25 Years of Def Leppard

Anyway....

Def Leppard hits the road again

By CHELSEA J. CARTER
The Associated Press

First they were rock gods. A decade later the members of Def Leppard almost became rock ghosts.

Now the band that defined 1980s party rock can call itself a rock survivor. It's marking 25 years since its major label debut with the release of "Rock of Ages: The Definitive Collection" and a much-anticipated summer tour with Bryan Adams that will mostly visit minor league ballparks. It started last week and will perform Aug. 3 at Community America Ballpark in Kansas City, Kan.

"A lot of it is down to the natural alignment of the stars. What you have when you break it down is a band that signed a record deal more than 20 years ago and ... is still making records," lead singer Joe Elliott said recently. "To survive, you have to adapt, go along with things."

Def Leppard has overcome everything from the death of a band member to the debilitating injury of another, from making back-to-back mega-monster-hit albums ("Pyromania" and "Hysteria") to releasing a commercial bomb ("Slang").

The band thrived during the '80s and early '90s with sold-out stadium tours, and it survived the leaner times in smaller venues in the late '90s. But unlike many of the monster '80s bands, Def Leppard never called it quits, never took an extended break that could be viewed as a parting of the ways.

The reason, the 46-year-old Elliott says, is simple: "It's always been feast or famine with us." But examine the band's history, and the answer is a little more complicated, a little more rock 'n' roll.

Formed in 1977 in Sheffield, England, when Elliott met guitarist Pete Willis, the band gained attention in 1979 as teenagers with its independent debut EP "Def Leppard." The band was signed later that year, released "On Through the Night" and followed it up with 1981's "High 'N' Dry."

But it was 1983's "Pyromania" that launched Def Leppard into the rock stratosphere, selling 10 million copies in the United States. In 1987 Leppard followed it up with "Hysteria," which sold 13 million copies and spawned the band's only No. 1 hit, "Love Bites."

But as Def Leppard sold albums, band members were in crisis: Willis was fired for alcoholism during the making of "Pyromania" and replaced with Phil Collen; drummer Rick Allen lost an arm after a New Year's Eve car accident in 1984; guitarist Steve Clark was found dead on Jan. 8, 1991, after battling alcohol abuse.

Guitarist Vivian Campbell joined in 1992. As the '90s churned on, the band's album sales nose-dived as grunge took over, followed by Barbie and Ken pop-rock from the likes of Britney Spears and 'N Sync.

"There was a period of time that Def Leppard was distasteful to most people," said Campbell, 42. "It was hard to create an awareness ... and let people know what we were doing."

In late 2003 Def Leppard took a hiatus of sorts to work on solo projects. It has been 17 months since the band has toured. "We're not doing anything different. We're doing what we always do," Elliott said. But the band attributes its renewed popularity to the increasing popularity of retro rock. "I guess all things come back if you wait long enough," Campbell said. As part of its 25th anniversary, Def Leppard is co-headlining the "Rock 'N Roll Double Header Tour" with Adams. At first glance, the double bill lineup appears to be an odd combination - the ultimate party rock band and the ballad king.

But the lineup makes sense to Def Leppard.

"There was a time during 1992, people said they couldn't tell us apart from Bryan Adams because (Helmut) Mutt Lange was producing both our albums," Elliott said. "He's not a stranger in our life."

The other draw, Elliott said, is there isn't "a lot of ego on this tour."

Age appears to have mellowed Def Leppard. In fact, the once party-driven rockers have settled down.

"It's all fairly civilized and all grown up I'm afraid," said Collen, 47. "You know, we like each other. We were there to keep each other in check. We've experienced all these weird things together: birthdays, deaths, accidents, Rick's accident. It's a kinship that binds you together."