Published on Aug 27, 1997
After
Hysteria hit the stores, Def Leppard joked about how long it
would take them to record a new album. In one interview, lead
singer Joe Elliott said it would take five years. How little did he
know….
Def Leppard could not have been in a worse predicament when
Adrenalize came out. The most harrowing obstacle the Leps
had to overcome was the death of guitarist Steve Clark. In the face
of such a harrowing loss, they had to put on a happy face and sing
about partying, puppy love and cutting loose. They also had to go
without Robert John “Mutt” Lange, their producer who put the gloss
in
Hysteria and
Pyromania. Instead, Lange took a distant executive producer
role and left the producing to Mike Shipley and Def Leppard (big
mistake).
Not a hint of sorrow from Clark’s death makes it into
Adrenalize. Instead, it’s a shiny, bright showcase of Def
Leppard’s pop smarts. “Let’s Get Rocked” explodes off right away.
Rick Savage lays down a nice, bopping bass beat for Phil Collen to
work around, and Joe Elliott’s voice sounds as crisp and sharp as
anything on
Pyromania and
Hysteria. Though it may sound great, the lyrics sink what
could have been the best song in Def Leppard’s arsenal.
Alright, so Def Leppard was never meant to be on the lyrical
level of say, Bob Dylan, but the band never wrote about a teenager
refusing to mow the lawn and take out the trash. It’s a feeble
attempt at making a new teenage anthem. They did it with “Rock Of
Ages”, and they were able to bridge a small generation gap with
“Pour Some Sugar On Me”, but it doesn’t work for them a third time.
Most kids at this time were giving the teenage anthem award to song
like “Evenflow” and “Alive”.
For the first time in Def Leppard’s career, their album sounded
hopelessly dated. No amount of studio finesse could mask the fact
that pop metal was dying a horrible death. To boost the album’s
sales, Def Leppard put stock in the once bankable power ballad.
Once again, that approach failed them. “Tonight”, “Stand Up (Kick
Love Into Motion)” and “Have You Ever Needed Someone So Bad” all
are your typical, standard ballads you would come to expect from a
knock off Def Leppard band.
I admit, it’s easy to take pot shots of the band right now. And
I will fess up,
Hysteria remained my all time favorite album in my teenage
years. Honestly though, looking at what made
Hysteria a great fluff masterpiece, you see what
Adrenalize completely lacks in. First off, there’s no single
guitar hook that you can’t get out of your head. There’s no stadium
thumping “Pour Some Sugar On Me” or genuine inspiration like in
“Love And Affection”.
Def Leppard learned from the weaknesses of
Adrenalize and tried to update their sound style with
Slang, their last release. Unfortunately again for the
disaster-prone band, the sound that they tried to convert to
(stripped down) was already becoming old. So, what’s a band like
Def Leppard to do? The music they made isn’t what the audience now
wants to hear. If they try to update their sound, they sound like
they’re hopelessly trying to fit into a music scene that has no
room for them. My best advice for them is to either go the Vegas
route ala U2 or go the Living Colour route (just plain pack it in).
One thing is certain though,
Adrenalize was the first serious misstep from a band that
provided itself on being perfectionists. A misstep that the band
has yet to recover from and, sadly, maybe they never will.