Back In Time With Def Leppard

No, it's not 1996 again, but Def Leppard has just re-released Slang. The deluxe reissue came out not too long ago and it includes lots of previously unreleased songs. To promote the release, Def Leppard just created a lyric video for the song "Where Does Love Go When It Dies."

I know this reissue is a head scratcher to some, but Slang has always been one of my favorite Def Lep albums. I ordered my copy.

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Comments

[Him]

Allyson, I think a lot of it has to do with fresh ears and no/limited expectations.

I'll take a dose of crap (or silence) for this, but _Slang_ reminds me of Megadeth's _Risk_. I heard the first singles off both of those 90s albums without knowing who it was that was performing (not an easy trick when radio stations still held sway). And, in both cases, I liked the songs. I also like both of those albums and saw both bands supporting them on tour. I think they both differ from what was expected (_Risk_ perhaps more than _Slang_) at the time, from the bands, given their recent catalogs.

Megadeth was coming off "bridge" albums in _Cryptic Writings_ and _Youthanasia_ that didn't even begin to suggest the musical turn that _Risk_ became . . . and was then promptly abandoned. It was so much more "radio-friendly" than either of the previous albums.

With _Slang_ it was a bit different. The sound of the band had become far too syrupy as Clark's influence waned and his health deteriorated. _Adrenalize_ and the singles they released, around the time of _Retro Active_ and the greatest hits package, suggest a band at odds with itself: ballads for the ladies or high-gloss shells of their former _Hysteria_ greatness (sidebar: I prefer them from _Pyromania_ backwards to their debut). _Slang_ strikes me as an attempt to update their sound (catching some current trends) while also stripping things back to a more basic sound from the pre-1984 days. Sure, it is hit and miss. But so is _Risk_.

I think the legend grew that these were both more miss than they actually were. And I think hearing them out of context (the singles that is) helped prime me to listen to the albums in a different way.

[Not that anyone cares, but I also think both albums are heavily influenced by the input of the guitarists: the loss of Clark--that band's Cliff Burton--and emergence of Collen and addition of Campbell on the one hand; the input of Friedman--a creative and talented player who had finally gotten to the point that he could bend Mustaine's ear and tweak at his ego--on the other. Both bands diverge in how those influences played out. But I still wager that they helped shape the perception of the album by influencing the direction of the same.]

Just my two cents.

[Rita]

I got this CD when it came out and listened to it quite a bit. There are some really goods songs here. I don't love them as much as a lot of their other CD's. Definitely has a 90's vibe to it. But I thought they did a pretty good job sounding current, while still being themselves to an extent.

It was right after this CD that I lost interest in their new material. Coincidence maybe? Maybe not.

[fletch]

Him: your greatest post to date. I only have one qusstion...do we know each other outside of this site? I've been racking my brain for the past few trying to figure out who you might be, or is it an effort in futility...

[Ace Steele]

From a song writer's point of view, "SLANG" is one of my favorite Def Leppard records. It showed a band unafraid to be who they are, & not just who everybody thought they were. "Slang", "X","High & Dry", & "Pyromania" would be my top 4 Def Lep records.

[bkallday]

Ive got Slang but ill probably dl a few of the tracks off of this re release. My fave of theirs is definitely Hysteria though, with Pyromania a close second.

[Dj]

Can't say I ever got way into the Slang album or anything after Hysteria. Def Leppard had something fantastic with the first four records, because obviously they still hold up to this day. Can't get into the later stuff though. Would love to catch em if the Poison and KISS tour is legitimate.

[Metalboy!]

I'm with DJ. Also, "Pyromania" and "Photograph" are Def Leppard's pinnacle.

p.s. Great writing, as usual, HIM.

[Christian]

I agree that Pyromania is Def Leppard's best effort. A deluxe reissue of Slang doesn't seem to me like something the world needs, but, like a sucker, I will buy it.

[Him]

Thank you both, Fletch and Metalboy! I just find albums like this interesting, ones where bands try to depart radically or shift slightly, and have always tried to figure out, retrospectively, what it is that elicits the reaction(s) they get.

In the case of DL, I find myself missing that "little something extra" that Clark added to the band, visually and musically.