Def Leppard - Viva Hysteria

[ZahZoo]

To wrap up a Spring Break trip to Arizona and celebrate my birthday... my wife scheduled us to see Def Leppard's opening night "residency" gig at the Joint at the Hard Rock Casino/Hotel in Las Vegas. I last saw DL in 93... this was really one of the best performances I've ever seen them do.

They kicked off the show pretending to be the opening band named Ded FlatBird with the Who song Who Are You playing on the sound system... the lights dimmed and curtains opened with the band picking up the Who song without missing a beat... then they jumped right into several of their older obscure material for about 6 songs. Then a brief intermission and came back with a full stage set up and proceeded to play the entire Hysteria album straight thru... Highlight was the encore with Rock of Ages and Photograph!!

Was surprised they pulled it off exceptionally well... even with very little help electronically with the exception of some of the sound effects from the album. Even vocals were fairly impressive without all the layering. Guitar work from Cohen was stellar and Campbell seems to have finally come up to speed... Clarke's shoes were damn big to fill. Rick Allen was a real treat as usual that scrawny little one-armed fucker can out drum many of the best!!

If you can get out to Vegas in the next few weeks I'd highly recommend taking in this show... even the cheap seats are great and the sound in that small venue is excellent!!

http://www.blogcdn.com/www.noisecreep.com/media/2013/03/def-lep-2013.jpg

[Jérôme Frenchise]

Happy belated B-day then, Zah! :birthday:

You're lucky to have a wife who knows how to make you happy... and does it! :)

I'm not a fan of Def Leppard's entire catalogue, but I've listened to Pyromania (above all) and Hysteria a lot,
and this gig you've attended sounds stellar just reading your impressions. Cheers!

[Zing!]

I've mentioned this before but I saw DL at a county fair back in the early 2000's, and they were stellar! Talk about going in with zero expectations... They played like it was the biggest gig of their lives when they could have easily phoned it in to a crowd of 5,000 in Podunk, Iowa.

[Jérôme Frenchise]

I've mentioned this before but I saw DL at a county fair back in the early 2000's, and they were stellar! Talk about going in with zero expectations... They played like it was the biggest gig of their lives when they could have easily phoned it in to a crowd of 5,000 in Podunk, Iowa.

It seems that they're great guys. Maybe rare, even.



They're really, really great live. Both the music and the vocals are exact - Joe Elliott really delivers and misses nothing. Hats off to them,
they've aged fuckin' well, even got better and better, visibly.

[ZahZoo]

Happy belated B-day then, Zah! :birthday:

You're lucky to have a wife who knows how to make you happy... and does it! :)

I'm not a fan of Def Leppard's entire catalogue, but I've listened to Pyromania (above all) and Hysteria a lot,
and this gig you've attended sounds stellar just reading your impressions. Cheers!

Thanks Jerome!!

I am lucky to have married a wonderful woman and in a few months we'll celebrate 20 years together!!

The venue is great even the back balcony seats are only 155 feet (47.2 meters) from the stage. Not a bad seat in the house!!

[ZahZoo]

Here's the set list...

Good Morning Freedom
Wasted
Mirror, Mirror (Look Into My Eyes)
Foolin'
Promises
When Love and Hate Collide
Let It Go
Slang
Bringin' on the Heartbreak
Switch 625
Women
Rocket
Animal
Love Bites
Pour Some Sugar on Me
Armageddon It
Gods of War
Don't Shoot Shotgun
Run Riot
Hysteria
Excitable
Love and Affection
Rock of Ages
Photograph

[mug]

looks like the set U2 used on zoo tv tour.That was a cool set.

[ZahZoo]

Still working on cleaning up and sorting out the cell phone video we got but here's some youtube shit from the show we were at...

[ZahZoo]

Few more...

[ZahZoo]

Another from the opening units... ;)

[Jack68]

Thats gotta be one of the most original openings ive heard.

[Seshmeister]

They crossed over the line a long time ago into a world of Michael Bolton and MOR that doesn't do it for me.

Last time we walked out during 'When Love and Hate Collide'.

The Hysteria material onwards sounds suspiciously processed 'live' especially nowadays, too safe soccer mom pop X Factor karaoke.

I guess it's ok for the older generation... :)

[Seshmeister]

Also I guess it's understandable that Phil Collen is proud of having a six pack at 60 but I could do with seeing it less.

