Page 104 - Classic Rock - The Complete Story of Def Leppard 2019

was still a place for Def Leppard. “People Leppard at the with this person.” struggled. “Everything changed after
were glad we were still around,” Elliott Freddie Mercury On April 20, the new-look Def Leppard that,” Collen says. “In the late nineties it
Tribute Concert at
says. “Adrenalize was number one in Wembley Stadium, performed at the Freddie Mercury Tribute went tits-up for a while, but we soldiered
America for six weeks. It was number one April 20, 1992, Concert For Aids Awareness at Wembley on.” Their 1996 album Slang was an alt.
in around thirty counties. It was massive.” where they played Stadium, at which the surviving members rock-influenced volte-face, but their last
Just a few days after the album’s release, Animal, Let’s Get of Queen, joined by a stellar supporting album of that decade, Euphoria, was
Rocked and Queen’s
the new guitarist in Def Leppard was Now I’m Here. cast including David Bowie, Robert Plant, a return to Leppard’s classic sound.
announced: Vivian Campbell, formerly of Elton John, Guns N’ Roses and Metallica, For Elliott and Collen, looking back on
Dio and Whitesnake. Behind the scenes, paid tribute to their late singer. With an Adrenalize from a distance of 26 years
the band had already tried out other audience of 80,000 in the stadium and there are mixed feelings. Elliott thinks of it
guitarists, including John Sykes, also more than a billion people watching on as the end of an era, “the last in a trilogy”
ex-Whitesnake, and Adrian live TV, it was the perfect after Pyromania and Hysteria. What he
Smith, at that time between “I remember being on our set-up for Leppard’s hears now in Adrenalize is the early roots
tenures in Iron Maiden. As forthcoming world tour. of Leppard. “Other than White Lightning
Collen explains: “There was private plane, having just “The tour was huge,” the music is very mid-seventies glam,” he
no formal audition with Elliott says. “It was bigger says. Collen is more critical: “With Hysteria
John and Adrian, they just finished a bunch of sell-out than Hysteria.” It included we felt that we’d created a slightly new
came and played with us for a victorious homecoming rock genre. It was so creative and so left-
a while. It was more about shows, and going: ‘Yeah, show at the newly built field. With Adrenalize we were copying
us getting a sense of what Don Valley Stadium, that formula.”
they were like as people.” about this grunge thing…’” where the band played to What Adrenalize lacked was the shock
Sykes ended up singing 50,000 people. The final of the new that Hysteria had: the
backing vocals on Adrenalize. Joe Elliott leg was in North America blockbuster production that Collen
“John could sing his ass at the end of that year. describes as “Star Wars for the ears”; the
off,” Elliott says. “And he wrote Still Of The “I remember being on our private plane,” spirit of adventure in songs such as Pour
Night for Whitesnake. Adrian I adore, and the singer says, “flying over Manhattan at Some Sugar On Me, Rocket and Animal.
in the end it worked out well for him two in the morning, having just finished a With Hysteria Def Leppard were breaking
because he’s back in Maiden where he bunch of sell-out shows, and going: ‘Yeah, new ground; with Adrenalize they were
belongs. We also tried out a young about this grunge thing…’” holding ground. In the circumstances, it
unknown kid from Birmingham, Huey Adrenalize sold seven million copies was more than enough.
Lucas. Great player, but his voice wasn’t worldwide. In the US the singles were They had dug deep to make this
that strong. Vivian was always the not as successful as those from Hysteria, album. And the last two songs they wrote
number-one candidate. For us it wasn’t with only Let’s Get Rocked and Have You Ever for Adrenalize would remain powerfully
about how well you could play, it was Needed Someone So Bad making the Top symbolic: White Lightning the epitaph for
more about how well you can sing. And 20. But in the UK they had four big hits. the friend they lost, Let’s Get Rocked the
more importantly, we’ve got to get on It was after Adrenalize that Def Leppard anthem with which they moved on.

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