Def Leppard Rocking With Reissues, Tour, CMT Awards

DEF LEPPARD ROCKING WITH REISSUES, TOUR, CMT AWARDS

May 4, 2009

David J. Prince of www.billboard.com reprts that Def Leppard, the pop metal band that debuted in 1980 and which has sold more than 65 million albums worldwide, is set to release deluxe editions of two of its classic records – 1983’s “Pyromania” and 1992’s “Adrenalize” – on June 23. Both double-disc sets will come on Bludgeon Riffola/Island/UMe and feature previously unreleased material including b-sides, demo versions and live recordings.

“‘Adrenalize’ was Number One the week of the L.A. riots,” Leppard guitarist Phil Collen remembers in an exclusive interview with Billboard.com. “I know it was the Nineties, but it really was the end of the Eighties. You had this whole new genre – Nirvana and the grunge thing – which I loved when it really shook everything up. But we got lumped into the Eighties hair metal bands.

“When Pyromania came out it was the complete opposite,” Collen says. “MTV embraced it. Everyone else embraced it. They liked the fact that this young rock band, instead of looking like Black Sabbath, we looked more like Duran Duran. It really, really crossed over.”

As reported earlier, the band, now an arena rock institution, is set to embark on a 40-city summer tour with Poison and Cheap Trick starting on June 23 in Camden, NJ.

Before the tour, Def Leppard will make a live television appearance June 16 on the “2009 CMT Music Awards.” The band made the first ballot nominations for three different CMT categories: two for their performance of “Photograph” with Taylor Swift, from “CMT Crossroads: Def Leppard and Taylor Swift;” one for CMT Performance Of The Year and the other for Wide Open Country Video Of The Year. Their collaboration with Tim McGraw on “Nine Lives,” also received a nomination as the Wide Open Country Video Of The Year. The final nominations will be announced May 19.

Def Leppard’s most recent album, 2008’s “Songs From the Sparkle Lounge,” debuted on the Billboard 200 at No. 5, the group’s highest chart spot since 1992 when “Adrenalize” hit the top of the charts in the U.S. and U.K. right out of the box.

“Pyromania” is Def Leppard’s third album, which sold more than 10 million copies in the United States and spawned four Top Ten singles, including “Photograph,” “Rock Of Ages,” “Too Late For Love (Song)” and “Foolin’.” The deluxe edition includes a remastered version of the original album and a previously unreleased live recording of the band’s 1983 appearance at the Los Angeles Forum.

“We can sing now,” Collen jokes of the differences between the Def Leppard of 1983 and the band on its current tour. “It was great for what it was…a young band having its first stab at success. ‘Photograph’ is about twice as fast as we do it now. The interesting thing is we just got so much better as a band. There’s an enthusiasm that you can definitely hear, but we still have the fire now.”

1992’s “Adrenalize” sold more than seven million copies worldwide and featured numerous hit songs including “Tonight,” “Have You Ever Needed Someone So Bad,” “Make Love Like A Man,” “Lets Get Rocked” and “Stand Up (Kick Love Into Motion).” In addition to a remastered version of the original album, the deluxe edition includes a bonus disc of b-sides, demos, live recordings, and remixes of two of the band’s biggest hits, “Hysteria” and “Pour Some Sugar On Me.”

Both deluxe packages include extensive liner notes written by Rolling Stone’s David Fricke, rare photographs and pictures of memorabilia from the period, and comprehensive sleeve-notes with the story behind each album.

“We get to meet such an amazing cross-section of people,” Collen says of how the massive success of Def Leppard has changed his life. “We get to travel. There’s nothing better than traveling and meeting people to become an experienced human being. You pick up stuff – not just music – socially, politically, experientially. You experience incredible things if you’re fortunate to actually get out there. I would never have done that otherwise. It’s made me a totally different person.”

Here’s the complete track listings for the Def Leppard Deluxe Editions:

“PYROMANIA”
Disc One:
“Rock! Rock!! (Til You Drop)”
“Photograph”
“Stagefright”
“Too Late For Love”
“Die Hard The Hunter”
“Foolin'”
“Rock Of Ages”
“Comin’ Under Fire”
“Action! Not Words”
“Billy’s Got A Gun”

Disc Two: Live – L.A. Forum, 1983:
“Rock! Rock!! (Til You Drop)”
“Rock Brigade”
“High ‘N’ Dry (Saturday Night)”
“Another Hit And Run”
“Billy’s Got A Gun”
“Mirror Mirror (Look Into My Eyes)”
“Foolin'”
“Photograph”
“Rock Of Ages”
“Bringin’ On The Heartbreak”
“Switch 625”
“Let It Go”
“Wasted”
“Stagefright”
“Travellin’ Band”

“ADRENALIZE”
Disc One:
“Let’s Get Rocked”
“Heaven Is”
“Make Love Like A Man”
“Tonight”
“White Lightning”
“Stand Up (Kick Love Into Motion)”
“Personal Property”
“Have You Ever Needed Someone So Bad”
“I Wanna Touch U”
“Tear It Down”

Disc Two:
“Hysteria” – In The Clubs In Your Face – Bonn 29/05/92
p”Photograph” – In The Clubs In Your Face
“Pour Some Sugar On Me” – In The Clubs In Your Face
“Let’s Get Rocked” – In The Clubs In Your Face
“You Can’t Always Get What You Want” – B-Side
“Little Wing” With Hothouse Flowers – B-Side
“Tonight” (Version 2-Demo Version) – B-Side
“Now I’m Here” (Live) – B-Side
“Two Steps Behind” (Acoustic) B-Side
“Tonight” (Acoustic) – B-Side
“Too Late For Love” (Live) – B-Side
“Women: (Live) – B-Side

Courtesy of www.sleazeroxx.com and www.billboard.com