Vladimir Putin does pop rock...

[sadaist]

I'm not a fan of Def Leppard's entire catalogue, but I've listened to Pyromania (above all) and Hysteria a lot,
and this gig you've attended sounds stellar just reading your impressions. Cheers!


Those are my favorite 2....even though I take shit for not putting High & Dry on top. Not gonna lie to fit in or impress. I can't help what I like. And Pyro & Hysteria just sound so great to my ears. Really nice to see Def Lepp doing this. Hysteria is fucking excellent. Gods of War is one of the best Def Lep songs ever.





*I still think Vivian is a cunt.

[ZahZoo]

They crossed over the line a long time ago into a world of Michael Bolton and MOR that doesn't do it for me.

Last time we walked out during 'When Love and Hate Collide'.

The Hysteria material onwards sounds suspiciously processed 'live' especially nowadays, too safe soccer mom pop X Factor karaoke.

I guess it's ok for the older generation... :)

It works best when you only go see them every 20 years or so...

Oh yeah and like Eddie... at that age put your damn shirt on and leave it on.

[binnie]

I never really 'got' DL unti recently, when I realised I'd been judging them by entirely the wrong criteria.

They're a pop band, not a metal band. And they made bloody good pop-rock records.

Given that pretty much everything from 'Slang' onwards has been ropey, you have to admire the fact that they're still going. It's a testament to the strength of their '80s material....

[ELVIS]

Everything from Pyromania onwards is garbage...

They made two good albums...



:elvis:

[ELVIS]

Here's the set list...

Wasted
Foolin'


At least you got two good songs for your Boithday...

Happy Belated Boithday, Zeee !!


:rockit:

[DONNIEP]

I stopped listening after Hysteria. I think the only song after that record that I know is that horrible Let's Get Rocked piece of crap.

[ELVIS]

First time I ever typed Def Leppard into YouTube...




:elvis:

[Terry]

Wow. A bit surprising to read the review, considering that when I saw Leppard in 2006 I didn't have an experience that was all that great, in terms of how they played.

Back at that gig, the band ran through the usual tunes one would expect them to play (leaning heavily on the best-known songs from Pyromania and Hysteria). I will say the light show and the use of images on the oversized video screen behind the band (which ran the entire length of the stage) was pretty neat. However, I found the live mix to be way too cluttered sonically: a good deal of non-live sound effects added to boost the overall sound. Allen, Collen and Savage played well (Campbell was pretty low in the mix to the point where I could barely hear him). Joe Elliot was either struggling or couldn't be bothered that night, because he avoided anything approaching a high note throughout the show.

It's good that the Viva Hysteria show was served up well by the band. I mean, I have no great stake in being a Leppard fan, but for what it costs to see shows these days, regardless of the group it's a bummer to hear someone went to a show and it ended up being a stinker. Good to hear this was not the case.

[Terry]

Everything from Pyromania onwards is garbage...

They made two good albums...



:elvis:

So many people point to High 'N Dry as Leppard's best-ever record. It's a good hard rock record, but I'd have to say Pyromania and Hysteria are Leppard's two best records...and, truth be told, I'd probably be more likely to prefer Hysteria these days over Pyromania. High 'N Dry has great performances and great energy, but many of the songs sound a bit dated and derivative of early Johnson-era AC/DC to my ears.

I have no use for the band from Hysteria onwards.

So, even if Leppard did only make two good albums, they were two very good albums, indeed. What binnie said is spot-on, in that if Leppard is judged by a hard rock/heavy metal yardstick, they don't really come out on top measured against the best of that genre. Leppard, by design, aspired to write for and play to a much broader realm of listeners than just metal fans. Am not saying that is better or worse, but something other.

[Mr. Vengeance]

The first three albums were good rocking fun. Then the accident. The long delay, and Hysteria. An album that certainly sold a ton, but as far as sound, left me a bit blahhhhh. Synth guitars just didn't do it. Unfortunately that's pretty much the way the rest of their career has gone. Adrenelize, Slang, Euphoria...I own all three but they rarely get a listen anymore. I've never heard X (Ten). I figured even as what record collectors call a "completist" I just wasn't going to waste my money. They tell me it's even more pop that the other albums, so who cares? I bought Mirror Ball to have a live document and it sounds more studio enhanced than KISS Alive- the difference being that Alive is killer and Mirror Ball is filler.....

