It’s been seven years since Def Leppard’s last studio album, Songs From The Sparkle Lounge. Nonetheless, the Sheffield-born rockers had no immediate plan to make another full length LP when they started into a new burst of recording.
They got together in secret, initially, in 2014 at frontman Joe Elliott’s home studio (or “their tree-house” as he calls it) to make an EP. Free from the shackles of record label bosses’ expectations (they didn’t have a deal at the time), they ended up writing a wealth of tunes – and hey presto, album number eleven was born!
The eponymous result is a high-energy opus that their generation-spanning fanbase will adore. Very much a rock record and steeped in their unmistakable sound, Def Leppard isn’t over-saturated with ballads, opting instead for powerful stompers that pack a punch. A tune like ‘Dangerous’ is vintage Lepps and, similarly to classic cut ‘Photograph’, is a fist-in-the-air stormer, as are ‘Let’s Go’ and ‘Sea Of Love’, the latter wrapping a raunchy riff around a sweet chorus. The Moog and strings-laced, Beatles-indebted ‘Blind Faith’ is a gamble which pays off. It is an epic and stylish way of ending their eleventh outing.