Pyromania

Pyromania, you love to hate it, or you hate to love it, there really is no middle ground with this album. It made Def Leppard MTV darlings basically overnight and catapulted them into hard rock stratosphere instantly with at least three main stream rock hits that are still on repeat to this day on every classic rock station known to mankind. The question at hand though is, does the insane popularity overshadow the actual quality and substance of material on this album? Well, let’s get into it.

Up until this point, Def Leppard were, more or less, still apart of the NWOBHM movement with absolutely stellar albums “On Through the Night” and the killer “High n’ Dry”, yet still weren’t as popular as they were to become. They had a hard edge swagger to their tunes that, although weren’t the hardest NWOBHM songs ever recorded, still qualified them as being apart of the movement for about four years or so.

Absolutely all of that changed in 1983. The band somehow wrote and recorded one of the most recognizable hard rock albums of all time outside of Boston’s debut in 1976. The album starts with the killer opener of “Rock! Rock! (Till You Drop)” that showed the band was still able to bring the hooks with the edge, something this goddamn band has absolutely perfected over the years and especially with this album.

The production speaks for itself. Excellent guitar tones, unmistakable electronic/analog hybrid drums that fit like a glove, a legendary vocal performance by Joe Elliott and some of the best and most memorable hard rock riffs and melodies basically ever written, in my opinion. Mutt Lange completely destroyed lives with his magic touch with the production, as he had been doing for years prior with albums like “Back in Black” and “Highway to Hell”. This fucking guy produced some of the biggest albums in history, so his signature work was definitely not missed on Pyromania, thus why this album printed boatloads of money in the 80’s.

You know the hits. “Too Late for Love”, “Rock of Ages”, “Foolin” and “Photograph”, the mainstays that have been burned into all of our brains over the years, among the rest of the album, more or less. Unless you’ve been living under a rock for literally 40 years, you know at least one of these songs, wether you’re into metal/rock or not, even normies know some of these tunes.

Pyromania is well known for a reason, but the “lesser known” songs like “Stagefright”, “Die Hard the Hunter” and “Comin’ Under Fire” really showcase what this band is truly all about, especially at this particular time period in the early-mid 80’s. These tunes bring the quintessential Leppard tasty riffs with stellar hooks that sink into you like Leatherface hurling your body onto the meat hook, you absolutely cannot escape it. You’re stuck having to deal with it, they’re that good.

I truly don’t think the world was ready for such an album in 1983, especially for Leppard being only slightly well known in the years leading up to it. “High n’ Dry” was amazing, but wasn’t the absolutely devastating nuke that Pyromania became. That massive shift from “somewhat well known” to MTV darlings all within a 24 month period was staggering and it showed.

There’s really nothing else to be said about one of the most well known hard rock albums of all time. Killer sound, killer songs and a killer production make this one of the greats. I used to be a Def Leppard hater back in the day because “Pour Some Sugar on Me” made me want to shoot up a bank every time I heard it, but once I reached back to their first two albums, my opinion changed drastically and “High n’ Dry” actually became one of my favorite albums.

Of course the band started to play stadiums in 1987 when they became one of the biggest acts on the fucking planet with “Hysteria”, and the rest, as they say, is history. If you don’t know Pyromania, which you probably do, listen to it, now.

Highlights: Basically the entire album, but my favorites are “Die Hard the Hunter”, “Stagefright” and “Commin’ Under Fire”. You can’t go wrong with any track, really.

The only reason I’m not giving this a full 100% is that my inner teenager Def Leppard hater still wants to dock it based on principal, but there’s nothing wrong with it. Put this shit on and dig it!

There is a very common expression nowadays to define certain musical releases, mainly the hard rock oriented ones, which is to call them "Dad Rock", in general it is an expression that I don't like, because I love many of the records that are considered this way and I am far from being a dad, besides that it is usually used as a quick and bad faith qualifier of a whole style of music that was incredibly influential in its time and that, in many cases, is still relevant of high quality even nowadays. But if there is one release to which I think this definition fits perfectly, it is definitely this album. I'm not saying that you can't like it if you weren't there in the eighties, in fact I like it, but it has a sound and a production so markedly typical and exclusive of the era in which it came out that I'm sure that those who enjoy this work the most are the people to whom its sound evokes that nostalgia for a bygone era.

There are several factors of production and performance that bring up this outcome, surely the most important part is the percussion, it is very marked, simple but very effective with what it proposes, because it manages to provide the rest of the aspects of memorability thanks to the simple rhythms, it makes everything feel more accessible because it is easy to follow, it is even danceable. All this is due, of course, to the fact that it is a programmed drum kit, it is undoubtedly that this resource benefits the musical proposal of Def Leppard in this work, but I would like everyone to draw their own conclusions about what kind of music is this if it is necessary to use a machine with a static and soulless performance to make it all sound better.

