Def Leppard Re-mastered - A Rock Survival Story of Triumph Over Tragedy

LONG before the Def Leppard road crew had the drum riser in place for the UK's Monsters of Rock festival in August of 1986, Ozzy Osbourne had predicted that the performance would be nothing short of a freak show. Strong words from the Black Sabbath wild man, but his reasoning was that a hard rocking band couldn't possibly cut it with a one-armed drummer. Rick Allen, the young man centre stage, would prove him and other doubters way off the mark. To his eternal credit, the uncompromising Ozzy made his peace with the 22-year-old, withdrawing everything he'd said. Not out of sympathy, though, as Rick had astounded Ozzy and the thousands of headbangers by using a custom-built electronic drum kit to compensate for losing his left arm in a car smash less than 20 months earlier. Monsters was a personal triumph after Rick's stubborn refusal to cave in to a potentially career-threatening disability and a tribute to his bandmates' loyalty in waiting for him to recover rather than rush out to seek a replacement.

All that is Def Leppard historia, but it must have flashed through older fans' minds as Rick & Co rocked the same venue, Donington Park, in Leicestershire, which had been scheduled for an F1 run of the British Grand Prix, taking over from the historic Silverstone track. Monsters drew crowds from 1980-96 and Ozzy himself was there with his Ozzfest. The latest incarnation is the Download Festival, now in its seventh year. More than 100 bands were on hand to play for the 2009 audience and Leppard headlined on June 14, the third and final day (see Chris Wing's photo above). Whitesnake were special guests in an echo of the previous year when David Coverdale's outfit were co-headliners as Leppard returned home for six UK shows in support of Songs from the Sparkle Lounge, their 12th studio album and the first collection of new original tracks since X (2002)

When talking to his local Sheffield evening newspaper about the UK tour, singer Joe Elliott was defensive, swatting away any suggestion that Leppard couldn't pack any major UK venues on their own. The tour, which took in Sheffield Arena (right), was definitely not saddos on a nostalgia trip, he insisted. Risking the wrath of Seventies popsters, Joe dismissed any resemblance to Mud, Suzi Quatro and the Glitter Band on a bus playing a Butlins holiday camp. What audiences were offered was "a great value ticket" with Leppard and Whitesnake both having new albums out, more relevant than ever, playing arenas. As far as Joe was concerned, the UK tour was as good as any the band had done, certainly the best since 1988 when they had wrapped up nearly 230 shows promoting the hugely successful Hysteria, their fourth album, which went on to ship 16 million copies - 12 million in the US alone.

A world tour followed June's UK dates, winding through to November 21. Joe, Rick, guitarists Phil Collen and Vivian Campbell, and bassist Richard Savage, Sav in short, opened in North America and featured the band's first visit to Australia and New Zealand since 1992. There were hiccups, of course. India was canned due to unforeseen circumstances and contractual difficulties forced them to pull out of a German festival; in fact, the trek's April leg was highly unpromising. On doctor's orders, Joe (pictured) was obliged to rest with an upper respiratory tract infection, causing the postponement of six shows and the cancellation of a scheduled chat with Planet Rock, the UK classic rock station. But there were many high spots, not least being veteran Phil Everly dropping in at Biloxi, Mississippi, and declaring that the band were "awesome."

Overall, American heavies had tended to take Leppard to their hearts virtually at first hearing of the twin guitar attack and soaring vocal harmonies, regrettably creating a love-hate relationship with the UK where rock diehards accused them of selling out after being seduced by dollar signs even if sections of the British music press greeted their late Seventies arrival as standard bearers of the new wave of UK heavy metal. In 2008, Phil (right), already a friend of the band before he joined from Girl in 1982, said Leppard wanted more respect in the UK, while agreeing that a swap to California's HK Management had seen a resurgence of their US profile. They felt they were regarded as a nostalgic sideshow in Britain, criticised for their skill in creating slick US-friendly radio rock, explained Phil whose own rock outfit, Man Raze, completed by Girl bassist Simon Laffy and Sex Pistols drummer Paul Cook, were added to the Download roster.

Philosophically, Joe observed in 2008: "No matter how long you've been around, you're going to go through periods when you're just not cool." If the Nineties were reckoned to be hard going for the band, fifth studio album Adrenalize (1992) still entered the US chart at No 1, topping the lists in 22 countries and becoming their best-selling collection in many of them with worldwide sales of over seven million. Songs from the Sparkle Lounge made its Billboard entry at No 5, Leppard's highest chart debut since Adrenalize, to become their 11th consecutive US Top 20 album. With the title recalling the backstage area where the band wrote songs on their 2006 Yeah! tour, the album was recorded the following year at Joe's Dublin home studio. Tracks were written in Hysteria style backed by predecessor High 'n' Dry's production - with surprises. Like country star Tim McGraw (pictured) guesting on first single Nine Lives, having previously joined the band for encore Pour Some Sugar on Me on the Hollywood Bowl stage in 2006.

