Def Leppard's new album,
Euphoria,
crashes out of the speakers like a rock'n'roll godzilla, demanding your
attention, defying you not to get swept along by its exuberance, its joyous
primal drive.
Euphoria has the kind
of energy level you associate with a band's debut album, not their NINTH.
The sound is classic Leppard.
"We're more self-aware, self-mocking
if you like, we're a group of guys having a laugh," singer Joe Elliott
says. "Music has taken itself too seriously for the past seven or eight
years. When musicians try to be politicians it's as ridiculous as it would
be if politicians tried to be rock stars."
Euphoria sees Mutt Lange's
return as a co-writer on three sparkling tracks, and also features a guest
solo from little-known guitar hero Damon Hill.
It sounds far mor e like
vintage Leppard than the group's last album Slang, in 1996. "Slang was
something we had to do, to get it out of our system," Joe explains. "But
this is us coming back strong. There was a time when so many bands had
stolen our sound that the market got saturated, but we always felt we had
some unfinished business."
Track three, "Back In Your
Face", captures the resurgent spirit of Leppard in 99 perfectly. Its anthemic
pop with a real uplifting feel. "There's an obvious dollop of Gary Glitter
to it, which expresses the having a laugh' side to us," Joe adds.
The album opens with "Demolition
Man", its jagged riff building into a big, brash, bombastic chest-beater
of a number. Formula One legend Damon Hill supplies the ride-out solo.
"Damon lives in Dublin, just seven doors away from Sav and like John McEnroe,
he fancies himself as a guitarist," Joe jokes.
"Promises", the first single,
has a hook that is catchier than razor wire y- fronts. It is one of the
three pearls co-written by maestro Mutt, along with the funky pop of "All
Night" and "It's Only Love", an unashamed slice of endearing romantic nonsense
described by Joe as "The track that is definitely NOT typical Leppard."
Mutt and the band hadn't
worked together for eight years. Joe says; "We were really pleased with
ten of the new songs, but we knew there was something missing from these
three. We asked Mutt to come over to work on them with us and inject some
of his magic."
They had just four days together.
"So we blitzed it," Joe says, "with the help of much caffeine intake. That
guy has oodles of energy. We'd start at 11 a.m. and he'd still be going
strong at four the next morning. Bottled essence of Mutt could replace
Lucozade as a re-energizer for the sick and listless. I love All Night',
it's got a really funky Prince-y feel, a James Brown riff and very tongue-in-cheek
lyrics taking the mick out of all the self-styled studs who strut our stages."
Mutt wasn't at all involved
with the production of the album. That job was done by the band and Pete
Woodroffe, a combination Joe reckons to be "The nearest you can get to
Mutt without him being there."
Other standout tracks include
Rick Savage's tender "Goodbye." "A good Leppard ballad," Joe says proudly.
"With us, ballads come out like wisdom teeth at the dentists." "Goodbye"
is very representative of the softer side of Leppard, as is Viv's "To Be
Alive."
"Kings of Oblivion" is the
polar opposite, a sinewy rocker evocative of "a dark alley and steamy manholes,"
Joe enthuses. "It's the seamy side of Manhattan at three in the morning.
It's also Leppard meets Rush with a large portion of UFO on the side. The
title is shamelessly stolen from Bowie's The Bewlay Brothers'."
"Disintegrate' is a Phil
Collen instrumental, it's very cool. I love it."
Euphoria, like Adrenalize,
was recorded in Joe's studio, downstairs at his Dublin home. It took ten
months to make, between May 1998 and March 1999.
"All the lads lived at my
house for the duration," says Joe. "Which cuts out the time wasted on travel
to and from studios. We worked really hard, normally from Sunday to Friday,
we would start work at 12 noon and finish at 1 a.m. unless Mutt was over.
All our meals were cooked in-house by our tour manager. And the only days
we'd have off were Saturdays."
It's a mighty long way down
rock'n'roll from the band's first rehearsal inside a spoon factory in Bramall
Lane, Sheffield, UK in November 1977.
Is it a bind having to get
out and play 22 years on?
"Never," Joe insists. "It
feels better than ever now. You don't think about what's happening to you
when you're 21 years old, but as you get more experienced touring and recording
gets better and better."
"Def Leppard have never been
a five year thing, we've always wanted to keep going like Aerosmith and
Stones, improving our sound as we go. They have kept up to date, but never
lost their identity. That's what we wanted to do here, make a modern record
with the unmistakable Leppard trademark."
And that's Euphoria.
Very possibly the best Def Leppard album yet.
