Def Leppard Studio Albums Rated....6 - 1

Def Leppard Albums Rated...
Here's my list of the wonderful Def Leppard and their STUDIO-ONLY Albums, ranked from worst to best. Natch, the Leps never have done bad album, as such, just albums that fall under their high levels, that's all. So, after that disclaimer....let's go on with the show. Here's the Top 6 ! I have to be different!


6 'Slang' (1996)
Their mixing it up/being raw/grunge era album for want of a better term. Is it? Well, not really, just a bit more raw and deep lyrics. When it works, it works. The Indian strains of 'Truth?' and 'Turn To Dust', the regular style of the title track, 'All I Want Is Everything', 'Work It Out'. 'Gift Of Flesh' kicks arse, big time. 'Where Does Love Go When It Dies' might just make you stop and think for a while....A really good album. Very underrated.


5 'Retroactive' (1993)
So, the premise of this is that it's a bunch of tracks that were recorded for previous albums, slightly tweaked and added to, but never used. Cast offs? Far from it. This is HUGE! The start of the I-can-listen-to-it-all-the-way-through-without-skipping-tracks albums. 'Desert Song', 'Fractured Love', recorded with the late Steve Clark, are just immense. I really could pick them all, but highlights include 'Miss You In A Heartbeat', one of my favourite of their ballads.


...so that was easy...the next bit is tough.....


4 'High 'N Dry' (1981)
The Cinderella story. The Mutt Lange effect. The start of the rest of their career. Yep. All the above and more. Back in t'day, on vinyl, you'd play that first side - 'Let It Go', 'Another Hit And Run', 'High 'N Dry (Saturday Night)', 'Bringin' On The Heartbreat', 'Switch 625' and 'You Got Me Runnin'' - and go 'Flippin' Heck!', and play it again and again and again! The 2nd half's not bad either - 'Lady Strange', 'On Through The Night' and 'Mirror, Mirror (Look Into My Eyes)' - making it a stormer!


3 'Pyromania' (1983)
Also known as the unit shifter, the union jack effect, the what-I-did-in-my-10-months....the album that broke up Thin Lizzy....simply a stormer, front to back. If you've never heard it then, you really should. All staples of rock music. The bench-setter. Nothing more to add. 'Rock Rock (Til You Drop)', 'Photograph', 'Stagefright', 'Too Late For Love', 'Die Hard The Hunter' (fabulous guitar interplay)...and that's just the first part.


2 'Hysteria' (1987)
This was a tough call, between this and the winner. This album I queued up for, on day of release. It's industry standard. It's groundbreaking. It's a pre-greatest hits, greatest hits album.It was a lot of hard work. The final, full album, from Steve Clark...and, as lead singer Joe Elliot once said, 'If you have to go out, then there's no better way than to go out on top...', 'Women', 'Animal', 'Hysteria' itself, 'Armageddon It', 'Pour Some Sugar On Me', 'Love Bites'...wonderful. Fav? I've always been fascinated with 'Gods Of War' - the intro, the riffs, the lyrics, the backing vocals. Immense. It's a work of art...and, my eldest daughter painted the album sleeve for me when she was at school, which hangs pride of place, in my house.

So.....it's.....



1 'Adrenalize' (1992)
The end of the refinement of that 'Pyromania' sound. I know it's not their favourite, having to deal with the death of Steve during the recordings, but I think I play this one more than any other. I mean, we start with 'Let's Get Rocked', the Simpson's parody...we have 'Heaven Is', maybe my fav of their singles....and that leads to 'White Lightning', a tribute to Steve, and their peak of those epic tracks that they write. No contest, the best one they've ever written....and we end with the re-recording (al la, '..we originally recorded it as an afterthought one day when we realised we needed B'Sides for the singles for the 'Hysteria' record...') of 'Tear It Down'. It's brilliant.

So there you have it. My very first 'Best Albums Ranked' post. Hope you enjoyed. Hope it's sparked some debate. What's your fav Def Lep album....why?

🥰

SJD xx