Classic Rock Album of the Day- Def Leppard- Andrenalize (1992) ****
Def Leppard by 1991 had already seen enough tragedy to fill a sad documentary. 1st being drummer Rick Allen's arm amputation in the mid 1980's. Then in 1991, superstar guitarist Steve Clark had succumbed to substance abuse. At the time, I figured that '87's classic Hysteria was their last one. Not only was Hysteria their greatest album, I consider it one of the greatest Glam Rock LP EVER Made.
But to the testament of the heart of the band, they not only recovered, they made their second best LP... today's Andrenalize. Clark wasn't replaced for Adrenalize, but rhythm guitarist Phil Collen did a remarkable job of not only filling in, but his ability to almost replicate Clark's wild runs and arpeggios was fantastic, and I might add with a hell of a lot of skill. The songwriting is top notch too. In retrospect, I should have given Hysteria 4 1/2 stars, and I might at a future recalibration. Because this album has 4 written all over it, and still is a notch still below its predecessor.
From a style angle Adrenalize is just a tad more standard rocking than Glam, and you do have to hand it to legendary producer Mutt Lange, he like Bob Ezrin had an amazing ability to extract a fantastic sound that exceeds the band's natural abilities. To me he's an icon of popular music, and can see him much in the like of the fictional character Bruce Dickinson. Lange produced the 2nd through 6th album,and oversaw their rise to stardom.
Fun Fact: Admittedly I am not familiar with their newer works, but this the band is fine example chart consistence. Since stardom (3rd album-Pyromania-1987), Every album (10 albums 1987-2022) has cracked the Top 20.
Side 1-
-----------
Let's Get Rocked- DL starts the fun on 50/50 rock/glam mix that almost has a Pyromania feel too it. Collen makes his presence known right at the onset. Very good Def Leppard tune that hits all the high points- 2
Heaven Is- Song very innovatively has almost a retro '70's feel. Power chords, Glammish lyrically metered, and strong hooking? Yeah Def Leppard Rocks. 4
Make Love Like a Man- I always thought the lyrics were strangely silly. Singing a song about the presence of masculinity kind of seems questionable, if you need to bring it up in the first place. Song wise, still very good, in a very consistent LP. 5
Tonight- Not awful, but balladry with a few exceptions is not one of DL's strong suit. Some nice blues soloing towards the end add some redemptive points. 8
White Lightning- The band's most blatant foray into '80's hair band territory. But who wants more rehashed Motley Crue??... Not me. Not impressive, and the fact this goes on for 7 tortuous minutes just adds to the misery. 9
Side 2-
------------
Stand Up (Kick Love Into Motion). This is the sleeper and my actual favorite on the album. A little crow on my part. Two songs ago I said I didn't care much for this band's ballads. But with Stand Up, it is what I would almost call a semi-ballad. It has that structure, but nicely structured interlaces rocking verses that really work, Song also has some great scream like harmonization that makes it unique and memorable. 1
Personal Property- A standard hard rocker that hits all the marks. Almost has an early 1970's Aerosmith aura to it. 6
Have You Ever Needed Someone So Bad- This was the biggest hit on the album, and I am flabberghasted why? Oh well, 10
I Wanna Touch You- Heavily hooked, and ultra glam, but so damned catchy that it ends up being top tier on a really really good album here. No complexity, but says that it has to be that way. 3
Tear it Down- Band ends the work on another hair band number that is decent. DL would have made it itself in that genre, but am thankful that their repitioire was diverse enough to show that level of additional versatility. 7
Def Leppard by 1991 had already seen enough tragedy to fill a sad documentary. 1st being drummer Rick Allen's arm amputation in the mid 1980's. Then in 1991, superstar guitarist Steve Clark had succumbed to substance abuse. At the time, I figured that '87's classic Hysteria was their last one. Not only was Hysteria their greatest album, I consider it one of the greatest Glam Rock LP EVER Made.
But to the testament of the heart of the band, they not only recovered, they made their second best LP... today's Andrenalize. Clark wasn't replaced for Adrenalize, but rhythm guitarist Phil Collen did a remarkable job of not only filling in, but his ability to almost replicate Clark's wild runs and arpeggios was fantastic, and I might add with a hell of a lot of skill. The songwriting is top notch too. In retrospect, I should have given Hysteria 4 1/2 stars, and I might at a future recalibration. Because this album has 4 written all over it, and still is a notch still below its predecessor.
From a style angle Adrenalize is just a tad more standard rocking than Glam, and you do have to hand it to legendary producer Mutt Lange, he like Bob Ezrin had an amazing ability to extract a fantastic sound that exceeds the band's natural abilities. To me he's an icon of popular music, and can see him much in the like of the fictional character Bruce Dickinson. Lange produced the 2nd through 6th album,and oversaw their rise to stardom.
Fun Fact: Admittedly I am not familiar with their newer works, but this the band is fine example chart consistence. Since stardom (3rd album-Pyromania-1987), Every album (10 albums 1987-2022) has cracked the Top 20.
Side 1-
-----------
Let's Get Rocked- DL starts the fun on 50/50 rock/glam mix that almost has a Pyromania feel too it. Collen makes his presence known right at the onset. Very good Def Leppard tune that hits all the high points- 2
Heaven Is- Song very innovatively has almost a retro '70's feel. Power chords, Glammish lyrically metered, and strong hooking? Yeah Def Leppard Rocks. 4
Make Love Like a Man- I always thought the lyrics were strangely silly. Singing a song about the presence of masculinity kind of seems questionable, if you need to bring it up in the first place. Song wise, still very good, in a very consistent LP. 5
Tonight- Not awful, but balladry with a few exceptions is not one of DL's strong suit. Some nice blues soloing towards the end add some redemptive points. 8
White Lightning- The band's most blatant foray into '80's hair band territory. But who wants more rehashed Motley Crue??... Not me. Not impressive, and the fact this goes on for 7 tortuous minutes just adds to the misery. 9
Side 2-
------------
Stand Up (Kick Love Into Motion). This is the sleeper and my actual favorite on the album. A little crow on my part. Two songs ago I said I didn't care much for this band's ballads. But with Stand Up, it is what I would almost call a semi-ballad. It has that structure, but nicely structured interlaces rocking verses that really work, Song also has some great scream like harmonization that makes it unique and memorable. 1
Personal Property- A standard hard rocker that hits all the marks. Almost has an early 1970's Aerosmith aura to it. 6
Have You Ever Needed Someone So Bad- This was the biggest hit on the album, and I am flabberghasted why? Oh well, 10
I Wanna Touch You- Heavily hooked, and ultra glam, but so damned catchy that it ends up being top tier on a really really good album here. No complexity, but says that it has to be that way. 3
Tear it Down- Band ends the work on another hair band number that is decent. DL would have made it itself in that genre, but am thankful that their repitioire was diverse enough to show that level of additional versatility. 7