part of a gateway drug to glam, now it seems so much more like the ubiquitous classic rock that preceded it than the mostly-American contemporaries they shared covers of Hit Parader and Circus with. Oddly enough not a gateway drug to the NWOBHM for me because by the time I had enough sense to start checking out older Def Lep, Metallica and Mercyful Fate started pointing me in that direction.

This is exceedingly difficult for me as it seemed that every song received some air play at the time and the entire album save for maybe the last two tracks stand up to scrutiny all these years later (I still play it from time to time). "Too Late For Love" is great but I generally prefer rockers which puts "Photograph" and "Foolin'" in play with the album opener "Rock! Rock! (Till You Drop)" as a darkhorse.

Will see what people say here before voting...

I was looking for my LP today and couldn't find it. "Rock of Ages" and "Photograph" get in my head the most but I remember "Die Hard the Hunter" being pretty cool.

I think this has to be Photograph

this is "Stagefright" for me. total balls to the wall verse riff followed by a delicious poppy chorus and featuring a dope-ass solo.

Foolin' is all phases of Def Lep in a single song.

Photograph might get it for me, that soaring chorus just does it for me every time

But Foolin is killer

Ugh

"Action! Not Words" is the only song I'm not real keen on

"Foolin" was the first DL song I ever heard I think. Saw a video of it and it seemed impossibly exciting and naughty.

too hard, "Photograph" vs "Die Hard" vs "Billy's Got a Gun" probably

either foolin' or photograph, leaning toward the former

Ahh, but you've given away the correct answer right there in the thread title.

This album (along with Billy Squier and the first few Van Halen albums) was the soundtrack to boy scout summer camp for several summers in a row. We relied on the one kid who know some german to decipher the intro to "Rock of Ages" for us.

Agreed that it holds up. l still have my copy that I got from Columbia House Record Club, and it does still get some spins.

Lol @ silent harpist in "Foolin'" video

saw Def Leppard last year for the first time and "Foolin'" slayed

"Stagefright" all night for me.

I once went to see Def Lep on the Euphoria tour in Allentown PA and I was joking with my friends about some of their lesser singles. "I hope they do Make Love Like a Man!" "Yeah or Slang!" Later the same night Joe yells to the audience "That was Make Love like a Man, THIS...IS....SLANG!"

This has got to be "Photograph"

Only one mention of "Rock of Ages" thus far? Surely that's crazy. Figured it would be a showdown between that and "Foolin'" with "Photograph" firmly in third place. Then again, 2017 has been full of surprises.

Gunter blieben glästen globen

We relied on the one kid who know some german to decipher the intro to "Rock of Ages" for us.

According to Google Translate, the words translate to "Gunter remained glazed globes."

I almost don't want to know the real translation at this point. It would be more anticlimactic than finding out that Ozzy Osbourne didn't really delay the start of his show until the crowd killed a puppy.

photograph

i really hate the "passion killer" line in Photograph, that is my only mark against it

PASSION KILLER, YOURE TOO MUCH

wtf

but then the lead-in to the chorus makes up for it

SO WIIIIIILD AND FREEEE
SO FAAAAR FROM MEEE
YOURE ALL
I WANT
MY FAAAAANTASYYYYYYY

forgot just how much ass "Die Hard the Hunter" kicks. it is lots. lots and lots of ass.

also helicopter noise.

probably the 'heaviest' song on the album

yeah was gonna say it's the most NWOBHM track underneath Lange's production glitter

i really hate the "passion killer" line in Photograph, that is my only mark against it

I always thought this was "plastic killer", which was kind of cool, but, nope, it says "passion killer" in all caps in the video. I guess they meant someone who kills with passion, as opposed to someone who kills your passion?

For years I thought he was saying "possibly" in a really stupid way

POSS A BILL AH

precursor to Gucci Mane

Great making of in Tape Op. Drums recorded last! Tons of Fairlight.

yeah great article tape op 4eva!!!!!