Some of the other major aspects to the success of this release is the use of keyboards, an effective eighties cliché, more subtle than the percussion but serving a very similar function, precious embellishments that give a melodic and comfortable base to all the songs and allow for more captivating sonic aspects to unfold to the listener's ear. The backing vocals are also partly responsible for this, they are very common and appear systematically several times in all the songs, adding memorability and making the album incredibly anthemic. And this is probably the most valuable asset of the album and at the same time one of my biggest complaints, the overexploitation of this resource permanently for 45 minutes doesn't do anyone any favours, at the beginning it's funny but it ends up being tedious, because although many of the songs are clearly different from each other they all end up sounding alike because of that common factor, it's also something that is incredibly monothematic, the choruses only have one key so it doesn't make sense to overexploit them so much.

Another reason why I don't like the exploitation of the chorus is because it overshadows Joe Elliott's performance, which is fantastic, his delivery is the culmination of the evolution that hard rock vocalists brought since the incursion of vocalists like Roger Daltrey or Robert Plant, and would be the stoneplate of later glam rock bands like Ratt, W.A.S.P. or Guns N' Roses. A clear high-pitched, angry, unrelieved voice that is capable of being melodic without losing that rebellious and chaotic essence in his voice, transmits both festivity and hedonism and there should be more space for him to shine, being one of the aspects I can't forgive of the album.

Thanks to the basics I mentioned previously there is one thing that stands out quite a bit when listening to this album by its own merits, the guitars, all of them, Pete Willis was fired after recording all the rhythm work, along with Steve Clark, and with him goes the last traces of heavy metal in the band, this loss was something that was already being gradual, but Pete's departure only accelerated the process, even with the material that was recorded Phil Collen himself admitted that it was fantastic and that he had a lot of fun recording the solos and some of the arrangements as these basis gave him a lot of creative freedom. And I think that's something that ends up being reflected in the final result, despite not being an exclusively guitar focused album every time the guitars do their thing they shine by their own quality, their riffs and solos have the perfect balance between simplicity and technical deployment to make it feel satisfying and creative, with an electrifying and sharp but melodic and happy tone that can make anyone air guitaring, the amount of kids that would pick up a guitar for the first time after hearing this album must be gigantic.

This album is peculiar because I can say that I like it, but if I expose myself to it for too long I end up getting a bit disgusted with it, there are many production decisions that I don't agree with, and I really feel that in order to enjoy the album from start to finish you have to lower any kind of artistic expectations and let yourself be carried away by its simplicity and its silly tone. A lot is said, and in part I even defend, about the complexities of writing simple music, that many times it's even more complicated to make good music with simple bases than anything else, but here I don't really appreciate it, there's an effective formula that is repeated ad nauseam and that's it. A lot is said about Pantera and the stupidity of their music, but I think this is worse, you really have to lower your IQ a few points to forget all their problems. And yet, with all this I'm saying, it's an album that if I put it on once I enjoy it for the most part, but force me to listen to it twice more and I'll force you to eat the CD. This is not a joke, it's a warning, be aware (I don't know how to end the review).

Pyromania is a iconic heavy metal/hard rock album chalk full of hit singles. This is the album that sent Def Leppard into the mainstream and led to them selling out arenas everywhere they went. Every song on here will easily get stuck in your head as this is one of the most catchiest albums ever crafted. Not every song is great but majority of this album is killer and shows how good you can be while still keeping things simple. I love High n' Dry almost as much as Pyromania but for me Pyromania is the definitive Def Leppard album it's the one that contains the most of their songs they have to play live cause they are so damn good. The album cover on this one is pretty rad as well and has become quite a classic cover since its inception.

The production/mix here is the early 80's in a nutshell laced with reverb and delay. Rick's snare has that reverse reverb on it giving it that fade in effect that was pretty much standard for bands like Def Leppard. Everyone is audible here and is at their peak as far as songwriting and arrangements go. This band knew how to write hit after hit and knew how to make the greatest hooks and most catchiest choruses known to man. Def Leppard also had some of the best backing vocals right up there with Michael Anthony's work on the early Van Halen records. Speaking of Van Halen how the fuck are they not on here and bands like Def Leppard are. Makes no damn sense to me as Van Halen were just as metal as Def Leppard are considered in my book. Anyways, this album sounds pretty damn good production wise. Phil Collen and Steve Clark gel together like they had been playing guitar for 20 years together on this record and Joe Elliot belts it out harder than ever on Pyromania. Savage and Allen groove along superbly here but they aren't as flashy as the other guys with their playing, they simply give the songs the backbone and rhythm to flourish at their maximum.

The songs here are incredible not all of them, but majority of this record kicks ass for what it is. The album starts with a few weaker tracks "Rock Rock (Till You Drop)" kicks off the record which is a decent little song with a killer clean guitar intro but nothing compared to some of the others. Next is the worst track here and was the radio hit "Photograph" which needs no explanation you turn on the radio and its there still 37 years later. The song isn't bad but its the poppiest one on this record. "Stagefright" is up next and like the previous ones is a bit of a weaker track compared to all the other tracks after this one so the album starts off pretty weak and would lead you to believe it's not that great.

