I hope you enjoyed my essay as it was written a few years ago during my time in community college.
A group of teenage youngsters from a small steel town in Sheffield, England formed a band that came around the same time the New Wave of British Heavy Metal was about to take over punk. They have influenced many bands in the “hair” metal genre throughout the 1980s. They had two albums that sold over ten million copies during the same time span. The band is called Def Leppard, and they rock just as hard as their name.
Before I have listened to Def Leppard as a child during the 1980s, my family had always listened to pop music like Madonna, Michael Jackson, Billy Joel, and Cyndi Lauper. Sure I have listened to rock back in the day, but it was mostly on the mainstream radio side. One day, my mother bought a cassette tape of Def Leppard’s classic 1988 pop metal album Hysteria, and to my amazement, I thought my mother was getting into the hair metal scene. However, I found out that she only liked Def Leppard from that scene because they had a pop music sound to their music. At the age of six, I had my first heavy metal experience with that tape. Likewise, I became one little metal-head when I listened to a few songs from that album. When I first saw them on MTV, I thought they were like The Beatles of heavy metal. They had looks, talent, and charisma that other bands would follow later like Bon Jovi, Poison, and Cinderella. Afterwards, I began my musical evolution from listening to the King of Pop to the boys of Sheffield.
The members of Def Leppard formed in a spoon factory in Sheffield, England back in 1977. Members were lead singer Joe Elliot, bass player Rick Savage, drummer Rick Allen, and two lead guitarists Steve Clark and Pete Willis. The name was going to be called Deaf Leopard, but they changed the name slightly so they will not be confused with punk bands during that era. In 1980, Def Leppard released their debut On Through the Night which was a moderate success in the United States because of their minor hit single “Hello America”. Their hometown audiences did not like the band so much because the band was trying too hard to appeal to American audiences. Two years later, MTV, a twenty-four music cable channel, gave the band their big break with their hit single from their 1981 album High n’ Dry called “Bringing on the Heartbreak” which marked the first heavy metal music video aired on MTV. In 1983, Def Leppard released their third Pyromania which had three singles that reached the top forty including “Photograph”, “Rock of Ages”, and “Foolin’”. The album became the second biggest selling album of 1983, only Michael Jackson’s Thriller album sold more copies. The Pyromania album would go on to become a juggernaut seller reaching diamond status and become one of the greatest heavy metal albums of all-time.
On New Year’s Eve 1984, Rick Allen, the drummer, lost his left arm in a car crash on the A57 highway just heading towards his hometown of Sheffield. Despite losing one arm, Rick Allen never gave up hope as he kept drumming with a custom electronic drum kit which he helped build. The band never had any success in their homeland, but that all changed for the better when Def Leppard released their fourth album Hysteria. it became one of the best selling pop albums of all-time with over fifteen million copies sold. In 1991, Steve Clark, the lead guitarist, died from an alcoholic overdose after years of fighting alcoholism. He would be replaced by Vivian Campbell as he still plays guitar for the band to this day. After a short while, Def Leppard waned in popularity because of the growing popularity of grunge and alternative rock during the early to mid 1990s.
Def Leppard influenced me in a way no other band influenced me. For one thing, they introduced the mainstream pop fans to heavy metal. There was something for everybody with their husky yet melody driven sound that the band had. Without Def Leppard crossing over to pop music, I do not think Aerosmith would have made a comeback during that period. Secondly, they are the first heavy metal band that got me into different kinds of pop music. Nowadays, I listen to eclectic types of music ranging from classic rock, classic pop, old school rap, and vintage heavy metal. Lastly, no matter how bleak the situations got, they always stuck together as both band members and friends. I can actually thank my mother for having to listen to Def Leppard because without her sudden love for the band, I wouldn’t hear or see heavy metal music the way I do now. Although Def Leppard will not reach the same legendary status as The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, and U2, they will always be one of my favorite bands of all-time. What is really inspiring about Def Leppard is that they never gave up hope after the losses of band members or one of the member’s arms. Most bands would break-up or kick a band member out to find a new drummer, but Def Leppard kept on going with Rick Allen to become even more successful.
What I like best about Def Leppard is that they have a crossover appeal in which every song can bring people together whether it would be the ever popular “Pour Some Sugar On Me” with its sexual lyrics and its poppy chants in the background or the legendary pop-rock classic “Photograph” with guitar riffs that make even mainstream pop fans bang their heads with delight. They may have a crossed over to the mainstream pop side, but they still have a metal edge that made them a very likeable band. My personal favorite Def Leppard song is “High n’ Dry (Saturday Night)” from their 1981 release High n’ Dry, because the song is about getting laid and brawling with other guys on a Saturday night. If you get a listen to this song, you can tell they got some of the riffs from their idols AC/DC. My favorite album from Def Leppard is Pyromania because they were a band that were way ahead of their time with their glossy production of sound mixing synth-pop and heavy metal that meld together like peanut butter and chocolate. Their producer Robert John “Mutt” Lange must have been a genius when he helped the band make that album because the process took one and half years to complete Pyromania.
Recently, VH1 honored Def Leppard in the VH1 Rock Honors special in May of 2006 in Las Vegas, Nevada for their efforts in bringing various audiences together with their music ranging from mainstream to metal. They were honored along with their idols growing up Queen, fellow NWOBHM group Judas Priest, and the extravagant KISS. Also, Def Leppard released an album of 1970s hard rock covers called Yeah! with such as hits as “Rock On” and “No Matter What” made the songs listenable again. Def Leppard is just like music itself, they bring people together. Isn’t it important to bring people together?
26 Mar 2010, 2:33 am
