Songs From The Sparkle Lounge

BAND RETURNS WITH BRAND NEW STUDIO ALBUM
"SONGS FROM THE SPARKLE LOUNGE"
SET FOR RELEASE ON APRIL 29

Album Release Kicks Off With U.S. Spring Concert Tour!

Album Contains 11 NEW Original Songs Including the Single
"Nine Lives" Featuring Tim McGraw

Def Leppard, Great Britain's premiere arena rock band, is back with a bang--kicking off 2008 with the release of their 14th studio album and a U.S. arena concert tour scheduled for this spring. Entitled Songs From The Sparkle Lounge (Bludgeon Riffola/Island/UMe), the album contains 11 new songs including the highly-anticipated single "Nine Lives" featuring a groundbreaking collaboration with country music superstar Tim McGraw. Songs From The Sparkle Lounge is Def Leppard's first album of brand new material since 2002's X and begins yet another remarkable new chapter in the band's 30-year recording career.

Recorded last year during month-long stints at lead singer Joe Elliott's Dublin studio, the album's title refers to a backstage area called "The Sparkle Lounge" on Def Leppard's 2006 tour where the band would go to write songs. Tracks from the album have been described by the group as written in the style of Hysteria, with the production of High 'n' Dry.

"The whole record's got a great '70s feel," said lead singer Joe Elliott. "By our standards, it's a very different album as we've been very adventurous, musically, on certain numbers. On the album there are classic Def Leppard songs and then there's also tracks that are very new-wave influenced while others sound like middle-to-late '70s AC/DC. There will definitely be some moments on it where anybody that's familiar with our music will go, 'Whoa! I wasn't expecting that!'"

The foundation for the album's collaboration with country music superstar Tim McGraw was layed at Def Leppard's 2006 Hollywood Bowl show where McGraw joined the band on stage for an encore performance of "Pour Some Sugar on Me." The artists stayed in touch following the performance, and when the band started writing the song "Nine Lives" they immediately thought of reaching out to McGraw to sing on it. Guitarist Phil Collen flew to Nashville to play it for McGraw who loved it and recorded the song in Nashville shortly after. Other standout tracks on the album include "Go," reminiscent of the band's classic track "Rocket" in its power and aggressive tribal beat; "Love," an emotive and moving epic song; and the anthemic "Tomorrow," a song written by guitarist Collen about the death of his father.

With more than 65 million albums sold worldwide and two prestigious Diamond Awards to their credit, Def Leppard--Joe Elliott (vocals), Vivian Campbell (guitar), Phil Collen (guitar), Rick "Sav" Savage (bass) and Rick Allen (drums)--continues to be one of the most important forces in rock music. Over the course of their career, the band has produced a series of classic groundbreaking albums that set the sound for generations of music fans and artists. The group's spectacular live shows, filled with powerful melodic rock anthems, have become synonymous with their name and they are an institution in the touring industry as they continue to sell out arenas worldwide.

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On Through the Night, Def Leppard

Basically Def Leppard emerged from the New Wave of British Heavy Metal (NWOBHM) in 1979. Groups such as Iron Maiden, Saxon, and Def Leppard were about the only groups from that period to find success. Saxon was never popular in the U.S. but was huge everywhere else. Iron Maiden made it here in the U.S. like Def Leppard. I first heard "Rock Brigade" played on one South Florida radio station and I immediately went out to buy it. The entire l.p. was solid hard rock, not commercial stuff! Just listen to songs such as "Rock Brigade", "Wasted", and "Rocks Off". Great guitar licks courtesy of Steve Clark and Pete Willis are spread throughout this debut l.p. If your looking for Def Leppard commercialized stuff (ex."Photograph") you won't find it on this release. Also their followup l.p. High N' Dry" is a masterpiece. Yes it does have their hit "Bringin' on the Heartbreak" which became commercialized thanks to MTV, but it also showed that Def Leppard could write great ballads as well as rock. Other than that, the l.p. just smokes and is even better than "On Through the Night". Highly recommended!---Highway_Star

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Adrenalize, Def Leppard

With their classic albums "Pyromania" (1983) and "Hysteria," (1987) Def Leppard proved to be one of the 1980s premier rock bands. They created and epitomized 80s pop-metal and drew countless imitators. They were really, THE definitive band of the 1980s pop-metal genre. In the early 90s, before the rise of grunge, demand was high for a new Def Leppard album. But as the mighty Def Leppard got started on their new album, tragedy struck the band. One night in early 1991, guitarist Steve Clarke mixed alcohol with painkillers, with fatal results.
There is a cliché that says when Steve Clarke died, Def Leppard died with him. Listening to any post-Clarke Def Leppard album makes this painfully clear. Clarke was by far the most talented member of the band. An underrated guitar player, he was also the bands best songwriter, churning out some of the catchiest songs of the 80s. His loss was a death blow to the band. Without him Def Leppard has limped on ever since.
1992 saw the release of the first post-Clarke album "Adrenalize." While recording the album, rather than replace Clarke, the band opted to continue as a quartet (guitarist Vivian Campbell would later join the band). Not surprisingly, the albums best songs were co-written by Clarke.
"Adrenalize" certainly has the style and feel of "Pyromania" and "Hysteria," but the album sounds weak. Def Leppard's signature sound is in place; catchy hooks, and melodic sing-along chorus; but it just doesn't fly. The album is just too pop-savvy and assessable for its own good. The bands once metallic edge has been filed down to nothing. The band is like a neutered pit-bull with no teeth. "Adrenalize" is just cheese, pure 80s sounding, generic, hair-metal cheese. "Adrenalize" makes Warrant's "Dirty Rotten Filthy Stinking Rich" (1989) sound like Slayer's "Reign in Blood" (1986) by comparison.-----Daniel Maltzman

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