Welcome to another edition of From My Collection. The other night, yours truly was treated to a stadium triple bill of Steve Miller Band, Journey, and Def Leppard, the latter of whom are currently celebrating the 40th anniversary of their landmark third album, Pyromania. Yes, I know you’re all gonna flood the comments saying, “But Joe! The 40th anniversary of Pyromania was LAST year!” What can I say? Take it up with the Leppard camp. All I know is this album was not just huge for Leppard, but for yours truly as well, as it was the third record I ever bought with my own money (following Quiet Riot’s Metal Health and AC/DC’s High Voltage). I’m not sure how much more can be written about an album that’s sold in excess of 13.5 million units globally, but we’re going to attempt to do so with this week’s essay. Are you ready to “Rock! Rock! (Till You Drop)”?
1983: The year heavy metal broke the mainstream. This isn’t to say 1980 through 1982 were any less prominent. However, it was ’83 that put this music over the top, dominating MTV, rock radio, Billboard, and concert tour grosses alike. This was largely thanks to two prominent events. The first was the release of Quiet Riot’s Metal Health, which thanks to the earworm catchiness of its title track and a cover of Slade’s “Cum on Feel the Noize”, exploded overnight. It’d go onto become the first metal album to top the Billboard 200.
The second was the US Festival in San Bernadino, California. The event was a four day festival, each day boasting a different style of music, but let’s be honest: The only day anyone remembers and/or gives a shit about today is “heavy metal day”, and for good reason. Aside from the aforementioned Quiet Riot, the lineup consisted of Van Halen, Scorpions, Triumph, Judas Priest, Ozzy Osbourne, and Mötley Crüe. All of these bands either released mega selling albums in ’83, embarked upon massive arena tours, or both. And yet one band of this crop was notably absent from the US Festival: Def Leppard.
Leading up to the January 20, 1983 release of Pyromania, Leppard had already established themselves as a driving force of the NWOBHM movement, going so far as to set their sights upon a new frontier: America. Their first jaunt of the States took place in 1980 as the opening act for Ted Nugent and Scorpions. Come 1981, they were back, this time supporting High ‘n’ Dry as the opener for Ozzy Osbourne. And while High ‘n’ Dry didn’t exactly sell great for Leppard upon initial release, it did boost their profile and perform better than On Through the Night. Nobody, not even Leppard themselves, could’ve anticipated what would happen next.
Having struck creative gold with renowned producer Mutt Lange on High ‘n’ Dry, it only made sense that the collaboration would move forward for album #3. With Lange at the helm, the band cultivated their signature sound consisting of layered harmony vocals, Thin Lizzy-esque twin guitars, and unforgettable hooks. All of this, mind you, without sacrificing their metallic edge. Sure, High ‘n’ Dry isn’t nearly as raw as On Through the Night, but you’d also have to be a complete moron to argue its anything but a metal record.
But what if Leppard dialed down the heaviness even further, crafting a “metal album for MTV”? They wouldn’t be the first. Fellow NWOBHM act Tygers of Pan Tang shocked headbangers with the extremely pop oriented The Cage in 1982. While their cover of the ’60s hit “Love Potion No. 9” would receive occasional airplay on MTV, and “Paris by Air” is an undisputed classic to this day, The Cage largely alienated Tygers’ core denim and leather clad fanbase. Adding insult to injury is that MCA Records failed to successfully market Tygers to the American demographic.
Leppard, on the other hand, already had two American tours under the belt, slowly but surely rising in the ranks. They also knew that if they were going to go this route, they couldn’t make the same mistake as Tygers and completely abandon their established identity. Those unforgettable vocals and twin guitars would be prominent as ever, amidst coexisting alongside an unabashedly ’80s production and their most accessible songwriting to date. The end result was Pyromania.
For many metal purists, High ‘n’ Dry is their personal cutoff for Leppard, and I guess I can understand why. Pyromania is even poppier than that album, and there’s some would be hits on there had they gotten the right push (“Lady Strange” anyone?). That said, Pyromania is far from devoid of its metal moments, even if said moments are executed through an ’80s pop rock filter. It was exactly what it set out to be: An album that blurred the lines between pop and metal like no album before it, and boy did that gamble pay off.
Pyromania opens with the rousing “Rock! Rock! (Till You Drop)”, which is a real snapshot of the era if there ever was one. Between ’83 and ’84, there were an entire wave of metal and hard rock acts dropping songs with “rock” in the title left and right. Dio’s “We Rock”, Twisted Sister’s “I Wanna Rock”, Saxon’s “This Town Rocks”: The list goes on. Why? Because when you’re playing to an arena of 20,000 crazed headbanger kids who spent their hard earned pay to get their ears blasted on a Saturday night, you want a chorus that sticks. And lord knows ’83-’84 was all about “rock this”, “rock that”, and so forth. Leppard capitalized on the craze with this certified anthem, that as far as I’m concerned, should be their permanent concert opener.
Following is the album’s biggest hit, and for good reason, “Photograph”. I don’t care how many times this song gets played daily on classic rock radio. I’ll never get tired of it. Not only this, but I consider it to be one of the best songs in the Leppard canon. “Photograph” was the moment they ascended as songwriters, daring any other hard and heavy act to even try and defy them. The song co-opted the bittersweet power pop hooks of such ’70s acts as Badfinger and Raspberries, reframing them in the context of an ’80s hard rocker. The end result is otherworldly. As much as I love singing along and air guitaring to its verses, the chorus comes in and hits me with a wave of melancholic longing, which was exactly the intention. Such musical juxtapositions were previously reserved for the likes of ABBA or The Beatles. Who would’ve thought a bunch of kids from Sheffield would change the whole ball game?