Now we get to the badass cuts on this record "Too Late For Love" is next and to me this is their best song on any album it is just quintessential Def Leppard. The clean guitars in the intro with Elliot's vocals and the bands backing vocals make this track just too damn good. I can't stress it enough "Too Late For love" is just brilliant. "Die Hard The Hunter" it to is another classic track by the band that gets played almost every show. Next up is yet another hit "Foolin'" another live staple that has layout similar to "Too late For Love" with mellow verses to hard rockin' choruses. "Rock of Ages" is just iconic and another live staple that is one of the must play songs at the bands live shows. "Comin' Under Fire" is another banger that keeps it simple but very effective and catchy as all hell. "Action Not Words" is decent it isn't the greatest song here at all but isn't as good and can be lumped in with the first 3 tracks. Wrapping up the record is "Billy's Got A Gun" which is not a weak track at all and like the rest of the songs and I'm sure you're tired of hearing it by now but it yet again has sweet hooks and catchy choruses like all the tracks here they get stuck in your head easily. Just one listen and you'll walk around all day with these songs stuck in your mind.

In the end this album is damn good and one of the most iconic releases of the 80's in general. Pyromania is overrated yes but it's not a bad overrated record even with some weaker tracks sprinkled at the start and one near the end. The strong songs make this album stand among the rest of the record and they don't disappoint even for a die hard thrash metal dude like myself I still love this album and jam it from time to time. I'd recommend this album to basically anybody whether you're into metal, hard rock, or not even remotely into heavy music there is something here for you on Pyromania. This album is a straight classic and is so known by everyone people are born knowing at least one song on this record. This is by far the bands peak and I'd even throw High n' Dry in there as well cause its just as good just not as iconic of a release. After this record Rick Allen would lose one of his arms in a car accident on the last day of 1984 and the band would never be the same again. Rick would continue with the band playing drums on a specialized kit with one arm which is damn impressive. Their next album would take 4 years until its release and would be their biggest seller but they would lose the slight bit of hard edge they had on Pyromania in favor for an even more pop sound.

Def Leppard's discography of the last 35 years looks like an endless series of bad and even worse albums. Everybody who says that she or he really loves anything they released after 1983 must be a dubious creature and I will definitely never buy a used car from such a shady character. But here we have "Pyromania", their longplayer from 1983. Good news: if holds many expressive compositions. Bad news: it is not really a metal album. Just listen to the sound of the vinyl.

The guitars sound very unnatural, slightly sticky and rubbery. Sometimes I think that I am listening to an overdose of synthesizers. The drums, especially the snare, could be more powerful and everything leaves a very polished overall impression. One has to get used to this mix and I do not reveal a secret when saying that the band was highly interested in having commercial success. The production shows this blatantly. But the quintet used admissible means to be successful. Although the synthetic overall picture turns the more or less metallic compositions into rock songs, there is still a lively, energetic and fairly aggressive element. The drive of "Die Hard the Hunter", its straightforward approach and the powerful solos mirror the fresh attitude of the formation impressively. The rebellious riffing and the sombre lyrics also make clear that Def Leppard did not seek commercial triumphs at any cost. Yet it goes without saying that there are less dark cuts as well. The very strong opener, for example, is a typical first track: explosive, libidinous and powerful.

"Pyromania" is, despite its mainstream-compatible tendencies, no funny or optimistic work. It houses some very melancholic numbers like "Too Late for Love" or "Foolin'". Doubtlessly, Def Leppard were still authentic and no puppets of the music industry. Even more, they were excitingly good songwriters. All songs are catchy as hell, but not predictable, primitive or harmless. It is not easy to forget the pieces after having finished the first "Pyromania" listening session. The closer "Billy's Got a Gun" could be a hard track of Foreigner or comparable wimps - nevertheless, it marks a great finish. It sounds stoic, fatalistic and a little bit eerie. Just like some other songs, it suffers slightly from the overuse of not very masculine background vocals. But this detail does not hurt the overall picture remarkably. The song as well as the entire longplayer score with relatively crunchy guitar riffs and Joe Elliott's pretty defiant vocals serve as a corrective for the slightly light gang shouts of his band mates.

All in all, the album avoids fillers and surprises with hidden heroes like "Comin' Under Fire". Maybe it is a little bit too dignified, but it has some sharp edges as well and does not lack integrity. Thank God, the band did not yet pour some sugar on its compositions and the pretty good artwork also did not intend to be everybody's darling. I wish there would exist more albums like "Pyromania", good hard rock / metal music, written and performed by talented musicians.