Along with the album release there was promise of a 2009 Leppard calendar and 80-page coffee table book Shots from the Sparkle Tour, featuring about 300 photos from the road trip. It was the first memento of its kind since None More Black (1996), a collection of pictures available to fans in Japan only. The official Animal Instinct biography, by Rolling Stone's David Fricke, predates that, being first published in Britain as long ago as 1987. That same author also takes credit for liner notes on deluxe editions of classic Pyromania and Adrenalize, both remastered versions of the originals released in Europe then America during June of 2009.

Pyromania, which sold more than 10 million copies in the US, came complete with a previously unreleased 15-track 1983 show at the LA Forum, while Adrenalize featured a bonus set of rare, live, acoustic and demo tracks. There were Top 10 singles, including four chart-toppers, B-sides, deluxe digipak gatefold packaging with extended booklets of rare and previously unseen photos plus images of hard-to-find single covers, full sleeve notes and memorabilia of the period. Pyromania was also nominated in the Reissue of the Year category of Classic Rock's Roll of Honour Awards which had the Download Festival among the contenders for Event of the Year; Download had already clinched that honour at Metal Hammer magazine's Golden Gods 2009 which saw Leppard pick up the Legends Award.

To tie in with the deluxe edition issues, Leppard hit the road in North America, having played a Dublin O2 Arena warm-up with Whitesnake and Journey before the Download Festival and performed on the CMT (Country Music TV!) Awards, premiered live in the US. A week later, they kicked off a 40-plus city tour in Camden, New Jersey, and, with new dates added, brought the curtain down in Auburn, Washington state, on September 12. With Poison and special guests Cheap Trick in tow, Joe reckoned this was the summer rock tour. He told Billboard that Leppard had taken the path of least resistance by putting together an attractive bill in a bid to counter an anticipated summer concert business downturn.

The tour featured a personal milestone. By the time the bands reached Raleigh, North Carolina, Joe had turned 50. Was that expected to hurt? Friend and longtime hero Ian Hunter, of resurgent Mott the Hoople and Hunter-Ronson, had told him that all the pains go away once you hit the big Five-0. "We'll see," says Joe who didn't party on stage, having requested a tour break for a private celebration that involved a star-spangled gathering of rock star friends, secretly brought together by wife Kristine (with Joe above) through months of meticulous planning. It might have been even more enjoyable after the hoped-for return of his beloved Sheffield United to the English football hierarchy following a Championship play-off final victory. Alas, football is a frustratingly funny ol' game and he was doomed to disappointment so he and the city's red and white partisans are still waiting for another chance to live the dream.

Joe and Kristine, the band's former wardrobe mistress, had returned from holiday so he could take his Wembley Stadium seat for the kick-off then it was back home to Dublin where the Leppards had arranged to gather before their visit to the new O2 Arena, Phil, Viv and Rick flying in from California and Sav nipping over from his native Sheffield. Once the calls for yet another Download Festival encore had died away, they headed for Nashville and the country music awards (two nominations for collaborating with country/pop teen queen Taylor Swift, seen on stage with Joe, on Photograph - and why not after their Tim McGraw tie-up; although Leppard didn't pick up an award, they closed the show with Taylor on Pour Some Sugar on Me and the pairing could be heard on the first ever DVD released from the CMT Crossroads series) then stayed on in Tennessee's Music City to limber up for their tour.

As Leppard took a second break, Nashville and Birmingham, Alabama, were still to be rescheduled because of a band member suffering a bereavement (the third leg was subsequently cancelled due to "unforeseen personal matters"), but nothing interfered with Joe's plan to return to the UK for Mott the Hoople's October 1-6 reunion at the HMV Hammersmith Apollo, London. No mere onlooker, he fronted the Down 'n' Outz (really The Quireboys) as Mott's special guests to pay homage to Ian Hunter & Co on the final night. Being at the Apollo was a must in the same vein as witnessing Sheffield United regain Premiership status, although the latter will obviously now take a bit longer.

Check out Leppard music videos below....Big Arrow Link To PART 2 further down page

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Did you join the thousands at Download 2009? It was a performance to remember for fans when Def Leppard triumphed as the final day's headliners. A party from the band's Sheffield back yard made the trip and their diary of the day's events can be found at

Def Leppard - Diary Of A Day At The Download Festival 2009

Def Leppard
The Best Of
[DVD]