Pyromania (CD - 1983)

Additional personnel: John Kongos, Booker T. Boffin, Charlie (keyboards); The Leppardettes (background vocals).

Recorded at Park Gates Studios, Battle, Sussex, England and Battery Studios, London, England.

Def Leppard: Joe Elliot (vocals); Steve "Steamin" Clark, Phil Collen, Pete Willis (guitar); Rick Savage (bass); Rick Allen (drums).

Additional personnel: John Kongos, Booker T. Roffin, Charile (keyboards); The Leppardettes (background vocals).

Recorded at Park Gates Studios, Battle, Sussex, England and Battery Studios, London, England.

While Def Leppard had obviously wanted to write big-sounding anthems on their previous records, Pyromania was where the band's vision coalesced and gelled into something more. More than ever before, the band's songs on Pyromania are driven by catchy, shiny melodic hooks instead of heavy guitar riffs, although the latter do pop up once in a while. But it wasn't just this newly intensified focus on melody and consistent songwriting (and heavy MTV exposure) that made Pyromania a massive success -- and the catalyst for the '80s pop-metal movement. Robert John "Mutt" Lange's buffed-to-a-sheen production -- polished drum and guitar sounds, multi-tracked layers of vocal harmonies, a general sanding of any and all musical rough edges, and a perfectionistic attention to detail -- set the style for much of the melodic hard rock that followed. It wasn't a raw or spontaneous sound, but the performances were still energetic and committed. Leppard's quest for huge, transcendent hard rock perfection on Pyromania was surprisingly successful; their reach never exceeded their grasp, which makes the album an enduring (and massively influential) classic. ~ Steve Huey

Although many music fans were convinced that Def Leppard would become hard rock's next big band, few could have predicted the massive across-the-boards success that its third record, 1983's PYROMANIA, achieved. Many wondered why it was taking the group so long to release a follow-up to 1981's HIGH 'N' DRY, but the finished product was well worth the wait. Not only did it become one of the year's best-selling albums and made the band instant U.S. arena headliners, but it has remained a consistent seller ever since (by 1994, it had reached nine million units in the U.S. alone).

The songwriting and overall sound was more streamlined and succinct this time around--while there are guitar riffs galore, the songs have more of a pop feel. Founding guitarist Pete Willis left during the recording, replaced by Phil Collen, who fit in perfectly with the band. The album features such mega-hits as "Photograph," "Rock of Ages," and "Foolin'," as well as a couple of other tracks that could have easily been singles as well, "Rock Rock (Till You Drop)" and "Too Late for Love." PYROMANIA remains one of the best and most popular hard-rock recordings of the '80s. minimize