What can I start to say about this album? I'll start with saying that this album rules! 1983 was a huge year for metal with albums like Dio's ''Holy Diver'', Ozzy's ''Bark At The Moon'' and the chart-topping ''Metal Health'' from Quiet Riot that sent glam metal into the mainstream. Without this release, glam metal simply wouldn't have been as good.

The songwriting on this phenomenal and is far superior to the first two CDs while the performances from the band themselves are even better with Steve Clark and Phil Collen learning how to share their talents with each other with them both reaching their peak on the Hysteria album. Pete Willis is ripping rhythm tracks on the whole record and Rick Savage does some of his coolest bass lines on songs like ''Billy's Got A Gun'' and ''Stagefright''.

The music on the album is a lot more polished and even pop like sounding on this release. if you got someone to listen to the MWOBHM like song ''Rock Brigade'' and then get them to listen to the pop sounding Photograph, some people wouldn't be able to tell it's the same band. But it works for them perfectly, with the music being a preview of what was to come on the next album with Hysteria and what the band had played beforehand with the High N Dry album.

Joe Elliot's voice deserves a paragraph on its own. The diversity with the vocals on this record is amazing with a slow crooning voice on songs like Too Late for Love and Comin' Under Fire while he delivers some high-pitched screams while still being able to control it on songs like Stagefright and Rock Rock Till You Drop. He recorded the vocals on this album note for note, with producer Mutt Lange forcing him to give him nothing but pitch perfect notes which were painstaking for Joe but the hard work definitely showed when this album came out with his vocals being praised very highly for years to come.

Songs like Photograph, Rock of Ages and Foolin were crafted perfectly for the radio with them being known by millions today. Action not Words and Die Hard The Hunter have a cool mystique to them with the former only being played for one show ever in 1983 while the latter lasted the whole Hysteria tour and one show in 1992 and that was it for that one as well. It's the last track Billy's Got A Gun that really grabs a hold of me with its Led Zeppelin-ish riffs and its prog rock like long middle section with Steve Clark definitely showing more of his Led Zeppelin influence here as well.

Ultimately, the track listing, production, performances, etc are top-notch therefore making it a 100% rating album for me

Def Leppard isn't quite my favorite band, but they're definitely in my top 20. They've got a pretty diverse sound...well...for what they are. They started out as one of the many bands that had been a part of the NWOBHM and they were actually one of the most popular. However, the thing that was different about them was that they had more hard rock and mainstream influences. After the release of 1981's "High 'N Dry'', they decided to give those influences a bit more love. The result: an extremely catchy nd solid hard rock album that took the world by storm. Sure, this album had influenced a lot of those shitty glam metal bands, but it doesn't categorize itself into that genre, so elitists should really stop their bitching...there's no one outside of their circle that gives a damn.

The music on this album has a smaller focus on heavy riffs and tries a bit more to be catchy and it works. The songs on here have a bit of a groovy sound, especially the tracks, "Action! Not Words", (which is quite possibly the heaviest song on the album) and the opener, "Rock, Rock ('Til You Drop)". Tracks such as these mainly focus on catchiness, while other tracks focus a bit more on rocking, such as "Rock Of Ages" and the anthemic "Stage Fright". One track, however, that perfectly brings the two together is "Foolin", which is probably the most "metal" track on the album, but it's catchy as well, sort of like something by Praying Mantis, which was a NWOBHM band...but probably just a little less harmonic.

The music and production aren't quite as glossy as they would later become, but it is most definitely more so when compared to the last two albums. The production sounds more like you are in the studio room, listening to them record, where on later work, it sounds more like a studio recording. It's just a little bit more raw, which is good. Music like this is better when it sounds like it is being played right in front of you. The music still has some of those heavy metal roots, which were abandoned later on. It makes the music sound a tad less like, "Let's just be as catchy as possible" and more like, "Let's make catchy music, but still rock the fuck out". I'm not saying that the later work is bad. I just think that this is a little better.

If you're just someone who knows Def Leppard because they heard "Pour Some Sugar On Me" on the radio, one thing that you'll instantly notice is the vocals. Rather than the mid-pitched, bluesy vocals that Joe Elliot uses on later albums, he has a powerful, screeching voice, similar to those of AC/DC's Brian Johnson, but they have the melody of vocalists such as Queen's Freddy Mercury, which goes along with the bombastic, yet melodic music. He hits some low notes as well, but when he does, it's usually in softer parts of the music, which are kept to a minimum. It's something that would be thought of as more appealing by listeners of heavier music.

While sometimes, this album can sound a little cheesy, I think of it as a good cheesiness. Those brutal death metal bands can be cheesy as well, just in a different way. Some people like to think of that cheese the same way I do, which makes enough sense. It is not the heaviest or the most professional in Def Leppard's discography, but it blends the commercial and the rebellious styles of music the most proficiently. For this reason, I enjoy this album immensely.

Def Leppard has been making crappy albums for as long as we can remember, and now, the band says that a new album is in the works.

