Back in the late seventies born into the world of rock n roll world came the “New Wave of British Heavy Metal”, (NWBHM) one band to form at this time was Def Leppard , Sheffield in '77, school friends got together and formed a band , then called “ Atomic Mass” , this point was the conception of what would go on to be probably the biggest rock export these fine shores have ever seen , a year later after rehearsals , local gigs , line up changes , and an inspired name change.

DEF LEPPARD set out to change the course of British rock n roll history , Pete Willis / Rick Savage / Rick Allen / Steve Clark and Joe Elliot recorded and released “ on through the night “ in 1980 , this began their slow rise to rock royalty , the 81 release “ high and dry “ continued along the same path , with support act to ozzy they gained the needed exposure ,in 82 Pete Willis was fired and promptly replaced by Phil Collen from a band called ‘Girl” , then in 83 came the life changing “ pyromania “ , of this album came “ photograph “ this track single handedly made def leopard a household name , with the take off of MTV , photograph rivaled Michael Jackson’s “beat it” for the most requested play on the channel ,

By 84, DEF LEPPARD had been voted in a US poll bigger than “The Stones” and “AC/DC’ not bad for the boys from Sheffield, although their popularity never grew the same in the UK,

Then, the back end of 84 disaster struck, the bands drummer Rick Allen, lost his arm in a car accident. this was the first major blow for the band , now whilst I am typing this , Goosebumps are all over my arms , because , over a year later the band were to return to the big stage , monsters of rock 86 , I was standing at donnington with a highly emotional crowd waiting for Def Leppard to take to the stage , with Joe Elliot’s introduction Rick appeared to what I can only describe as a phenomenon , a 20 min ovation before they even played a note , it was special and something I will never forget ,

From this point on the Def Leppard machine became a hit factory , 87 saw “hysteria” released and again , it was unstoppable , however in 1991 disaster struck yet again, steaming Steve Clark died due to a mixture of drink and prescription drugs , yet another major blow , still , yet again they returned , bringing one of the most underrated guitarists ive ever seen , Vivian Campbell from Dio . They hit back in 92 with “adrenalise” and the smash hit “let’s get rocked” breaking all records worldwide, you have to realize by now that they are one of the biggest bands on the planet!

The albums and tours came thick and fast,
Retro active 93
Pt2
Vault
Slang 96
Euphoria 99
X in 02
Yeah 06 …………bringing us up to date with the new release “ songs from the sparkle lounge” in 08 ….all this backed up by a headline tour , its great to see them back where they belong . They are England’s rock royalty and long shall it remain…….

Review and Photographs from the NEC Birmingham of Def Leppard on stage Live

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