The Man Who Changed My World

Who better to welcome Mr. Bowie back and critique his new album than Def Leppard’s Joe Elliott, a lifelong fan who was never the same after hearing Ziggy Stardust?

"He was a massive influence. Everything Bowie touched was genius: he gave Mott a career, he gave Lou Reed his only hit and he helped Iggy along. There was a period he was influencing everybody. The first song that Def Leppard ever played when we got together in a rehearsal room was ‘Suffragette City’.”

Dublin resident Joe Elliot has made no secret of his love for the Thin White Duke and was only too happy to take time out from rehearsals for the Lepp’s Las Vegas residency to chat about the most anticipated album of the year.

“It’s got a real Berlin-ish vibe. I can see why he’s stolen the sleeve off Heroes,” says Joe of the meisterwerk. “It has a lot of that discordant late ‘70s classic Bowie sound. It’s not Ziggy but if anybody thinks that Bowie is going to come out with Ziggy 2, they’re a fucking idiot. Well actually, Bowie’s Ziggy 2 is Aladdin Sane so he’s done it.”

For Joe, the ghost of the Berlin trilogy looms large here.

“It’s beyond Low,” he states, “which is the most commercial of the Berlin trilogy. It’s kind of Lodger-ish. Apart from the title-track a lot of Heroes is almost unlistenable avant-garde jazz mixed in with rock fusion. The later albums – Hours, Heathen and Reality – are a sort of trilogy – and this record is the logical follow-on.”

The Next Day, however, has to be judged on its own merits.

“It’s hard to compare something new to what he did in the mid-‘70s, that you know for nearly 30 years. Taking it as a stand-alone album, if he were a new artist he wouldn’t get a look in. But the fact that he’s Bowie and people expect Bowie to be Bowie, makes it different.

“Nobody knew it was coming out for a start. Plus, you hear a new AC/DC record and you know what to expect, but Bowie just jumps from one style to another. We want him to be awkward and that’s what the record sounds like to me; it’s awkward, it’s angular and it’s very entertaining.”

Has Joe crossed paths with Bowie?

“A few times. The first, god bless Bono, was when he was in Dublin on the Sound & Vision tour and he came to a party in Bono’s house. He knew I was such a fan, he must have said to David, ‘Give Joe five minutes’. There were about 100 people there, so I had my little meet and greet, like when people meet The Pope or something. He was really sweet! Then I saw him in the Baggot with the first Tin Machine album and the next time was in the Factory. He remembered me from Bono’s house so we talked and he introduced me to (wife) Iman and (band member) Gail Ann Dorsey, who’s a huge Leppard fan!

“Then I spent two hours talking to him when he played HQ,” he smiles. “I asked him about re-recording some of his old songs and suggested ‘Silly Boy Blue’. He said, ‘Really?’. I said, ‘David, that’s one of the best songs you’ve ever written’. Lo and behold, when (the unreleased) Toy leaked on the ‘net, ‘Silly Boy Blue’ was on it! People think he’s going to be stand-offish but he’s quite laddish when you meet him. He’s a great artist. He’s made some crappy records but anyone that’s been around for over 30 years will have made crappy records. You always lose one game at home to the team at the bottom of the league!

“He’s a big part of my life,” Joe adds. “People will be reading this thinking, ‘Oh, he’s Def Leppard, surely he should be talking about Led Zep or Sabbath?’ Trust me, I’m more Bowie, Bolan, Mott, Roxy and all that art-rock stuff that blew my mind when I was 12. I just ended up in a rock band!“

Joe Elliott on The Next Day

‘The Next Day’ A strange track to open with, but he can because he’s Bowie. A fairly straightforward fast rocker, not the most melodic opening song.

‘Dirty Boys’ When you hear the saxophone and drums you almost expect Tom Waits to come in! It has a great chorus melody. It sounds like a song from his Decca period, ‘Come Buy My Toys’, and so he’s really going through his own back catalogue. A great track; it changes the mood.

‘The Stars (Are Out Tonight)’ This sounds as if it could have been on any of the last three albums. Maybe it was meant to be and just wasn’t finished in time.

‘Love Is Lost’ For me, this is where the album really gets going. It’s kind of got a Ziggy feel but it’s definitely ‘made in Berlin’.

‘Where Are We Now?’ There were mixed feelings when it was released online because after 10-years off he wasn’t exactly coming out with ‘Suffragette City’. But that’s what Bowie does, the opposite to what’s expected. I loved it from the first minute I heard it. Beautiful.

‘Valentine’s Day’ This song sort of shot by me. It has a good melody but hasn’t bitten me yet. I could never understand why Bowie did ‘It Ain’t Easy’ on Ziggy Stardust when he could have put ‘Velvet Goldmine’ on and really taken it to another planet.

‘If You Could See Me Now’ It has such a mental time signature, it could be King Crimson. Maybe this is the track he wanted Robert Fripp to play on. Barking mad!

‘I’d Rather Be High’ Brilliant. It sounds like The Beatles’ ‘Tomorrow Never Knows’. I’ve never heard Bowie do a political rant that’s not hidden behind William Burroughs–style writing before. And over a jolly melody!

‘Boss Of Me’ This sounds as if it could’ve been on The Buddha Of Suburbia. He’s pulled out some really great choruses on The Next Day: this is one of them.

‘Dancing Out In Space’ Classic late ‘70s Bowie, it’s like an outtake from Scary Monsters. It gives you a warm fuzzy feeling because he’s singing about space again, revisiting that fascination. Another great, haunting chorus.

‘How Does The Grass Grow?’ When I heard this I couldn’t stop laughing. Not at it, with it because he starts doing the ‘Apache’ melody. It’s The Shadows! I imagine it’s done for a bit of fun, and that the following bit is a total accident: it’s a complete lift of ‘Looney Tune’ by Alice Cooper!

‘You Will Set The World On Fire’ Pure genius, so Iggy & The Stooges. I’d put the guitar riff at the beginning on any Leppard album: it’s big, chunky and beautiful.

‘You Feel So Lonely You Could Die’ Nice theft of an Elvis line there. A very theatrical song, this could have been on the Hedwig & The Angry Inch soundtrack. It sounds like Bowie stealing from the bands that stole from Bowie – reclaiming, which he’s been doing since the Earthling album. Towards the end he references the ‘Five Years’ drumbeat. New fans won’t get that but old fans will be like, “a-ha!”

‘Heat’ This sounds like the most wrong song you can end an album on but Bowie gets away with it. It’s so slow, like something from Low or Lodger. Then the lyrics – “My father ran the prison”... I’m like, “Okay, you’ve been cutting up words and throwing them in the air again, haven’t ya?” We’ve had this full-on rock blowout and then he goes back into the Berlin period. And there it ends...