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There's something about the '80s that tends to scream '80s, whether it's hair, architecture, or music. Not a lot from that era stands out as particularly timeless. That isn't a bad thing at all, because the '80s were a truly awesome decade. However, some things came out of the '80s that stand on their own as really quite exceptional. I give you Exhibit A: Def Leppard's Hysteria album.
This is as much a masterpiece today as it was when it first hit stores back in 1987. Some might associate many of the singles with the Class of '88, or with the heyday of the enclosed shopping mall, or with blasting the radio in a shiny new Trans Am, but the music sounds fresh 25 years later and, frankly, fresher than almost any rock music to come along at any time since then. Yes, Def Leppard is a hair band. Yes, they rocked arenas in the '80s. But they set themselves apart from the rest of the genre, upping the ante with tight harmonies, deep chord progressions, and hooks that could catch three blue whales at once. Today we can listen to a song like "Cherry Pie" by Warrant or "Talk Dirty to Me" by Poison, or any number of hair metal songs, and yuk it up at how totally '80s they sound, but listen to something like "Love Bites" by Def Leppard and one doesn't think of it as an '80s song: instead it's this beautiful anthem for anguish, and it transcends time.
From a technical standpoint Def Leppard was and is superior to probably any band of its ilk, but it goes beyond their musicianship. Rick Allen is one of the best drummers in the world, and he makes all that noise with one arm. It takes a lot of heart and determination to overcome losing an arm and still be part of one of the greatest bands of all time. Subsequent to Hysteria, they lost Steve Clarke, one of their guitarists who was such a significant part of their sound. Through adversity Def Leppard has continued to tour and record.
Then there is the songwriting. Def Leppard's bread 'n' butter was never the cookie-cutter verse/chorus/verse/chorus baby food that so many bands at the time spooned out to their fans. The Lep sliced, diced, sauteed, and flambeed, and then set the table with linens and fine china. An examination of the construction of their songs shows that there were typically three separate melody lines and three separate sets of chords within a song, transitioning through the cycle a couple of times before taking it for a spin across the bridge, eventually coming back to at least two of the three melodies. It's a formula that works because musical themes within a song recur just enough to be catchy and memorable without being repetitive. It's like a tease that leaves the listener wishing it was. This was a tactic that Def Leppard hit us with back on Pyromania with "Photograph," a song which foretold of what to expect on Hysteria.
In several ways Hysteria was unprecedented. Def Leppard and "Mutt" Lange took advantage of the fact that one year earlier CDs outsold vinyl and cassettes for the first time, and decided to give Hysteria more than an hour's length. Two of the tracks are over 6:30 long, including the non-radio edit of "Rocket." The shortest track is "Animal," clocking in at a robust 4:02. Seven of the twelve tracks were released as singles, six of which went on to become major hits. To release literally more than half of the tracks to radio is practically unheard of. This was also the band's first album since Rick Allen's accident, and by far their most successful. It was three years in the making, with much of the initial recording scrapped due to band members' creative frustration and overall dissatisfaction. Following their intuition proved to be a wise move, because what they ultimately came up with was one of the great landmarks in rock history.
This was the album that spawned their biggest hit, "Pour Some Sugar on Me," a song that lead singer Joe Elliott refers to in the liner notes of the Vault compilation as "pure sex." Few songs from the '80s continue to get the airplay today that "Sugar" does. Hysteria opens with its lead single, "Women," putting the listener right into a groove that remains largely consistent throughout the album. "Women" was never the hit it sounds like it should have been, with its driving grind and sense of mystery. It did set the tone for what followed, and that is perhaps more important than chart position.
"Animal" is one of those songs that propels itself along on the strength of a chugging bass line, soaring guitars and calculatedly placed rhythm guitar. No better soundtrack to freeway driving has ever been composed. ("Armageddon It" and Pyromania's "Photograph" do have that same effect of making one want to blow past the other cars on the freeway, though.) One of the all-time great songs of any era is "Hysteria." This goes into that wonderful eighth-note bass line category with "Animal" and "Photograph," with a melody as satisfying as a sweet-and-salty snack. It has the added benefit of being the least sappy love song ever written. It's a perfect marriage of lyric and music.
Probably the album's best non-single cut is "Gods of War," the second-longest track on Hysteria. Naturally bands don't want to tip their entire hand and release all their best stuff as singles, but "Gods of War" is a long song and too good in its entirety to edit. It's actually more melodically and lyrically compelling than the two-seconds-longer "Rocket" which did just fine with much of the bridge edited out. Sometimes it's tempting to say, "That should've been a single; it's an awesome song!" but people are always disappointed when an album is nothing but singles and filler. "Gods of War" scratches that itch. To a lesser degree "Don't Shoot Shotgun" and "Love and Affection" serve the same purpose.
All the great songs aside, Hysteria isn't without its blemishes. Despite Def Leppard having their inimitable sound, they fall into the trap of recording a couple of generic hair-metal songs. "Run Riot" gets away with it a little easier thanks to an instrumental bridge and the way the song is arranged technically, but Elliott's vocals on the verses in particular come across as standard-issue arena rock. It helps soften the blow that the title track wastes no time in following "Run Riot." The song that gets a little less love here is "Excitable," not only because it is interchangeable with any run-of-the-mill sex-themed hair-metal song of the day, with almost a New Wave sound to the guitars that Def Leppard doesn't usually make, but because of its placement immediately after "Hysteria." It's like being sound asleep and having someone suddenly turn a light on. Or like having the best tiramisu for dessert, and then being offered yesterday's bread with no olive oil to go with it. Not so much anticlimactic, but certainly it makes you go, "What the hell?!"
Still, even with a pair of songs that elicit a "meh," the majority of Hysteria is so brilliant, the album gets five stars. Most Def Leppard fans already own it and consider it to be the band's best work. It is on lists of greatest albums of all time. People who appreciate music in general agree that this album belongs in the collection of any true music fan. Those who haven't listened to a lot of Def Leppard often become fans after hearing Hysteria. It may have taken Elliott and company three years to record this one, but the result makes you wish, If only everyone took the time necessary to make a work of art like Hysteria.
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~ DEF LEPPARD's 3 CD 30th Anniversary Edition is great! Finally get the Audio version of "In The Round/In Your Face" ~
If you love Def Leppard and love this all time classic Rock Album from 1987, you MUST get this 30th Anniversary Edition.If you don't want the Super Deluxe Edition, this is the one for you. The original Album here sounds really good. I think it was well done and you also get the audio version on 2 CDs of the DVD concert "In The Round, In Your Face". Sounds good also.The packaging is good, very similar to the 1987 "Whitesnake 30th Anniversary" package.Comes also with nice liner notes on the album and talks about it from Track to Track.Of the 12 songs here, I have heard 8 of them played on rock stations and this album is to me considered one of the all time best ever created!Get it NOW!
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Torreele
Uitstekende geluidsopname
Reviewed in Belgium on October 30, 2023
Torreele
Reviewed in Belgium on October 30, 2023
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