Diamond Star Halos

Def Leppard still ranks as one of my all-time favorite bands exactly because of two albums, the second one being "Adrenalize" ('92) (second one apart from 1987's "Hysteria", duh). Everything they did since 1993's somewhat overlooked B-side collection "Retro Active" has seemed more or less half-hearted. And after 2008's "Songs From the Sparkle Lounge", I didn't bother getting into their self-titled 2015 album.

"Diamond Star Halos" – named after a line from T. Rex's "Bang a Gong (Get It On)" – is... well, decent. As reflected in the name, it IS a pretty retrospective affair largely based on the creamier side of '70s hard rock. However, as reflected equally by the album cover's calculated references to Leppard's own classic releases, there are several such references in the actual songs. Opener and second single "Take What You Want" is structured more or less exactly like "Rock! Rock! (Till You Drop)" – the opener from "Pyromania" ('83). And its successor, the neutral-gear first single "Kick", is structured similarly to "Photograph" from the same album. Both have a solid base level of quality, as does "Fire It Up". And, for that matter, "SOS Emergency" and... well, most of the album.

The proverbial thing here is, while The Lep know their way around a decent hard rock tune, those tunes rarely and only momentarily transcend that very stage: Being decent. Most of the hooks will get stuck in your head after a coupla spins, sure. But as for outright relistenability, "Diamond Star Halos" might have most of its merit as a lower-stack car CD for longer drives on vacation trips. Because overall, it DOES have that unmistakable feel-good summer hard rock atmosphere. But apart from the overall quality level being decent, the production's too much on the greasy side, and there are also a couple of filler songs. "Gimme a Kiss" is kinda awkward, "Lifeless" is boring, and the country-tinted "This Guitar" is too sappy, even for Leppard. Having Alison Krauss grace the two latter ones with her otherwise pretty backing harmonics doesn't help – perhaps even the opposite.

In fact, the best songs this time around are the ballads "Goodbye for Good This Time" and "Angels (Can't Help You Now)" with their vivid string arrangements, modulations, and other tonal variety. But for an album in the hard rock category, that's not exactly the primary parameter of quality. I wasn't expecting much, but I still feel kinda bad about being so... honest on a band that still ranks so high in my world. But "Diamond Star Halos" is by no means a bad album. All else being equal, as long as The Lep get an excuse to come out touring, it's all for the better as far as I'm concerned.


(Originally posted at https://www.globalmetalblog.com/l/def-leppard-diamond-star-halos)

It is generally said that by a certain age, every great band lives entirely off of the legacy of their past accomplishments, particularly if the venues were at their fullest at a point in history. The gargantuan success that has tended to dog arena oriented rock bands in particular has tended to both exacerbate this tendency and also bring it on a bit sooner. Curiously enough, the peculiar case of Def Leppard has seen them generally avoiding this in a studio recording capacity, though for an even less pursuance known to us cynical metal heads as trend-chasing. Though it's arguable that the commercial bug bit this quintet as far back as 1987's Hysteria, if not going back further to their breakthrough third LP Pyromania, said albums were the product of a very unique interpretation of AOR that was fairly innovative.

Since the end of the 80s many bands from said era have been unfairly saddled with the Nirvana-concocted visual of a bunch of babies swimming after dollars attached to a fishing hook, though the post-Teen Spirit rock world has seen Def Leppard actually fall into this trap hook, line and sinker. Whether it was the grunge tag-along flop Slang, or the boy band-tinged nightmare in a pop music factory that was 2002's X, there hasn't been a trend popular with the 12-16 year old crowd that this outfit hasn't been willing to incorporate into their still evolving approach to attempting to crack the Top 40. Their last few ventures have at least had the dignity to spend a bit more time in actual hard rock territory, albeit of a fairly derivative mold.

Thus utter dross has given way to mediocrity with occasional flairs of decency in recent years, and it is into territory that 2022's Diamond Star Halos falls. While admittedly a bit of a mouthful as far as album titles goes, it's very much a fitting one as the degree of post-production polish on these songs could be likened to the final product of a precious stone polishing job for some billionaire mogul looking to attain a 23 year old trophy wife. Nowhere is this more present than on Joe Elliott's vocals, which lack even the level of grit and edge that was present on their eponymous 2015 LP. It's not quite to the point of mimicking the squeaky clean stylings of Paul McCartney during his stint singing duets with the likes of Michael Jackson, but it gets pretty close at times, and the obligatory gang choruses surrounding are similarly touched up with so much post-production gimmickry as to sound like a choir of cyborgs rehashing old Queen anthems.

But once one gets passed the overtly syrupy vocals, the actual contents of this album aren't half bad, a few lame pop ballads not withstanding. Punchy rock anthems like "Kick", "Fire It Up" and "Gimme A Kiss" have a sort of classic AC/DC meets Journey vibe to them that is fairly easy on the ears, and surprisingly enough the guitar work put forth by Phil Collen and Vivian Campbell borders on impressive in spite of being boxed into a highly contrived formula. Even the somewhat alternative rockish deal going on with slower anthems like "Liquid Dust" and "SOS Emergency" sees some pretty solid rocking moments along for the ride. Utter lameness isn't really achieved anywhere save for overtly saccharine-driven drivel like "Goodbye For Good This Time" (Aerosmith called, and they want their Armageddon theme song back) and almost country meets modern hip hop swill with a paper-thin instrumental backdrop like "Lifeless", as if the song's name itself didn't give it away.

I guess it's all relative at this point given that other than Euphoria and maybe half of the material on Adrenalize, there hasn't been anything put out under the Def Leppard name since the 80s that has avoided devolving into a total cringe-fest. But all the same, it appears that these aging blokes have planted about half of their flag on trying to rock out and the other on aping whatever is bringing in the biggest numbers on streaming sites. Old time fans should expect to find a number of decent rock anthems amid a near equal amount of rubbish, but so long as one doesn't come into this expecting them to recall their mid-80s glory days, let alone their brief stint with the NWOBHM, it's a less than terrible proposition, for what it's worth.