The New, Not-Quite-So-Awesome Def Leppard Single "Undefeated"

[chefcraig]

If Joe Elliot's non-enthusiastic singing of "I'm undefeated" was any less convincing, he'd be lying on his back in a boxing ring with a doctor kneeling over him. Overall the whole thing appears uninspired, yet who knows what it actually sounds like given the crummy format. Pretty much a re-write of some by now familiar riffs, it's merely adequate, and those not expecting much won't be disappointed. From the new Mirrorball album (title stolen from a 1995 Neil Young/Pearl Jam CD), a forthcoming live release with three studio tracks tacked onto it.

[hambon4lif]

This has to be some kind of a prank.
There's no possible way lyrics can get any more cornball, and the music is fucking lazy.

This is total shit!

[lesfunk]

Is there a new Rocky movie coming out?

[binnie]

Did you expect any better?

Def Leppard have never been great songwriters - I don't care what anyone says.

[Mr. Vengeance]

Jesus Christ...I'm calling Billy to see if he's still got a gun, and if he does, go over to the DL camp and start shooting.

This is awful!

[VAiN]

What has 9 arms and sucks?


Def Leppard.

I've always hated DL, and this isn't helping one bit.

[Mr. Vengeance]

What has 9 arms and sucks?


Def Leppard.

I've always hated DL, and this isn't helping one bit.

They used to rock. The first three albums are testament to that. Then Hysteria, (which wasn't bad) turned them into wimp-metal gods.

[Dan]

They Are STILL Making Money and Albums.

[binnie]

So are Duran Duran, and they suck too.

[Mr. Vengeance]

So are Duran Duran, and they suck too.

What's odd about Duran Duran is that they suck major ass, yet they had Andy Taylor who could ROCK!

His solo album "Thunder", Power Station, his work on Rod Stewart's "Out of Order" album ("The Wild Horse" is amazing!)

Then there was a point where DD did a tour of remixes and they "rocked" up their old songs. I heard them do Hungry Like the Wolf rock-style and it was good.

[twonabomber]

yeah, this DL is kinda weak.

the new Duran Duran is pretty good. puts me into early MTV/New Wave flashback mode.

Andy Taylor has left DD again, i think they worked with Timberlake and Timbaland on the prior disc and he didn't like the idea so he walked.

and X2 on Out Of Order. i will not go as far as Rod Stewart and say that Taylor is as good as Jeff Beck, but it's probably the last decent Rod Stewart album.

[Kristy]

Don't think they have the cash anymore to pay the likes of "Mutt" to make them sound half plausible. Never was a fan of theirs but this sounds like recycled corporate 90's nu metal with a more subtle tone. So, yeah, in other words, it's shit. And wasn't Mirrorball also the name of a Sarah McLachlan album ?

[ashstralia]

never a huge fan, i'm underwhelmed.

[sadaist]

They used to rock. The first three albums are testament to that. Then Hysteria, (which wasn't bad) ........

100% AGREED

But for me, pretty much un-listenable after that. The only plus I can hear in this song, as uninspired as it sounds, at least Joe is singing (kinda) and not that rock/rappish rhyming he has done on every album since Adrenalize.

PYROMANIA KICKS ASS!

Undefeated sounds very very defeated.

The band died when Steve died.

[FORD]

When did Sammy Hagar start writing Def Leppard songs? This sounds like one of his cheesy 80's soundtrack tunes.

[Hardrock69]

I did not like DL after High & Dry. Once the powers that be got the spit and polish specialist (Mutt) to work with them, it was all over.

Fuck those lame bastards.

"Pour Some Shit On Them...."

[BruinJer]

I actually thought their last album was pretty good... This is GARBAGE!

[Va Beach VH Fan]

When did Sammy Hagar start writing Def Leppard songs? This sounds like one of his cheesy 80's soundtrack tunes.

Beat me to it....

[Terry]

Sounds like "Def Leppard-by-the-numbers" songwriting.

While the band has always been a bit too derivative for my tastes, once in a while I can still listen to High N' Dry and the cuts on Pyromania that weren't played into the fucking ground on rock radio and enjoy them. Hysteria had some interesting stuff on it.