We're talking about the Tape Op interview in the Hysteria thread.

Some days Mutt Lang looks out of his mountain chalais and ponders that if they would have only spent another 200 hours mixing, Billy's Got a Gun would have been the biggest hit on the record.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

couldn't lie to myself, voted "Photograph"

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

"Too Late for Love" 0

wau

It really had to be "Rock of Ages" in the end.

i remember thinking for years as a young kid that Def Leppard were covering the hymn "Rock of Ages"

I'm a HUGE Def Leppard fan ("Hysteria" is my favorite album, but "Pyromania" is up there too), and I'm so glad their catalog is finally available digitally.

With that said, I've got to say the recent Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction news for Bon Jovi kinda bugged me, so I put together a detailed "face-off" comparing the 2 bands to show which one is REALLY more "worthy" of the honor.

I think you'll find it interesting...Feel free to share it!

"Bon Jovi, but not Def Leppard? For Shame Rock & Roll Hall of Fame!"
https://www.nostalgiclogic.com/bon-jovi-not-def-leppard-shame/

posting the same post on two different threads is about as necessary as a drummer having two arms

MEAN

it can be frustrating dealing with dismissive co-workers, those who are very comfortable routinely doing the same inefficient thing over and over. These folks have simply “accepted” the way things are done, and the most effort you’ll get from them is when they challenge your new ideas.

FP til ya drop

Been jamming PYROMANIA a lot recently, and what’s killing me now is Rock of Ages, specifically how Elliott sings “so feeeeeel it” towards the end, he holds that note and gives it a little vibrato and it owns.

Stagefright has also been destroying me, the chorus feels like it’s almost a bit too fast but it hangs on and makes it all the more thrilling.

Why won't you let goooooo

I like Hysteria a lot but people who think it's better than Pyromania are nuts

otm

phil collins has some great solos on this record

Pyromania is great start to finish, good tracks all the way through. I love Hysteria but Side B drops way off trackwise imo.

Pyromania is just as well crafted as Hysteria but isn't so obsessively overcooked also better songs (imo)

xpost Heard of that guy.

Gunther glieben ye mad puffin

(for those few people who know my real name, it's funnier in that form, trust me)

Ned's post is all-time wisdom BTW. This was a seminal time for persons of my age, class, and temperament.

Each person's journey is their own, of course, and that journey is unique to that person. Everyone values and treasures their own specific journey. But some of us followed enough of the same path that we can recognize one another. If you had that Members Only-style jacket in eighth grade, we probably have a lot in common. If you were a girl in a big Forenza sweater in a neon color, I see you, friend. If you ever bought a cassingle, you are in my tribe.

Always thought this album cover was a Storm Thorgerson jam 'cos he did High 'n' Dry, but I guess not. Hmmph.

I SAID A WELCOME TO MY POLLLLLLLLLL

we should poll just the 0 votes songs

Too Late For Love is so
killer

Truly

Phil Collen looks a bit different than I remember:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phil_Collen#/media/File%3APhil_Collen_in_Australia.jpg

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c9/Phil_Collen_in_Australia.jpg

hgh damn

Too late for love is my fav

debating trying to see them tonight, they're doing 6 songs off this album

do it!

can Joe still sing ok?

was checking out the credits a week or so ago and learned that booker t. boffin, aka thomas dolby, played keyboards on pyromania. neat!

can Joe still sing ok?

― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Wednesday, July 10, 2024 10:37 AM bookmarkflaglink

his low/mid-range is pretty unaffected overall. his falsetto is very weakened (in the way that Halford's is too now), but not bad and he doesn't shy away from the notes. just sounds like an old version of himself mostly.

(am basing this on youtube videos, mind)

I'd totally go

a lot of the 80s metal guys really shredded their voices

exhibit A

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tobKbYRCJOo

(years of bad technique and singing through his nose caught up).

booker t. boffin, aka thomas dolby, played keyboards on pyromania

Mutt Lange had brought him in on Foreigner 4, so I assume that's the connection.