After two distinctly pop-oriented songs, Leppard turns up the heaviness with the fast and frenetic “Stagefright”. This could’ve been as welcome of an album/concert opener as “Rock! Rock!”, but I can’t help but think the former got the edge for its commercialized leanings. Aside from MAYBE the chorus, there is nothing sweet or slick about “Stagefright”. This rager is as fast and relentless as any cut off Leppard’s first two outings, capturing the intensity of a rockstar/groupie one night stand into a little under 4 minutes of English metal machismo.
Leppard continues to flex their metal muscle with “Too Late for Love”, which despite being one of the hit singles off this album, is far from your run of the mill power ballad. By ’83, the term “power ballad” was used to refer to songs like Journey’s “Open Arms” or Styx’s “The Best of Times”: Soft, gentle love songs from primarily hard rock bands that could garner airplay on adult contemporary radio. “Too Late for Love” is anything but, boasting surreal lyrics against a soundscape of crushing riffs and bleak atmosphere. Even the “woah oh oh” chant is DISTINCTLY European (see Accept’s “Balls to the Wall”). This was only further reinforced when seeing Leppard dust this classic off the other night, but I digress.
Side A closes with the ambitious “Die Hard the Hunter”. This 6+ minute slab of epic pop metal was far from the complexities of Iron Maiden and Mercyful Fate, but also a musical tour de force harkening back to the On Through the Night days. I can’t help but feel internally, Leppard would try to include at least one of these songs on each subsequent outing to prove to the critics they were more than some banal hard rock band. The dynamics on display are nothing short of impressive to say the least. Could this really be the same band who did “Photograph” three songs ago? Indeed, it is.
As we flip over to side B, we’re greeted by yet another dark, grandiose cut in the vein of “Too Late for Love”, “Foolin'”. Has the term anti-ballad ever been used before? Because I swear, that’s EXACTLY what Leppard were writing on this here album. Yet again, the band tackles the theme of a romance gone awry, setting it to an unforgettable pop metal soundtrack with emphasis on “metal”. Thanks to its absurdly catchy chorus (“F-f-f-foolin’!”) and iconic music video, “Foolin'” too would become a smash hit, catapulting to #28 on the Billboard Hot 100. Not bad for a song that’s metal first and pop second!
Speaking of smash hits, I’ve got something to say. Did you really think Leppard was done with the “rock” schtick? Think again. For as big and bold and larger than life as “Rock! Rock!” was, “Rock of Ages” took the formula to another level. If you strip it of its bright synths, layered vocals, and electronic drum noises, it could be a song from Lange alums AC/DC, bestowing the virtues of rock n’ roll to a four on the floor beat and a barrage of power chords. Alas, this anthem belonged to Leppard and Leppard alone, having since become a staple of every Leppard show since.
Following “Rock of Ages” is my personal favorite Leppard song of all time, “Comin’ Under Fire”. Similar to “Lady Strange” and “Mirror Mirror (Look Into My Eyes)” on High ‘n’ Dry before it, this is one of those cuts that showcases everything great about Leppard on one song. There’s a clever balance between soft and heavy passages, spellbinding guitar melodies, ominous verses, and of course, that nuclear bomb of a chorus, daring anyone in its path to not singalong. Similar to “Photograph” and the aforementioned High ‘n’ Dry songs, I can play it over and over and over again, as it’s absolute pop metal perfection.
Said pop metal continues, this time with an emphasis on the “pop”, with “Action Not Words!”. If any song on Pyromania laid out the template for what was to follow with 1987’s Hysteria, it’s this one. Even compared to most of the songs on this largely accessible outing, “Action” feels even more accessible than those with its, again, repetitive chorus and overtly hedonistic lyrics. This was nothing new for metal and hard rock in ’83, but they’re delivered in such a manner that one can’t help but envision a young Jon Bon Jovi and Bret Michaels eagerly taking notes while listening.
In true Leppard fashion, they saved the most progressive for last in “Billy’s Got a Gun”. Thought “Die Hard the Hunter” was epic? That was merely a warmup. “Billy’s” is yet another showcase of Leppard’s dynamic chops, painting the portrait of a gun-crazed serial killer named, you guessed it, Billy. I seriously wonder if those who doubt Pyromania‘s metallness stuck around this long. Akin to “Too Late for Love” and “Foolin'”, “Billy’s” is a dark, brooding number, luring us in with a masterclass in epic metal at its absolute poppiest and hook-laden.
Not long after the release of Pyromania, Leppard were back on the road in the States, this time opening for Billy Squier. By the end of said tour, Billy Squier was opening for them. It was a violent shift to say the least, but one that happened fast. Pyromania would peak at #2 on the Billboard 200, spawn three bonafide pop radio hits, and even more on rock radio. The stage was set for Leppard-mania, which would against all odds grow exponentially come the latter half of the decade, but that’s another story for another day. Until then, “Rock of Ages” keeps a rollin’. “BANG BANG!”