Like Dos Equis’ “Most Interesting Man In The World”, I’d like to say “I don’t listen to Def Leppard often, but when I do I listen to __________”.  That would be a bit of a lie as my music tastes have changed quite dramatically over the years and I can honestly say when reaching for something to listen to, I’m not actively scrolling through the Ds on a mad hunt for the Leps.  No, my Leppard ship sailed a loooooong time ago although at one time I was an early proponent of the band along with many of my fellow schoolmates (Def Lep/Billy Squier concert, anyone?).  While I’ve certainly moved on I clearly respect what they’ve done-  selling over 100 million albums worldwide is no mean feat!  Still, much of the reasons why my interest has faded had a lot to do with the differences between the band’s second and third albums:  High ‘n Dry and Pyromania.

Flashback to the early ’80s…  by this time I was neck deep in all things music, gravitating everywhere from KISS to Top 40 to disco to rock to anything else that fell between the cracks.  At the time, radio playlists were still pretty wide open-  one moment you’d hear Wings, the next moment KC & The Sunshine Band, then on to The Cars and AC/DC, and then rounded out by Styx or The Gap Band or Journey or Eddie Rabbit(!).  Sometime in the late 70s/early 80s my mom would buy me magazines like Song Hits or Hit Parader or Circus, which was cool as my music tastes were leaning a bit heavier and these types of bands (AC/DC, Kiss, Aerosmith, Van Halen, Judas Priest) were starting to get major ink in the pages of these rags.  So while my radio ears were tuning in and my eyeballs were diverted to the flashy videos on MTV,  I’d also want to read more and more about these bands- and one of my favorites at the time was Def Leppard.

My first exposure to the Sheffield fivesome was via the mighty “Let It Go”, likely heard via WEBN (at the time THE AOR station) in Cincinnati and remains one of my top three Lep songs of all time.  What a way to kick off an album!  As a kid and even today I’ve always been attracted to guitar riffs and “Let It Go” certainly is a monster-  at the time I hadn’t heard anything quite like it outside of some of the heavier KISS or AC/DC cuts and it was a little too simple for Van Halen, but sometimes that simplicity is for the best.  That swinging crunch, that driving bass, and Joe Elliott’s tough vocal propels this song into heavy sonic territory that improved upon the quality of their debut album and leaned closer to producer Mutt Lange’s tones he achieved on AC/DC’s seminal Back In Black and For Those About To Rock albums.

After finally purchasing the album in 1982 or so I realized that punch did not stop there-  songs like “Another Hit And Run”, “Saturday Night (High ‘n Dry), instrumental “Switch 625”, and “No No No” were uniquely rifftacular in their own individual ways, featuring various tones and tenacities of varying measures and speeds.  While “No No No” leaned punk in spirit something like the highly underrated “Lady Strange” fell into a melodic yet hooky well of goodness courtesy of a sweet chorus and Joe Elliott’s tempered croon yet still amped up the charge midway through the song.  And what about the classic “Bringin’ On The Heartbreak”?  Still, a fine fine tune and the bellwether on the album, showcasing a certain level of songwriting talent that would gel even more come their next two albums.  Bottom line, High ‘N Dry matched up extremely well with the hard rock of the day, leaning a bit heavier and a hair more tuneful than their fellow NWOBHM counterparts in the UK and slotting in nicely with veterans like AC/DC and Thin Lizzy.

As for Pyromania, I can remember exactly where I was the first time I heard advance cut “Too Late For Love” and the excitement I felt – cool dramatic buildup during the intro, hefty hanging chords, and a strong Joe Elliott vocal definitely caught my ear and had me savoring what was to come with a new Leppard album.  Not long thereafter I heard (or more likely caught the video for) “Photograph” and loved the mix of hook, crunch, and melodic sensibilities-  this song was a brilliant single and was a quick favorite and remains so to this day.  Follow up singles like the ballsy “Foolin'” and anthemic “Rock Of Ages” were huge plus lead cut “Rock Rock Til You Drop” was another fine showstopper as well, all three featuring strong sing along choruses that would (and did) go down well in the live environment.  With singles like these that focused more on the hook and the album as a whole containing more of a shinier, finer tuned production, Pyromania shot to the top of the charts and made Def Leppard significant stars on MTV and in the music world in general.  But for an early fan like me, something had changed…

To me, there are a couple of significant elements and stylistic shifts on Pyromania that makes it the lesser (and FAR lesser, in my mind) album when compared to High ‘n Dry.  Yes, the former album has those well worn chestnuts that your typical Def Leppard fan knows and loves but as a whole, that latter album hangs together more fluidly from top to bottom and rocks with more hungry conviction than anything else in their catalog.  On Pyromania that hunger was replaced by a sleeker, yet more sterilized sound as keyboards crept into the mix and Rick Allen’s drums were essentially replaced with more electronic samples that left an entirely different feel than the live band wallop featured on High ‘n Dry.  While the modern vibes felt fresh and exciting and the candy gloss hooks provided a new level of excitement on the hits, there were others where the combination did not work at all (“Action! Not Words”, “Billy’s Got A Gun”) or neutered the heavier aspects of the tunes (like “Comin’ Under Fire”, which would have fit nicely with High ‘N Dry’s beefier production).

If you look at this a little deeper, Pyromania could be viewed as a transitional album; one where pop songcraft and well polished and modern production values edged into the band formula and pushed the heavier cuts to the curb.  Come next album Hysteria, the fiery rock tunes found on High ‘N Dry were pretty much gone altogether and replaced by an entirely different beast; one that capably churned out one hit after another but unfortunately left this former fan a bit disillusioned with their new direction.  While I still have huge respect for the band and I’m happy they continue to release new music, nothing will ever compare to those heady early days and the brilliance that is High ‘N Dry.