Hooray.

They've had such a history with creating some inexcusably lousy songs that plagued the airwaves in the late 80's and early 90's, not to mention the ungodly monstrosities that were released afterword. What irony, they used to be good. Their first three albums actually had some stuff that would actually qualify as metal, but their long slippery slope towards becoming a band of bubblegum-creating plutocrats began with their third album, "Pyromania". This would be the last album of Def Leppard's that would have songs that would make it worth purchasing. We do have some songs that should be skipped at all costs, but at the same time, we also have songs that are totally awesome.

"Pyromania" doesn't really have much of the band's NWOBHM influence that it had in the past. Instead, we get a lot of hard rock and heavy metal influences. For this reason, we get some songs that hit and some that miss. The song that has a direct hit on the bulls-eye is "Stagefright". It's possibly the most aggressive song Def Leppard has made, and nothing like it has been made before or since. It's got a hard, crunching riff as well as a driving pace. Together, they create a song that would totally qualify as metal. Joe Elliot also gives quite an aggressive vocal performance, screeching loud enough to rival Rob Halford. Listen to that song, and you'd get the idea of what Def Leppard should've gone for, aside from their roots, of course. Another contender for a good heavy metal song would be "Comin' Under Fire". It's at a slower pace, but it still has that crunch and swagger that gives it its awesome power, not to mention its catchy chorus.

Even one of the ballads has something to offer. "Foolin'" is recognized as one of Def Leppard's signature ballads, but I see it as something much, much more. Sure it's soft during the verses, but when it gets to the choruses, it kicks into gear and gives us some hard-hitting power. During the verses when it's soft, it also carries a somewhat eerie and mysterious atmosphere. If the band was ever to come up with another ballad, it has to sound like the verses of "Foolin'", 'cos there's no way I'm ever gonna take "Love Bites" seriously.

Yep, we do get songs that range from either ridiculous, but passable to downright horrendous. On the one end of the spectrum, we get the all-famous "Photograph". I'd have to admit, while it is somewhat ludicrous with its bright tone, it can be catchy and somewhat addicting. Other songs aren't so lucky. "Too Late for Love" is a rather sedate and boring excuse for a song, let alone a ballad. It's slow, incredibly light, and therefore, an eyesore to the ears (earsore?). If you thought "Photograph" was stupid, you've never heard "Action! Not Words". Not only does it have a sort of upbeat vibe, but the lyrics are just absolutely asinine. They basically follow some dude who is "sick and tired of the damn TV" and elaborates on how he wants to create his own movie. I'd hate to question the logic of the song, but does the dude have any experience with directing movies? Sounds like somebody's fantasy to me. "Billy's Got a Gun" actually has potential. It seems like a very dark and edgy song with a grim subject matter. It's totally ruined, however, by the two minutes of synthesized drum noises that go on long after it should've ended. Seriously, what's the point of that? You've taken a perfectly good song and then you've turned it into utter trash by adding that drum beat! Thanks a lot!

As much as this album has its flaws, I still enjoy some aspects of it, "Stagefright" and "Comin' Under Fire" especially. They're what makes "Pyromania" a good album, but not exactly great. The songs that I mentioned in the previous paragraph are a definite sign that the good songwriting of Def Leppard is about to come to an end. One album later, and there wouldn't be much awesomeness to go around. At that point, they've turned themselves into a despicable 80's boyband that would make Metallica's "Load" albums sound like Blind Guardian's "Imaginations from the Other Side".

Motley Crue, Maiden, and Metallica could only look on in amazement at the sales figures that Pyromania pulled in on a weekly basis. If the object of the game of rock and metal was to make money, then Def Leppard not only won, but destroyed all competition during 1983. From all the albums released this year, only Lionel Richie’s Can’t Slow Down has sold more over time. All this from what started out as a bunch of young kids from Sheffield trying to break into the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal scene. The record company sunk a then crazy million dollars to make it and the guys would have sell a minimum of three million copies to get themselves out of debt. A somewhat tall order considering previous lp High N Dry didn’t even break the top 30 on either side of the Atlantic. Having producer Mutt Lange on board again was the key here. Instead of banging out the tracks over a few weeks in the studio, an immense period of crafting, recording, and mixing of the tracks took place, and over a year was spent ensuring that when the album was finally released, it was perfect.

Taking the high gloss and smooth production techniques from major pop records and applying them to rock would seem to be Mutt’s speciality. From the crashing opening bars of epic opener Rock! Rock! (Till You Drop) until the drawn out and distorted drum loop of the final number Billy’s Got A Gun, this is quite the remarkable studio recording, not that it would hold any water at all if the songs were not up to much. Now I wouldn’t go as far to say, like most Def Leppard fans I know would, that Pyromania is 100% killer and no filler because even though there isn’t a bad song on it, not every one is a classic. Too Late for Love drifts on after you want it to end and is a little too wet for a rock band of any kind to sing, meanwhile Coming Under Fire grates on me every time I hear it. It feels like the boys pulled the chorus out of their Leppard utility belt on a whim when they realized they had already used their best on Photograph and Rock Of Ages.

