{"id":48469,"date":"2015-03-02T13:44:47","date_gmt":"2015-03-02T18:44:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/?p=48469"},"modified":"2015-03-02T20:14:19","modified_gmt":"2015-03-03T01:14:19","slug":"def-leppard-on-through-the-night-cd-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/2015\/def-leppard-on-through-the-night-cd-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Def Leppard | On Through the Night<\/em>"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Derric Miller<\/span>
\n– Managing Editor —<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"defBefore we all got aural diabetes from hearing schlock like \u201cMake Love Like a Man,\u201d \u201cHave You Ever Needed Someone So Bad\u201d or \u201cLong Long Way to Go,\u201d Def Leppard used to be a balls out Hard Rock band that changed the face of the music industry with Pyromania. Sure, they eventually lost their way but to say they aren\u2019t one of the most influential Hard Rock acts in history is balderdash and poppycock. And the album that introduced the world to Def Leppard was 1980\u2019s On Through the Night<\/em>. <\/p>\n

With On Through the Night<\/em>, guitarist Phil Collen wasn\u2019t even in the band yet, and the demons that started following guitarist Steve Clark had barely begun knocking on his door. Clark eventually lost his battle with the bottle, but then-guitarist Pete Willis was the biggest boozehound in the band. This was a time when Joe Elliott didn\u2019t even really know how to sing; he certainly wasn\u2019t going to pull off \u201cRock of Ages\u201d at this age. This was raw, unpolished Def Leppard, a band just finding its sea legs.<\/p>\n

\u201cRock Brigade\u201d is the lead track, a simplistic yet somewhat melodic straight ahead anthem. Elliott\u2019s voices warbles a bit during the end of the chorus as he holds the note on the word \u201caway\u201d and it sounds perfect. This isn\u2019t some sort of clinic for vibrato or laryngeal tilt; this is pure Hard Rock 101 vocals. Shout it out and let \u2018er rip! <\/p>\n

It\u2019s too bad the gents got slapped around in their native England for song \u201cHello America.\u201d Critics and fans labeled it \u201cpandering\u201d and the like. Yeah \u2026 they just grew up watching The Beatles go from being a Liverpool favorite to the biggest band in the world once they broke in America. If your whole reason to be in a band is to become a global phenomenon \u2026 it\u2019s a grand idea to break into the American musical consciousness. Again, Pyromania anyone? While \u201cHello America\u201d is a searing rocker, the chorus is the first time you hear the formulation of their melodic sensibilities that drove Hysteria to hysterical heights. The solos are chunky at one moment and then precise at the end, and the breakdown, just drums and vocals after the main guitar solo is intense. Just so much music to digest in one killer track. <\/p>\n

Def Leppard shows they can play with a deft touch on \u201cSorrow is a Woman.\u201d This is a more atmospheric track, with tempo changes, acoustic guitar, a rhythm and bass driven construction led by bassist Rick Savage and drummer Rick Allen. Elliott hits one of the highest notes he can at this time, an airy and forced grappling of vocal chords that is ridiculous and awesome at the same time. <\/p>\n

The rhythm during the chorus of \u201cIt Could Be You\u201d is innately sexual. There\u2019s a driving groove, an internal metronome counting time as you \u2026 well it\u2019s all about sex, drugs, rock and roll during this decade, wasn\u2019t it? <\/p>\n

You first hear those memorable Steve Clark patented guitar licks on \u201cSatellite.\u201d Later in their career, it seemed most of their songs leaned towards relationship themes and gross things like \u201cemotions.\u201d It\u2019s nice when they were more metaphorical and abstract in some ways, and less singing about women\u2019s body parts or in totality. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s almost a Sisyphus-like endeavor to get your head around the fact that the same band who wrote \u201cLet\u2019s Get Rocked\u201d also wrote one of the best heavy drinking songs of all time, \u201cWasted.\u201d Along with \u201cMe and My Wine,\u201d there\u2019s very few songs (not written by AC\/DC) that measure up to the \u201cparty like a rock star\u201d ideal than \u201cWasted.\u201d It\u2019s too bad they lost this edge after High and Dry, but if \u201cWasted\u201d isn\u2019t one of your Top 10 favorite Def Leppard songs, and really, Top 5, you are just a casual fan at best. This is the best song on On Through the Night. <\/p>\n

If that\u2019s the best, then \u201cAnswer to the Master\u201d has to be a close second. Today, no Metal fan would say \u201cDef Leppard\u201d when asked to name a classic New Wave of British Heavy Metal band. BUT \u2026 in 1980, that\u2019s how their music was classified. If any song deserves that brand, it\u2019s \u201cAnswer to the Master.\u201d The guitar solo at about 1:50 in could come off a Maiden composition. There\u2019s a darkness and depth that defines that genre you won\u2019t hear on songs like \u201cWasted,\u201d but they certainly show their influences on this song. <\/p>\n

The story has been told. Some 35 years later, Def Leppard\u2019s indelible mark on Hard Rock\u2019s hierarchy can only be applauded and envied. At one time\u2014for a long damn time\u2014Def Leppard was one of the biggest bands on earth. With Pyromania and Hysteria, that\u2019s about 32 million sales JUST in North America. (Hello America!) They were the face of MTV, a band that sold out 100,000 seat stadiums, and a band that has left behind some of Hard Rock\u2019s best anthems: \u201cRock of Ages,\u201d \u201cPhotograph,\u201d \u201cFoolin\u2019,\u201d \u201cBringing on the Heartbreak,\u201d the ode to Clark \u201cWhite Lightning,\u201d the odes to boozing that have already been explained. But all of that came to fruition because of their first album, their first creative endeavor, On Through the Night<\/em>. If you want to know how the story ends and don\u2019t care about the beginning, then go start with Slang<\/em> or X<\/em>. But this album is the reason Def Leppard grew to conquer everything in their path later in their career. It\u2019s the birth of a legacy, and a damn fine Hard Rock album to boot. <\/p>\n

Genre: Hard Rock<\/p>\n

Lineup:
\nJoe Elliott \u2013 lead vocals
\nSteve Clark \u2013 guitar
\nPete Willis \u2013 guitar
\nRick Savage \u2013 bass guitar
\nRick Allen \u2013 drums<\/p>\n

Tracklisting:
\n1. Rock Brigade
\n2. Hello America
\n3. Sorrow Is A Woman
\n4. It Could Be You
\n5. Satellite
\n6. When The Walls Came Tumbling Down
\n7. Wasted
\n8. Rocks Off
\n9. It Don’t Matter
\n10. Answer To The Master
\n11. Overture<\/p>\n

Label: Mercury Records<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Derric Miller – Managing Editor — Before we all got aural diabetes from hearing schlock like \u201cMake Love Like a Man,\u201d \u201cHave You Ever Needed Someone So Bad\u201d or \u201cLong Long Way to Go,\u201d […]<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":48487,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10852,12394],"tags":[2317,348,10859,9801,10858,10862,10861,10860],"class_list":{"0":"post-48469","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-1980-landmark-albums-turn-35","8":"category-arcrvws2015","9":"tag-cd-review","10":"tag-def-leppard","11":"tag-joe-elliott","12":"tag-mercury-records","13":"tag-on-through-the-night","14":"tag-rick-allen","15":"tag-rick-savage","16":"tag-steve-clark"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48469","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48469"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48469\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/48487"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48469"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48469"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48469"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}