Very timely that Def Leppard should put out a new record during my ongoing investigation of "whatever happened to [insert name of hairband here]."
The new CD draws its title from the fact that these tunes were largely written in an area backstage that the band has termed "the Sparkle Lounge." The band got many long time fans (myself included) very excited because they claimed that the new tracks have been written in the style of the hard rock masterpiece "Hysteria," with the production style of "High 'n' Dry." That means a) the songs should be instantly likable with massive hooks and b) the sound will suffer less processing and be truer to rock and roll. In my mind, only a handful of tracks on this release live up to that claim.
At the risk of angering the legions of Def Leppard fans embracing the band's self-proclaimed "return to form," I have to be honest to my readers and tell them that most of the tracks are mediocre. Plus, this is one of the shortest Def Leppard CDs ever, clocking in under 40 minutes! Only 40 minutes of new music, and about 20 minutes is filler. Not a lot of bang for your buck, folks.
I have to applaud the band for not going down the sappy ballad road once again...I think they've gotten the message that fans have had enough of that. The CD ROCKS and is a blast of fresh air. They've updated their sound in some instances to be modern (such as the lead off track, "Go") but other tracks sound like classic 70s rock(e.g. "C'mon C'mon"). Sonically, the CD is quite good - they've managed to pull a Scorpions here...they've updated their sound but retained plenty of distinctive Def Leppard elements. But it is more the Def Leppard of post-Slang rather than pre-Adrenalize.
The CD definitely has its moments. "Nine Lives," which guest stars Tim McGraw (!) is very good and catchy. But it isn't until track 5 that the peppy hooks come back; ironically, this track ("Tomorrow") is about the death of Collen's father. "Hallucinate" is about as close to classic Def Leppard as we get, and "Only the Good Die Young" (not a Billy Joel cover) is a really cool track, mixing tempos and moods - also a hint of Beatles in that one. I am enjoying the consistent pace of this CD, but wish the songs were as consistently strong too. It is a big step in the right direction and I hope they continue on this path.
On a side note, my CD came with a plastic card that I thought might take me to free tracks I could download...but it acutally contains punch out guitar picks...pretty cool!
iPOD-worthy: 2, 5, 7, 8, 10
Def Leppard on MySpace. Official site.
Check out the video for "Nine Lives":
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