So what’s so great about a pop rock record? Def Leppard answer this song after song. Die Hard The Hunter is a case in point, from the start a risk is taken because of the lyrical social commentary contained within. Cock rock fans do not want to hear about war; the boys wanna hear about pussy and the girlies wanna hear about dick. Perhaps because of this, it became singer Joe Elliot’s favourite of the Pyromania set. The multi-layered vocal harmonies take the scope of the song from an audio treat to a huge cinematic level, broad in style and scope. Mutt really took the boys to task here, sometimes adding his own vocal takes to underscore and alternate the exact frequency of those voices. And so it goes on, Foolin’ is a ballad masterclass, gently building until the sub chorus flows into the bridge, which then launches into the main chorus. Boom! Repeat formula and then solo. It’s a cliché because it works, and done in less skilled hands you’d loose interest after the first listen, and bands like Warrant and Stryper never learnt that lesson. You have to be the best if you are treading an already weathered path.

Pyromania was also guitarist Pete Willis’ final album with the band after his behaviour was deemed to be getting in the way of the group's intensified forward momentum. This was another risk taken by the band, this time because Pete was a contributor in the songwriting process and a tight rhythm player to boot. It was late in the album's recording cycle when his alcohol problem became too much for the band to handle, so a replacement was brought in the guise of Phil Collen, who still resides in the band today. It would not be until Hysteria that Phil made a real contribution to Def Leppard and it does seem a shame that today Pete Willis is considered nothing more than a footnote in the band’s history, considering the huge contribution he made to the first three lps.

Not that any of this mattered. Leppard’s gamble to delay release until everything was polished and exactly what Mutt Lange and the group wanted from a perfect rock record paid off millions of times over. Only Michael Jackson’s Thriller kept Pyromania off the top spot in the USA. Reviews from usually lukewarm critics were feverish in the States and the UK (where sales were steady, but disappointing considering it is the bands home country). Malcolm Dome at Kerrang! magazine announced that Pyromania would become a legendary record, which of course it has. What amazes me is that the boys were able to better it next time round. Who would have thought it back in the days of the NWOBHM. Nobody, except maybe for Joe Elliot, who would later say he wanted the group to be the Stephen Spielberg of the rock world. Def Leppard had just released their Jaws, next up E.T.

If I were to make a list with the best and most influential rock albums of the eighties (I say rock, not metal, obviously), Pyromania would definitely be in it. This album is way up there together with Slippery When Wet, 1984, Appetite for Destruction, Back in Black and Stay Hungry.

Even though I have to admit all my favourite songs are on the A side of the album, as a whole the album is one trip through memory lane which still stands firm. ‘Rock Rock 'Till You Drop’ is a song that could fit any classic eighties rock album. A song that would sound good in the hands of almost anybody which only adds to the intrinsic quality of the song.

The pounding verses on ‘Stagefright’ are on the edge of becoming classic metal but the chorus takes it into poprock history. Also ‘Photograph’ is a superb example how Def Leppard could mix rock with slick vocals and melodies into working, catchy songs. It’s not without reason this is a staple eighties rock song.

On B-side tracks like ‘Rock On ages’, ‘Comin' Under Fire’ and ‘Billy's Got a Gun’ we can already clearly hear what the Hysteria album would sound like 4 years later. Not a bad thing obviously and it show’s even more how this album was the transition from High ‘n Dry to Hysteria.

The power/semi ballad ‘Too Late for Love’ is a personal favourite. Not only is it a strong track which gets to me everytime. It also shows great vocal performance including the backing, good clean section and some riffing which could almost be called classic metal.
Same could be said about ‘Die Hard the Hunter’ which in a way is also one of the best written/constructed songs here and the long instrumental middle section just sheer beauty.

On Pyromania Def Leppard had the perfect balance between the metallic rock from their first two albums and the perfect sleeze and catchiness of their next effort, the bestseller Hysteria. A combination which results in pretty much Def Leppard’s best album.

My first contact with Def Leppard was at the beginning of the 90’s with the Adrenalize album. It was a nice one but it was pure hard rock and had nothing to do with metal. So it was kind of difficult to believe that they once had a more metal style. When I bought Pyromania I didn’t know what I should expect to hear.

What we have to admit is that Def Leppard is a band that managed to get heavy rock into the music business and at the top of the charts. This is where they divided metal society. Many people think of them as posers, unworthy of attention. But there are those who believe that they contributed in the promotion of hard music and the welcome of new fans.