Who are the metal guys that have held on to their voices? Dickinson still sounds amazing, at least based on the last Maiden album.

I'd see Def Lep in a heartbeat obv

xpost Halford

I'm always surprised that Brian Johnson's voice seems like faaar better than it has any right to be

he just seems like he should literally be unable to speak at this point

yeah for real
dude has a cast iron throat

i saw a clip of a recent Anthrax show and Joey Belladonna still has the pipes

I saw him to do the national anthem at a Vikings game

Corey Glover

xpost damn! hope he nailed it. love Joey B

how’s King Diamond holding up? I know he had throat surgery or something and smokes cigarettes, kind of amazing

that makes sense didn't he do musical theater or something? assuming he learned a lot of proper singing techniques to preserve his voice

Joey did pretty well, though they'd played a Saturday night gig in town and he seemed a little tired

Not any more obv but I think Dio was still holding his own into his mid-60s?

I saw him on a Heaven & Hell tour in 2007 and he sounded fantastic still

yeah same. Dio was full power when I saw him around that same time

Heaven & Hell tour is still up there with Prince for like, lifetime “holy shit cannot believe i got to experience that” shows

Hate to say it but I just checked out some youtube footage and Geoff Tate (65) still sounds pretty good!

that makes sense didn't he do musical theater or something? assuming he learned a lot of proper singing techniques to preserve his voice

Corey was Judas in Jesus Christ Superstar, not overlapping with Sebastian Bach's tenure as the title character a few years earlier.

(Bach apparently had mixed reviews, singing across from Carl Anderson)

I voted "Foolin'". How many other songs (outside of side-length prog epics) feature 4 distinct sections, each employing a unique chord progression, musical/strum rhythm pattern, and vocal melody?
Verse: "Lady luck, never smiles..."
Pre-chorus 1: "Is anybody out there? Anybody there?..."
Pre-chorus 2: "Ohh....I just gotta know..."
Chorus: "NO-O-OT! F-F-F-Foolin'!"

how’s King Diamond holding up? I know he had throat surgery or something and smokes cigarettes, kind of amazing

― brimstead, Wednesday, July 10, 2024 11:58 AM bookmarkflaglink

he is inexplicably better than he was in the 90s now. one of the best live performers.

also Brian Ross of Satan and Blitzkrieg still sounds like butter

Joey B still sounds great yeah saw him last month.

Halford's an interesting case because he went from sounding amazing on his first solo album in 2000 to really diminished and weak by 2009. There's a live version of "Freewheel Burning" on some DVD/live album from that era that is utterly embarrassing, like his falsetto was gone, he was only operating comfortably within like two octaves.

got a little bit better by Redeemer of Souls, but regained a lot of midrange by Firepower. and also seemed to retrain himself to use more headvoice in his chest/head combo and then suddenly his falsetto is about as good as it can be given the punishment he puts his voice through, sings "SAints in Hell" very well, "Freewheel Burning" even as well.

Ozzy, meanwhile, sounded like himself but was in a different key from his band in all three of the reunion shows I saw. almost all of the songs this happened in were lowered keys so it seems like he couldn't find the proper root notes in the new key and it created this very weird avantgarde Charles Ives version of Sabbath. songs that hadn't been altered key-wise he was ok.

Philip Bailey otoh sounds better than all of them combined

i imagine F-F-Foolin' would be a good song to repurpose for little kids, you could make it P-P-P-Poopin' when they go through potty training

I was thinking about going to that same Def Lep concert tonight, but couldn't make it. Report back if you ended up going, Neanderthal

take sides: def leppard 'stagefright' vs the band 'stage fright'

DL by a mile

I did not :(. Unexpected three hours of work OT

https://i.imgur.com/4bb1Woo.jpeg

Joey Belladonna still has the pipes

kinda want this on a tshirt

Got the pipes
Writ
Writ
Written on my shirt