Essay On Def Leppard

1277 Words3 Pages

Def Leppard is one of the most influential rock bands of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Over the past forty years, the band has released eleven studio albums and gone on many worldwide tours. Their mix of pop rhythm, guitar riffs, and heavy metal has earned two Def Leppard albums RIAA Diamond Certification (“The Story of Def Leppard’s Pyromania Album”). However, Def Leppard had to overcome injury, death, and grunge rock to become the success story they are today. In 1977, Def Leppard was created by Pete Willis, Rick Savage, and Joe Elliot in Sheffield, England. The addition of guitarist Steve Clark, in 1978, introduced Def Leppard's iconic quintet sound. Rick Allen, age fifteen, soon replaced a forgotten drummer, and the original …show more content…

“We don’t want to make Pyromania 2. We should do a rock version of Michael Jackson’s Thriller” (Collen). Hysteria went one step further on the pop sound that Def Leppard had originally debuted with “Bringin’ on the Heartbreak.” Despite a slow start in the United States, Hysteria delivered at being the rock version of Thriller. Hysteria sold twice as many albums as its predecessor and had seven singles on the Billboard Hot 100. Hysteria spent seventy-eight weeks in the top-ten of the Billboard 200, which is the longest lasting streak for a rock album in the history of the chart (Newman, 2017). “Pour Some Sugar On Me,” “Animal,” “Armageddon It,” “Gods of War,” “Run Riot,” and “Rocket” are the very definition of pop metal. Loud guitar mixed with pop-melody made these songs marketable to everyone. “Love Bites,” “Hysteria,” and “Love and Affection” were the power ballads of the album that reflected the sound of “Bringin’ on the Heartbreak.” Def Leppard achieved its goal of creating a widely successful rock album: Hysteria is the forty-second best-selling album of all time in the United States (Lynch, 2016). Def Leppard toured across the globe promoting Hysteria, but guitarist Steve Clark’s alcoholism was starting to worsen and would soon change the course of Def …show more content…

As the success of Def Leppard increased, so did Steve Clark’s drinking. After reaching a point that working with the band was difficult, Steve Clark was given a sixth month recovery period leave from the band. While his bandmates had hoped the leave would be good for Steve’s health, all it did was increase Steve’s drinking. In early 1991, Steve Clark passed away due to overdose. Def Leppard continued to work on their next studio album, Adrenalize, despite the massive

More about Essay On Def Leppard

Open Document