Now, about Pyromania itself. By no means can you place it among heavy metal albums. To me, it is pure American hard rock that follows the American preferences and stereotypes. But it is not, I repeat, it is not a bad album. It has a full sound, a good production, nice vocals, heavy guitars and catchy songs. All this without losing its aggressive profile and this is what makes it very interesting. The rhythm section is very steady and I think that their new guitarist, at the time, Phil Collen, has brought along his own style of playing. Joe Elliot is a fantastic singer with a melodic and harsh voice and he knows how to use it.

The songs in Pyromania are basically of the same quality. If I had to choose the best ones, they would be Stagefright, Die Hard the Hunter and the all-time classic Too Late for Love, one of the best ballads I have heard. Stagefright is the fastest track, with heavy riffs that really excited me. Too Late… is emotional all the way and I think that its melodic lines have been sung by many listeners, many times. The rest of the songs are pretty much the same, hard rock catchy compositions. As for the supposed hit, Photograph, I think it is too overestimated. It’s not that bad but it doesn’t justify its title as top hit.

That’s more or less what I can say about Pyromania. It is a nice, solid album and it has nothing to do with the crappy shit they did in Slang. It is definitely worth checking out.

Wow...this was one of the first hard rock albums I bought with my own money back in the day, alongside "Metal Health" and "Shout at the Devil"! I remember this album getting lots of airplay on radio back then, understandably so given that it's a very solid album. I really don't consider this a "glam" album, it was still too rough and tumble to earn that status, highly polished though the production was. It's more the vocal harmonies and the melodies extant in the songs that give it a more commercial feel, but if you look past that you see a level of sophistication in the guitar arrangements that goes beyond standard issue Kiss wannabe riffs or simple big, loud anthems. Then again, Def Leppard always wanted success in America (the second album had a song called "Hello, America" on it, even) and they achieved it with this album, I think.

The choruses are very catchy and memorable and I still find myself humming them to this day in idle moments. "Foolin'" and "Rock of Ages" stand out in this regard in particular. Even "Coming Under Fire" and "Rock! Rock! Til You Drop!" stand out there too after all these years. Joe Elliott's rough, screaming vocals drive those home with conviction. In later years he became too much the squealer for my taste, but this album shows him as he was before he went that route, a more guttural approach with more power behind his vocals. He was capable of softer vocals as well, like the verses of "Foolin'" where he sings in a more subdued vein and pulls it off well.

Phil Collen and Steve Clark made an excellent guitar tandem that bounced all manner of guitar parts off of the walls on these songs. Rather like a more relaxed and calm version of the Amott brothers, they arranged the songs with an ear-catching variety of guitar parts that are just much lurking in the background as texture as they are loud and up front. There are an abundance of clean toned and acoustic parts throughout, and their soloing is tasteful and well-constructed at all times, no random flailing here. A strong blues sensibility informs their playing and the shining solo moments on the album are still on "Photograph", where Phil builds a fabulously scorching yet melodic moment in the sun in the middle and Steve rides out with a sweet, haunting ending. "Rock of Ages" does pretty well in that respect too, with some nice whammy bar stuff going on in the middle of the solo. In short, a very underrated guitar team, Clark & Collen were.

The Ricks, Savage and Allen, are a tight and capable, if workmanlike rhythm section that drive things along in a highly appropriate fashion on every song. They are not flashy or grandstanding at all, just a good rhythm section that lay down the bottom and rhythm like bedrock. For this band, there is no other way to do it.

Standout songs for me are pretty much what everyone else agrees on: "Rock! Rock! Til You Drop!", "Rock of Ages" (with its amusing scat intro and Joe declaring "It's better to burn out than fade away!!!" convincingly), "Photograph" (the mega hit that was understandably so since it is easily the best tune here), "Coming Under Fire", and "Foolin'". Understandably so, since these are great songs! The rest of the album is solid but not as good, hence the rating of only 75. But still, this is not an album to be disregarded or ignored--that goes to anything after "Hysteria", for my taste. Mutt Lange's production does seem a bit dated with its massive airplane hangar drum sound, and this is another reason it doesn't get a higher rating. Those niggling things aside, still, this album holds up well musically and shows a band hitting its stride and really jacking it up a notch to take over American radio and video channels. Check it out and give it a chance.

1983 was a landmark year for popular metal. It's the year that infact glam metal became mainstream and started topping the charts. You had bands like Quiet Riot (who made the first metal album to make #1 on the billboard), Dokken, Twisted Sister, Motley Crue, and of course Def Leppard with this album, Pyromania. It is an important album in glam history, as it almost single handly brought glam metal to the mainstream. Now before, Def Leppard wrere not exactly glam at all. They're debut album, On Through the Night was a full heavy metal album, then High & Dry was AC/DC worshipping hard rock. It wasn't until their third album, thta they would take the glam world by storm.

