Page 62 - Classic Rock - The Complete Story of Def Leppard 2019

he truth is that Def Leppard never wanted Joe Elliott, Steve
Steinman as their producer in the first Clarke and Phil Collen
Tplace. They had planned to work again with in happier times.
Lange, whose influence on Leppard’s sound, as
producer and co-songwriter, was so important
that he was considered their “sixth member”. But
in April 1984, after Lange had written several
songs with the band in Dublin, he told them he
was too exhausted to produce their new album,
having worked flat out for years on end, making hit
records for AC/DC, Foreigner and The Cars as well
as Leppard.
“When Mutt dropped that bombshell, we had an
emergency meeting,” Elliott says. Present were the
band and their co-managers Peter Mensch and Cliff
Burnstein. “We were desperate,” he admits. “Who
the hell do you get to replace Mutt Lange?”
Approaches were made to Roxy Music/Sex
Pistols producer Chris Thomas, and Trevor Horn,
former member of The Buggles and Yes and
producer of Frankie Goes To Hollywood. Both
said they were too busy. Phil Collins was also
briefly considered.
It was Cliff Burnstein who suggested Steinman. GETTY
But there was a flaw in his logic: although Steinman
wrote the songs for Bat Out Of Hell, it was actually
Todd Rundgren who produced that album. Across eight weeks, Steinman and Def Leppard dime, there would be a fucking banquet of food.”
“Steinman was not a producer,” Elliott says. worked on seven songs. In addition to Don’t Shoot But it was when Steinman demanded a better
“I pointed that out. But because Mutt was a Shotgun and Run Riot there was Animal, Women, Gods quality of carpet in the studio’s control room that
producer who assists in songwriting and Of War, Love And Affection – all titles that Elliott decided he’d had enough. The singer told
arrangements, Cliff thought we might need help would make it on to the final version of Hysteria the rest of the band: “We should be changing the
more in the songwriting department than in the – plus a song called Love Bites that was later producer before we change the fucking carpet.”
sonics of the record. Cliff got that completely wrong. rewritten as I Wanna Be Your Hero.
But at the time, Steinman was literally the only “They were works in progress,” Collen explains. nother of Def Leppard’s emergency
option we had, so we ended up going with him.” “They sounded… okay. But we’d sold six million of meetings was called. This time it was just
When Steinman was hired, Elliott consulted Pyromania, and for the follow-up you didn’t want to Athe five band members. “The problem
Lange, who told him: “Give it a go – and if it doesn’t do less, you wanted to do more.” was that Steinman wasn’t adding anything,” Collen
work, get rid of the guy.” Elliott laughs when he “We didn’t want to make Pyromania II,” Elliott says. “And if you’re going to pay someone to
reflects on that advice. “It was exactly what says. “We were looking to make a masterpiece of produce your album, you want them to be better
happened,” he says, “because Steinman was less production and songwriting. We didn’t want to than you are – at the very least.” When the meeting
than useless!” throw out an album that would have sounded like was over, a phone call was made to Mensch and
August 11, 1984 was Steinman’s first day in the anything else that came out in 1985.” Burnstein. The message was: “Get rid of this guy!”
producer’s chair at Wisseloord studios in Jim Steinman simply didn’t understand Def By mid-October, Steinman was gone. Neil
Hilversum, Holland. Working alongside him was Leppard as Mutt Lange did. “There was a flow of Dorfsman went with him. The band brought in
Neil Dorfsman, described by Collen as another engineer, Nigel Green, who had
“a fucking brilliant engineer”. But from worked with them on Pyromania. They
the start, Elliott sensed trouble. recorded with Green until the Christmas
“That first afternoon, we were break, during which the unthinkable
warming up,” he says. “We played a loose, happened – drummer Rick Allen lost his left
Stones-y version of Don’t Shoot Shotgun – just arm in a car crash on New Year’s Eve. It was
the riff and a part of the melody. We didn’t while Allen was recovering in hospital that
even have the chorus then. And Steinman he persuaded Lange to come back on board
says: ‘I think we got that one.’ We all looked at and finish the album.
each other, and Phil said: ‘We haven’t even tuned With Lange, the band re-recorded every track
up yet!’ Steinman says: ‘Yeah, but it’s got a vibe.’ from scratch. Hysteria was finally released in
That wasn’t a good sign.” ideas and inspiration that we got from Mutt,” August 1987 and went on to become a huge hit –
It went downhill from there. In the days that Collen says. “That’s what we were waiting for from the biggest album of Def Leppard’s career, with
followed, Steinman suggested some song titles. Use Steinman. And it never happened. Mutt wants to more than 20 million copies sold to date.
It Or Lose It was one. create something spectacular – almost like a third Steinman never got his new carpet, but he got
“What he assumed was a good title, we thought dimension, wildebeest sweeping majestically his payoff – “a big six-figure sum”, according to
was shit,” Collen says. “His ideas seemed a bit past… Steinman just came in and let us record. Elliott. “We had to sell a lot of records to pay him
hokey. Maybe it was a class thing. It was obvious And what he recorded was just ordinary. It didn’t off. Jim Steinman made a lot of money out of Def
that we were way more ‘street’ than he was. Jim’s even sound as good as our original demos.” Leppard for doing very little work. He’s a lucky
stuff was a bit theatrical, which is great, but it Adding to the band’s frustration was a sense that man in that respect.”
wasn’t us. We were polar opposites.” Steinman was not fully focused on the job at hand. Almost 30 years down the line, Elliott still has
This cultural divide was also evident in another “We’d be in the studio at 11am,” Elliott recalls. a box of tapes marked ‘Hysteria: The Steinman
of Steinman’s ideas. For the balls-out Run Riot, he “Steinman would stumble in at 3pm because he’d Sessions’. And he thinks it is best for both parties
proposed a Bat Out Of Hell-style flourish. been up every night writing Bat Out Of Hell II. He that these tapes remain unheard. “We would never
“He wanted to put a synthesiser run on it,” Elliott wasn’t giving us his full attention.” release that stuff,” he says. “There’s nothing
says. “Diddle diddle diddle… Like Rick Wakeman Elliott also claims that Steinman racked up an finished. It’s like the worst bootleg you’ve ever
on Siberian Khatru by Yes. You couldn’t have come enormous bill for food. “He would look at a menu heard. Those tapes are locked away in my library.
up with a worse idea, in our eyes.” and order one of everything. Every night, on our And that’s where they’ll stay.”

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