Review by Paul Monkhouse for MPM
Whilst their debut ‘On Through the Night’ and solid gold sophomore ‘High and Dry’ had their share of arse-kicking rock ‘n’ rollers, it was ‘Pyromania’ that really broke Def Leppard into the bigtime.
Despite its torturous recording with the red hot production talent of Mutt Lange, the Sheffield quintet arrived with an album that defined their sound and was wall-to-wall all killer, no filler. Certainly, Lange brought out an extra sonic edge to what the boys had created but the quality of songwriting here is what sets it out amongst its predecessors and most of what was around at the time in 1983.
Not only was the painstaking piecing together of each and every song making the record glacial in progress but the dismissal of guitarist Pete Willis during this process adding vital time. Looking back, there couldn’t have been a better replacement to the mercurial six stringer than Phil Collen, the former Girl guitarist seemingly born to add the ying to Steve Clark’s yang, the two creating some seeing high volume magic between them.
It shows throughout the remastered ten track original, the band at the heaviest and most hungry they’ve ever sounded, the sonic attack more ferocious and epic than ever. Along with the muscle, there was plenty of melody and you can only marvel at the anthemic ‘Photograph’, ‘Too Late For Love’ and ‘Rock of Ages’ amongst others. When you add ‘Die Hard the Hunter’, Billy’s Got a Gun’, ‘Stagefright’ and ‘Rock Rock (Till You Drop)’ into the mix as well it’s all breathlessly unbeatable.
So far, so familiar, although reliving these absolute bangers is a joy in itself, it’s the additional tracks that make this a must-buy addition to the collection. Along with the previously lost track ‘No You Can’t Do That’ which is so good it’s presumed it was missed off solely for time constraints at the time, there’s a plethora of demos in various forms and unfinished mixes of the whole album. It’s an interesting look into the creation process and reveals the songs in a rawer state, all crackling with life.
For those who were aching to know what the band sounded like in a live setting at the time or were there and want to relive those pneumatic and adrenaline-fuelled days, this edition includes sets at Dortmund and Los Angeles during 1983. Both show Leppard on fire, the former an incendiary festival performance and the latter a lengthier list, the band stretching out but still attacking it all with a vigour that really put them on the map.
There may be split feelings on what happened during and since ‘Pyromania’, but for a lot of people, the band were never as compelling and exciting as here. Let’s get rocked.
PYROMANIA 40: https://DefLeppard.lnk.to/D2CPYRO40