Right around the point when Adrenalize came out, this band ran out of the limited amount of creatuve juice they had. I mean, listening to this track...it just smacks of the word "product" to me, in that essentially Def Leppard are a business more than a band, and they churned out another uninspired tune off the assembly line. Doubtless there will be enough people out there who will like it or buy it to make the endeavor worthwhile for Leppard; audiences have been either been conditioned (or are just plain willing) to settle for less across the board re: the entertainment field output.

I wonder if the band were as bored making this tune as I was listening to it.

[binnie]

Joe Elliot's recent project covering Ian Hunter songs was far more interesting than this......

[Dan]

They Are Playing It Safe.

[FORD]

I did not like DL after High & Dry. Once the powers that be got the spit and polish specialist (Mutt) to work with them, it was all over.

Fuck those lame bastards.

"Pour Some Shit On Them...."

Mutt actually produced High and Dry, but that's when he was working with Ac/Dc and just finished with "Back In Black" which turned out to be one of the biggest selling records of all time. In fact Def Leppard even sounded a bit like Ac/Dc on that record (as opposed to sounding closer to KISS on their first album - first time I heard "Rock Brigade", I thought it WAS Kiss)

Sadly, by the time Pyromania was underway, Lange had switched into his Foreigner 4 cheese peddling persona, which he never escaped from. And neither did Def Leppard.

[chefcraig]

Sadly, by the time Pyromania was underway, Lange had switched into his Foreigner 4 cheese peddling persona, which he never escaped from. And neither did Def Leppard.

He threw in a Loverboy song along the way, just for shits and giggles. Listen to this garbage, and tell me his fingerprints aren't all over it.

[binnie]

I actually think that AC/Dc lost some of their magic when they started working with Mutt.......

[FORD]

I actually think that AC/Dc lost some of their magic when they started working with Mutt.......

Hard to call that one.... I think the Mutt-produced Highway to Hell is as good of an album as the Vanda & Young produced Powerage, and of course, it's impossible to know what Back In Black would have sounded like with Bon singing, so it's hard to compare it directly to Highway to Hell. But given Mutt's embrace of cheese after that, it's probably a good thing that Angus & Malcolm found other producers.

[binnie]

I'll be honest: although I think that 'Back In Black' is a special album, I've never really warmed to 'Highway....'

For me there are too many AORisms and a focus on writing hooky choruses, plus I'd argue that guitars just aren't as raucous as on 'Let There Be Rock' or 'Powerage'. They might be more singalong friendly, but are there any songs on 'Highway...' which posses the unbridled energy of 'Whole Lotta Rosie' or 'Kicked in the Teeth Again'?

[FORD]

He threw in a Loverboy song along the way, just for shits and giggles. Listen to this garbage, and tell me his fingerprints aren't all over it.

Yep. It was actually produced by Tom Allom (of Judas Priest fame) but Lange wrote the song. And it sounds like a blueprint for everything he produced for Leppard and his wife Shania Twain after that.

As for Loverboy, they went downhill after their second album. Or right after Mike Reno teamed up with a certain cheese peddling tequila salesman....

[chefcraig]

Yep. It was actually produced by Tom Allom (of Judas Priest fame) but Lange wrote the song. And it sounds like a blueprint for everything he produced for Leppard and his wife Shania Twain after that.

True. Substitute the fiddles for electric guitars, boost the backing vocals, and presto! You've got a Def Leppard track.

[FORD]

Back in the mid-90's one of the country radio stations in Seattle actually made a mash-up of that song and "Pour Some Sugar On Me". It was amazing how well it fit together.

[sadaist]

Sadly, by the time Pyromania was underway, Lange had switched into his Foreigner 4 cheese peddling persona, which he never escaped from. And neither did Def Leppard.

I'm in the minority here, but Pyromania is my favorite Def Leppard album of all. I remember being so young and hearing the beginning of Photograph on my little AM radio clock. Loved that song ever since I ever heard the first note. Billys Got A Gun, Die Hard The Hunter, Foolin, Too Late For Love, Comin Under Fire, Rock Of Ages, Stagefright....fuck...all brilliant songs to me that NEVER get old or stale. No, it's not their heaviest or guitar riff driven....but holy motherfuck do I love that album.

High 'n' Dry is a very close 2nd. But Pyromania wins out.

I think Joes voice is at it's best on this album over anything they recorded before or after as well.