Superlatives
A Vulture series in which artists judge the best and worst of their own careers.
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That was a very interesting night.
We were just giggling to ourselves.
Im already lined up to see them in three cities, depending on where I am.
Its a very moving piece of work and a recurring theme in my life.
There comes a point when talking toJoe Elliottwhere you kind of forget what your initial question was.
He jokes, I do tend to rabbit on a bit hes being modest.
(Bassist Rick Savage and guitarist Phil Collen complete the current lineup.)
Our best one is Gods of War, because it was so different from anything else wed ever done.
From a musical point of view, the only note that isnt in that song is an E-flat.
It covers a lot of ground.
Its a great example of Steve Clarks very angular and unique riff-writing.
It was really clever, I suppose.
Not clever in the sense of doing it for the sake; it just became a very natural thing.
It wasnt the most difficult song to write.
All of the parts fell together quite quickly.
It was the serious song on the album, but its more than just the lyrical content.
There are really clever guitars, very orchestrated guitars.
Its a very mature piece of work, probably the first time we really got it right.
Because lets be honest, we were still in the mood that we were always in escapism.
It came from somewhere other than your standard guitar riff, you know?
It means a great deal as part of our legacy.
Its the song that gets the crowd going,Whoa, at last, were hearing it.
So, yeah, thats pretty loud.
Photograph is pretty loud as well because its commonly been the last song we play.
All bets are off by then; everythings on ten by the time we do Photograph.
I have a strange story regarding the song.
I think it was in Chile.
He said, Dude, its the weirdest thing, people dont sing at our gigs, they mosh.
But when we did your song, all I could hear was the audience singing.
I think that sums up the kind of band we are.
Weve always been very strong on melody, and its always been a major influence on us.
We think back to the bands that inspired us.
Its mostly very melodic rock.
Wittiest song
Humor has bonded Def Leppard beyond any other thing other than, maybe, soccer.
One of the things we said was having an encyclopedic knowledge ofMonty Python, Blackadder, andFawlty Towers.
If they dont have the same sense of humor as us, its not going to work.
So it has leaked into our songwriting in many different forms.
Rock of Ages is quite humorous because it starts off on a humorous note with that ridiculous gibberish nonsense.
Its just a humorous anecdote or whatever you want to call it before the song starts.
It was supposed to be humorous.
I think we possibly went a little overboard with the humor.
Im not the biggest fan of that song these days.
It doesnt really blow me away anymore.
I dont know what it is.
It wasnt challenging Bob Dylan for any of his glory work.
Hed always put his hand between his legs and ease the seat back a little.
You couldnt help but roll your eyes and go, Oh, David.
So, yeah, I guess I talked myself into going with Lets Get Rocked.
They dont sit in the shower trying to play the guitar.
We know the melody, and thats the first thing we latch onto.
I always think that the melody is the most important.
Theres no point in trying to come up with a melody thats gotaurora borealisorantidisestablishmentarianismin the chorus.
Those are not great words to sing.
The arena is just flying whenever we do the melodies in Photograph.
Im the answer line; the in-between guy.
I think theyre very infectious.
We dont use tapes, its all real.
Its three guys singing.
We are in that category of quality.
The backing vocals are hugely entertaining and melodic and memorable.
It makes me really proud of the rest of the guys for putting in the effort.
Because a lot of people, when they sing in bands, they really dont want to.
They think its the domain of the singer, and theyre reluctant to do backing vocals.
They dont follow through.
Most fulfilling album era
Hysteriawas the most rewarding, but it wasnt very fulfilling.
It was a pain in the ass to record.
It was not a fun ride.
I think thats whatHysteriarepresents to me.
We went through hell with that album.
The opening six months of writing were okay.
We were having so much fun in Dublin, just being people.
It was pretty good, but it wasnt what we wanted.
It became rewarding when we started hearing things the way that we heard them in our heads.
He could also interpret the things that he heard in his head and drag it out of us.
1 in the U.K. Weve blown it out of the park with this last album,Diamond Star Halos.
We had three or four songs before lockdown started in 2020 and nobody was allowed to travel.
Me and Phil got on the phone and said, Well, what are we going to do now?
Write one on the ukulele if you want, for Gods sake.
It worked to our advantage because Im working on the stuff hes completed while hes asleep and vice versa.
Whos got a middle eight?
You feel the eyes burning in the back of your head.
Certain songs have streamed well, for sure, but the excitement of having a new record is palpable.
We turned an hourglass being half empty into it being half full.
Seriously, its a quantum leap from most of the things weve done in the past.
Riskiest creative vision you had for the band
Slang without a shadow of a doubt.
You really cant do that if youre a band.
The harmonies were stripped-back and recorded almost live.
Its exactly what we wanted.
We needed to go back to ground zero so we could build ourselves back up again.
Legacy of Pour Some Sugar On Me becoming a stripper anthem
I couldnt be happier.
He wasnt talking about ballroom dancing, he was talking about pole dancing.
Many people dont know this, but thats why Pour Some Sugar On Me took off.
The live video really kicked it over the top, too.
Its just so simple; its like what Brown Sugar was to the Rolling Stones.
Its one of those songs that just oozes a sexy vibe.
Not necessarily from us, but in the actual construction of the song and the lyrics.
It has double entendres all over the place, but our humor is still coming out.
But, yeah, I couldnt be prouder of the girls.
