New Def Leppard releases today

Their latest offering "Diamond Star Halos" is out today.  If you are expecting them to be their old selves, think again.  This is more akin to Bryan Adams with a touch of Duran Duran and a smidge of country music thrown in. 

I still look forward to listening, though.

I stopped paying attention to them long ago because they were just rehashing watered down versions of their previous material for years (plus the 2 boring forays into grunge). If this new material is a little different than I'm actually more likely to check it out.

I haven’t liked a whole album from them since RetroActive. But they still kill it live.

Just listened through and it's awful. Two good songs and those don't touch the classic stuff.

They will never recapture the magic of their first 4 albums. Once Steve Clark passed, they changed for the worse! It’s the same scenario as Metallica after Cliff died (except Justice and the Black album were still good). But the overall decline was still in motion…

I think some musicians bring out the best in their bandmates.

I know this is a superficial comment… 
But why does it seem like Joe Elliott is the only member to not transition to a decent modern look? He’s holding on to his Quaker Oats/Kingpin style hair and it’s kinda cringey. 

Throw on a flat brimmed puritan hat and he could play the role of Kane from Poltergeist in a reboot.

Just listened to the album.  It's okay for bland summer radio pop but their connection to the metal roots appears to be lost at this point.   

They at least used to write songs with sharp hooks but the hooks aren't quite there this time - this time the rhythm section is really the star; even the guitars are somewhat subdued.  

Surprisingly, the country-ish songs with Krauss end up being among the best ones here.  Some of the more groove-based songs are pretty good while harder songs like Take What You Want And Liquid Dust end up being repetitive and made me hit the skip button after a while.

Overall the album is well-engineered and constructed but ultimately ends up sounding like a lot of shallow radio fodder.  I'm sure it will do well and will get some radio hits, but if you're not into that it's a pass.

I’ll say one positive thing about the album… 

Rick Allen sounds great. His playing is solid.

At this point, I’m so burned out with constantly hearing the Foo Fighters dominate the radio airwaves. 

I would rather hear this album any day over that!

I almost never listen to radio, it's boring.

Black Rider wrote:I almost never listen to radio, it's boring.

When I’m at work I listen to the radio. In my own personal car, I mostly listen to CDs.

After a thorough listen, I must say that I don't like this at all.  I will give it another listen or two before writing it off completely, but this just doesn't interest me.  This would be okay from a bunch of young kids just breaking into music, but as it is, this album is a testimony to getting old and losing touch with your fanbase.  I get making an album of music that you love, but what does that say to your fans who don't want what you are offering?  Veteran bands like Stryper, Scorpions, AC/DC, The Brave, Bride, and Iron Maiden are all putting out music that is definitely aimed at their fanbase.  Getting this far away from what made you in the first place screams that the fans don't matter.

That's just my two cents.  If you have that and another $6.50, you could get a Frappuccino from Starbucks.

They have been playing it over and over on Hair Nation on Sirius.  I've heard most of the songs at least twice and some a third time.

I'm not a huge DL fan, but I do enjoy many of their songs from the past.  They did this all from their homes, so I try to keep that in mind and this LP doesn't have that signature (almost over produced) sound but if I was a huge fan I think I'd be happy that they are still producing material.  

The other thing that jumps out to me is Joe's voice.  Doesn't really sound like him at times.  I don't mean that in a bad way it just sounds a little more live than produced.

I thought that about Joe's voice too. Wonder if they left it more natural here?

I am listening to their whole catalog, and this is on par with their latter fare.  However, anything past "Slang" just doesn't have the Def Leppard sound.  They changed so much that they should probably have changed the name and considered themselves rebooted.  They definitely quit caring what the fans loved and started making music differently.  I get that they are trying to be more relevant to a younger, more mainstream audience.  However, when the whole band is in their 60s, younger generations are not considering them relevant.  So, it remains a mystery why they would overall their sound.  

Of course, a lot of fans love "Adrenalize".  I like it, too, but it sounds more like Bryan Adams than Def Leppard.  "Hysteria" took them more pop and they kept trying to recreate that.  Lighting, in my opinion, did not strike twice for them.

I actually like Songs From the Sparkle Lounge. It's different but it feels more real, tapping into those T Rex roots they say the love so much.

Black Rider wrote:I actually like Songs From the Sparkle Lounge. It's different but it feels more real, tapping into those T Rex roots they say the love so much.

I am listening to it now and I do agree.  There are hints of the old sound while adding in a lot of other things, too.  It still isn't for the fans of those first three albums, but it is a worthy addition for a veteran rock band trying to find itself again.

Def Leppard is one of the greatest cover bands ever! They cover so many great songs so well. They even "cover" their own heyday songs better than anyone.

But this latest album with a clever title is just another in a long line of commercial pop. The only time I raise is brow is during the brief guitar solos in a handful of songs.

Black Rider wrote:I actually like Songs From the Sparkle Lounge. It's different but it feels more real, tapping into those T Rex roots they say the love so much.

I'm listening to it now.  Some songs are really good!  I like the more raw / less polished feel of the guitar solos.  
Some songs made me hit the skip button but overall this is the best D.L. album I've heard since Adrenalize.
Much better than the 2015 self-titled album and the newest one.

Their 2015 release was such a disappointment. I bought it after seeing them play 3 of the songs live. Turns out those were the only good songs on the album.

Pethead wrote:Their 2015 release was such a disappointment. I bought it after seeing them play 3 of the songs live. Turns out those were the only good songs on the album.

I wonder what those 3 songs were....I tried to listen to it from the beginning on Spotify and couldn't get through the first few songs, they were just bad.

If there's one NWBHM band I don't care about anymore...

Constantine wrote:

Pethead wrote:Their 2015 release was such a disappointment. I bought it after seeing them play 3 of the songs live. Turns out those were the only good songs on the album.

I wonder what those 3 songs were....I tried to listen to it from the beginning on Spotify and couldn't get through the first few songs, they were just bad.

The first 3 tracks, which were fun live. (Man Enough is SOOOO stupid, though).

Diamond Star Halos had three good songs when they delve into the Sweet playbook, the 2015 album had four I put on song lists but man, they fell so far.

Black Rider wrote:Diamond Star Halos had three good songs when they delve into the Sweet playbook, the 2015 album had four I put on song lists but man, they fell so far.

While I like some of their newer stuff, it seems like they want to completely alienate their fan base.  Do they really think younger people are going to get into them?  Do they think that staying pop will reignite people's interest in them?  At shows, people pay to hear the old stuff from the first 4 albums.  I would be trying to make music in that vein if this were me.