Post by jptheprofessor on Oct 19, 2006 17:13:28 GMT -5
DEF LEPPARD – YEAH! (Mercury) The five current members of Def Leppard grew up hearing early 70’s British rock at the period when it began to fuse with pop and theatrics to become glam rock. British television shows like Top of the Pops, and radio stations such as England’s Radio One and Radio Luxembourg, exposed the future members of Def Leppard to emerging glam icons like David Bowie, Marc Bolan, The Sweet, Mott the Hoople, Roxy Music and more. Def Leppard revisits that era of music and celebrates their roots on their new album of remakes, Yeah! Through the album’s fourteen tracks, we hear Def Leppard bringing to new life a number of their favorite British ‘lost classics,’ as the group avoided targeting big hits or songs already redone by other artists. The group sounds rejuvenated on boisterous updates of T. Rex’s “20th Century Boy,” which opens the album; The Sweet’s “Hell Raiser,” featuring a guest appearance from The Darkness’ Justin Hawkins; and Mott The Hoople’s “The Golden Age of Rock’n’Roll.” Def Leppard was also partly inspired by British blues rock, which they celebrate with muscular reads of Free’s “Little Bit Of Love” and Faces’ “Stay With Me;” the latter featuring guitarist Phil Collen delivering his best scratchy Rod Stewart howl. Def Leppard sticks closer to the vest of the original versions on other remakes; capturing more of the original mood of David Essex’s “Rock On” before rocking the song’s homestretch, and emulating the styles of ELO’s “10538 Overture” and Badfinger’s “No Matter What” while infusing their own distinct signature into those numbers. Thin Lizzy provided an early prototype to Def Leppard’s twin-guitar attack; the group honors that fact with a convincingly powerful romp through the Thin Lizzy deep cut “Don’t Believe A Word.” On the remainder of the album, Def Leppard resets numbers from David Bowie, Blondie, Roxy Music, The Kinks, and South African artist John Kongos. Produced by the band, Yeah! sounds more spontaneous and stripped down than Def Leppard’s last few studio releases, and the album’s prevailing mood is of a group getting back to being a rock band instead of crafting tedious studio hits. Just as Aerosmith rediscovered their bite when they celebrated their blues roots on Honkin’ On Bobo, Def Leppard returns to the bare and rocking basics on Yeah!, as they reconnect with music that made them first want to pick up their instruments to begin with. This is a fun album that gives listeners insight on what first inspired Def Leppard, and also refocuses attention on the early 70’s British music scene and its impact on much of the so-called ‘hair band’ rock that emerged in the 80’s.