DEF LEPPARD IS BACK WITH ALBUM NUMBER TWELVE
Def Leppard is one of the most important bands in the musical soundtrack of my life. Aside from maybe X, I have always found something good on each of their previous albums. There is not a lot going on Diamond Star Halos that really sounds appealing to me.
I get that the band will never sound like they did when Steve Clark, Mutt Lange, and even Pete Willis were in the band. I’m not asking them to, but if you look at what Ghost just did with their album Imperia, you can still be a rock band and bring in outside writers and elements from other types of music and still make it your own, and more importantly rock.
The band has released 12 albums in 25 years.
The band and Ronan McHugh.
After years of fighting with Universal, and switching to Sony’s earMusic for the 2015 self-titled album, they’re back on Universal Music Enterprise (UMe).
The band first got together in 1977, forty-five years ago.
There are times when I can’t figure out what they’re doing with this album. Are these B-sides? Are they songs that were put together to appear on some movie soundtrack? Are these left overs, that due to the pandemic they tried to flesh out and release? Are they a band chasing past glories trying to recapture Hysteria for the millionth time?
When Joe Elliott said this would be a defining album for the band, I thought “wow, it’s the one we’ve been waiting for.” But nope, this feels like a band that has run out of ideas. No Def Leppard-like choruses that you want to sing to. No memorable melodies that get stuck in your head. It’s all kind of bland. Most of it is mediocre at best, with nothing that’s really great either.
I get that they’re still trying to chase the fan base that made Hysteria huge. But that vinyl buying, go see several shows on tour die-hard, is still hoping for something that resembles the band’s first three albums. When they were remotely a rock band.
Don’t get me wrong, there is a lot by the band since then that I have liked. But when the best musician in the band hasn’t written a single note on the album, there is a huge problem.
I can’t recommend this album to anyone. Will die-hards check it out anyway? Absolutely, and will there be some that say they love it? No doubt, but man, they need to understand that the two main ingredients in Hysteria are no longer around the band. Ballads like “Two Steps Behind” no longer light up the charts. If Tesla’s Shock wasn’t enough to make you realize that Phil Collen doesn’t know how to get a band on the radio, then there isn’t much anyone can do to help.
To quote one of my Patrons, the track “Lifeless” best describes the album. The album was produced by the band, and Ronan McHugh, sometimes bands need someone to say “no you can do better.” Diamond Star Halos is your perfect example of that.
Here is Def Leppard with the track "Take What You Want" off of their latest album Diamond Star Halos. It is the only song that thinks is decent off of the album.
Interested in checking out Let The Bad Times Roll by The Offspring before picking the album up?
Pick your poison, check out the album on either Spotify or Apple Music here.
HERE ARE SOME OTHER NEW RELEASES THAT MAY INTEREST YOU
Michael Schenker Group – Universal
Coheed And Cambria – Vaxis II: A Window Of The Waking Mind
Mark Tremonti – Tremonti Sings Sinatra
Simon McBride – The Fighter
Honey Bee – Honey Bee
Sensory Amusia – Breed Death
Nekkromaniac – Plague Eater
Crematory – Inglorious Darkness
Smoke Or Fire – Beauty Fades
Hey Thanks! – Start/Living
Low Gear – Siktunes Redux
Hollow Front – The Price of Dreaming
Trollfest – Flamingo Overlord
In Her Own Words – Distance Or Decay
Sarayasign – Throne of Gold
Rip Room – Alight and Round
Cabin Boy Jumped Ship – Sentiments
Iatt – Magnus Opus
With The Punches – Discontent
Holocausto Canibal – Crueza Ferina
Healing Magic – Volume 1: Fire
Black Void – Antithesis
Decapitated – Cancer Culture
Hey Thanks! – Start/Living
EPs
Mournful Congregation – The Exuviae Of Gods – Part I
Føes/Heated – War On Everything
REISSUES
Nirvana – Nevermind 30th Anniversary Super Deluxe Vinyl
Taking Back Sunday – Tell All Your Friends 20th Anniversary Edition
The Flower Kings – Back In The World Of Adventures
The Flower Kings – Retropolis
Tank – Honour And Blood
Tank – This Means War
COMPILATIONS
Raven – Rock Until You Drop The 4CD Over The Top Edition
Support the site and the bands you love by picking up any of the albums listed above.
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TUESDAYS ON SIGNALS FROM MARS
Signals From Mars Trivia Tuesday on Twitch is a new show where, as you might suspect, I throw out a bunch of hard rock and metal trivia questions to the audience.
Last week’s game came down to the very last question, with the winner taking away a $5 discount from the Mars Attacks Podcast Merch store. Will tonight bring a new champ?
Not only do you need to know the correct answer, but you also need to be the quickest to answer correctly. The faster you answer, the more points you obtain. But answer wrong, and you’ll lose points.
What to join in on the action, or watch and hang out in the chat? Go here to do so.
Signals From Mars Trivia Tuesday 5 PM EST / 2 PM PST / 10 PM UK / 11 PM CET
FRIDAYS ON SIGNALS FROM MARS
SIGNALS FROM MARS ON FIRESIDE
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