Photograph, Rock Rock Til You Drop, Rock of Ages, Die Hard the Hunter, and Stagefright are the best songs on the album. The first four mentioned are hard rocking catchy numbers that are fun to listen to. The you have Stagefright which boarderlines on speed metal, with the fast tempo and ballsy riffs. Foolin and Billy's Got a Gun are pretty good as well and add to the album with some nice hooks. It's more consistent, yet also not as good as Hysteria. Yet, unlike Hysteria, there is absoluetly no filler on this album. Each song is consistently good, and some songs are slightly better than others.

As I said before, this was an important album for glam metal, as it helped commercialize the genre in the early-mid 80s. However, they would not make another album until 1987, because of Rick Allen's car accident which lost him his arm. However, he had enough commitment to the band, that he would stay in the band and surprisingly improve thanks to his self-designed drum kit. While not as greta as Hysteria, this album is still an essiential in Def Leppard's discography. You really can't go without it, so if you don't already own this album, I'd suggest getting it as soon as you can.

Pyromania is one of the true touchstones of popular metal in the 80's, standing its ground against Screaming for Vengeance, Shout at the Devil, and Stay Hungry, the record's massive singles grabbing airplay to this day. And wow, what a barrage of singles to wow and amaze, insanely popular blockbuster "Photograph"(worst track on the album in fact) leading the pack of brilliantly played and insidiously composed chartbusters that defined the hair era.

Now, I've spun this album dozens, maybe hundreds, of times, and one thing that strikes me is the amount of filler. Yeah, the singles alone push it into the stratosphere, but the filler tracks bring it down. And the sad thing is, it's probably the vaunted production that weighs them down a bit, songs like "Stagefright" and "Coming Under Fire" sort of feeling both too raw for the steely brilliance on display elsewheres and too polished to really give the impression of rebellion or aggression.

Who cares though really? Phil Collen and Steve Clark are as underrated a guitar tandem as there ever was, both clever musicians with very respectable chops, Rick "soon to be one-armed" Allen writes some clever and powerful stuff (remember, he didn't really play on the record), Sav's a solid bassist (even if he is a little too smiley), and Joe, he's well, Joe. Man, could that guy scream or what? He had as metal a voice as you could want, shredding screams and a really soaring range when he let it go. Gotta put him up there with Sebastian Bach as the best all out hair vocalist. When these guys come together (with Mutt Lange of course), sometimes there's magic. And sometimes there's Adrenalize, more on that when it comes...

Lightning strikes often in that fashion on Pyromania, yielding some great, great stuff. Opener "Rock, Rock Till You Drop" is as perfect an opener as you could want, an AC/DC style rock'n'roller that instructs you on the way to party hardy Leppard style. And man, it's convincing, with that shredding solo and gloriously ballsy riff coming out of the syrupy intro. Joe Elliott really shreds his vox on this one, creating the perfect live song.

Power ballads come no better than "Too Late for Love", the blueprint for any number of followers that still rocks harder than any of them. Unabashed metal might, perfectly dramatic lyrics in a power metal vein, that achingly powerful solo...just perfection. Up them lighters folks, the Leps executing the concept with unheard of skill and feel, years before Bon Jovi, Poison, and even the Leppards themselves drove it into the realm of nigh-intolerably schlock over-exposure (see: Adrenalize).

There's no denying the people-moving power of "Rock of Ages", Joe sort've rapping over these big synth-filled spaces like Brian Johnson reborn (or born again), sermonizing the power of rock to the adoring multi-tracked masses, helplessly headbanging once that ballsy simple riff makes itself known. This is true genre-bending innovation on display, dance-metal even, like Killing Joke gone (really) commercial. Really, this is the most "Hysteria" style track on the album, side by side with it's infinitely less metal albeit more riffy sister "Rocket".

Lets face it though, everything else pales next to "Foolin'", the most balls out METAL moment, that incredibly great riff steam-rolling those who might claim they weren't capable of rocking out on 11. A fourteen on a ten scale for metal excellence, no doubt about it, that solo positively howling and shaking like nobody's business, the shiny guitars peeling away under that deep crimson onslaught of a riff underneath Joe's positively vicious stutters. This song does the album title justice, just burning up and raging loud and proud.

Rest of it is frankly a mixed bag. "Die Hard the Hunter" could have been a metal classic, but the heavily synthed riff weakens it, making us wait for the insane live versions to really come alive and throttle our unworthy asses. "Billy's Got a Gun" is a nice moody song, but just doesn't stand out, and the speed metal (we're talking 70's style melodic speed, not Dark Angel here) style of "Stagefright" is hampered by the otherwise breathtaking mixing and engineering. All in all this is Mutt Lange's masterpiece really, although Hysteria and those fucking Shania Twain records are more ambitious. It's perhaps not the most amenable sound for some of the dirtier metal tunes, but that crisp steel of those legendary riffs makes you forgive him for virtually anything, even for making you listen to "Man, I Feel Like a Woman" forty-six times a day for five months. Well, almost.

Stand-Outs: "Foolin'", "Too Late for Love", "Rock, Rock 'Till You Drop"