[binnie]

I never really 'got' Hysteria until recently. I played it when the sun was shinning and it made total sense - a very 'up' album that is a lot of fun. The production is odd after all of these years - it doesn't really sound like humans playing instruments because there's so much studio magic.

As for the first three albums: they're fun, but I think plenty of other bands of a similar ilk made albums as good if not better.....

[Satan]

My "Hysteria" CD got a lot of play at the parties here in Hell in the summer of 1988. But then, so did OUBlowsGoats2. And SkyCrapper, for that matter.

Those three albums have a great deal in common, in that they were processed cheese coming from musicians who were capable of much better.

Of course at the time I was usually too shit-faced to care :gulp:

[78/84 guy]

My "Hysteria" CD got a lot of play at the parties here in Hell in the summer of 1988. But then, so did OUBlowsGoats2. And SkyCrapper, for that matter.

Those three albums have a great deal in common, in that they were processed cheese coming from musicians who were capable of much better.

Of course at the time I was usually too shit-faced to care :gulp:

Everyone was losing their edge at this point. I still think M.T.V. ruined hard rock ! Enter Gun's n' Roses ! For a few years anyway. Enter grunge ! Leppard died with Steve Clarke !

[Nitro Express]

It gets ruined because it gets overproduced. It loses it's rawness. Once you polish it too much it loses it's personality. A rock band is like a dick. You don't want to polish it too much because it becomes limp and useless.

[ELVIS]

The only Def Leppard I was ever interested in involved Pete Willis...




:elvis:

[ELVIS]

This is cool...




:elvis:

[ELVIS]

Get Wasted at 2:50




:rockit:

[ELVIS]

I guess the other band is Black Oak Arkansas...

Check out the vintage Tommy Aldridge solo at 7:10 or so...

[ELVIS]

I guess the other band is Black Oak Arkansas...



Wrong, ELBOW...

It's Pat fucking Travers...


:biggrin:

[78/84 guy]

Tommy is so underrated ! The guy is a monster. Love him on the Full Bluntal Nugity album Ted put out. Killer drumming.

[ELVIS]

I don't think Tommy Aldridge is underrated...

[Satan]

That shirt that Savage is wearing in the Rock Brigade video looks familiar......


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BFRoXoh6aks

[Terry]

I don't think Tommy Aldridge is underrated...

Yeah, I wouldn't say Aldridge was underrated, either.

I always think of him as a hired gun who has, to be sure, played with some successful lineups in live settings...but it's always after the fact in terms of hitting the road to support tours for albums he didn't play on...and the albums he DID play on weren't really definitive or classic. I mean, not to put the guy down, but precious few out there claim that the drumming on Bark At The Moon or Slip Of The Tongue (or even those albums themselves as a whole) is what launched acts like Ozzy solo or Whitesnake into the commerical stratosphere.

He was in Black Oak Arkansas, so I'll give him credit for that, and he was a solid practicioner of 80s arena hard rock drumming, but I'd never put him in the same league as Bonham, Powell, Dunbar, Palmer or the like.

[Terry]

I never really 'got' Hysteria until recently. I played it when the sun was shinning and it made total sense - a very 'up' album that is a lot of fun. The production is odd after all of these years - it doesn't really sound like humans playing instruments because there's so much studio magic.

As for the first three albums: they're fun, but I think plenty of other bands of a similar ilk made albums as good if not better.....

I like the dense production of Hysteria in the sense that for awhile listening to the album offered a challenge and a sense of newness: it was so layered and multi-textured that it was really impossible to take it all in with a few hearings.

I would agree that the very vastness of the production did tend to blunt some of the directness the better tunes had to offer, and some of the tunes (Rocket, Run Riot) seem little more than an exercise in studio knob-fiddling. Women, Animal, Pour Some Sugar On Me and Gods Of War are all great tracks, though.

[ELVIS]

I'd never put him in the same league as Bonham, Powell, Dunbar, Palmer or the like.

As a live drummer, I might put Aldridge ahead of all of those guys...

He also laid down some killer drums on Waiting For Darkness...


:elvis:

[ELVIS]

Women, Animal, Pour Some Sugar On Me and Gods Of War are all great tracks, though.

If you say so, I suppose...:yuk: