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DEF LEPPARD
(UNITED KINGDOM)
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HIGH'N'DRY
(1981)
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LABEL:
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GENRE:
HARD ROCK
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TAGS:
80's
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""High'n'Dry" is a reference album, presenting a dynamic Def Leppard who perfectly managed the alchemy between energy and melody."
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4/5
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With "On Through The Night", Def Leppard had positioned itself as a new talent of the NWOBHM and had to move forward with its new opus. For that, the quintet from Sheffield decided to hire John "Mutt" Lange instead of Tom Allom. The man who has just propelled AC/DC ("Highway To Hell" & "Back In Black") and Foreigner ("4") to the top, did not remain insensitive to the potential of the young combo and their cooperation turns out to be a real success. Indeed, the Canadian producer managed to channel Def Leppard's energy and ardor without sanitizing his music.
As a result, the first part of this "High'n'Dry" is a tremendous succession of hard rock hits. Joe Elliot's vocals are better mastered and the choirs take a higher amplitude. The guitar harmonies are formidable and can be enticing on the power-ballad "Bringin' On The Heartbreak", or carry everything away on "Switch 625", an irresistible instrumental twister. The riffs are haunting and the choruses unforgettable ("High'n'Dry (Saturday Night)"), but the structures are deceptively obvious, varying the tempos to better hypnotize us during an aerial break before ending us with one of these solos of which Steve Clark has the secret ("Another Hit And Run").
After a short break, "On Through The Night", a real compressor with a powerful chorus and lots of guitar, starts the machine again before a schizophrenic doublet composed of "Mirror Mirror (Take A Look Into My Eyes)" with a heavy and anguishing tempo and a hypnotising chorus led by an inhabited Joe Elliot, and a hysterical, fast and unleashed "No No No". Without the slight soft underbelly composed of "You Got Me Runnin'" and "Lady Strange", Def Leppard offered us a flawless album. Not that those tracks are bad, but they are more like scrap from the first album, certainly better produced, but of a lower level than the rest of the album.
In spite of this, Def Leppard hits a great blow and imposes itself as a reliable and undeniable value of the Hard-Rock landscape that is taking shape around the NWOBHM. Moreover, he seems to have found his mentor with "Mutt" Lange. Here is a benefactor association which seems promised to a great destiny. In the meantime, "High'n'Dry" is already a reference, showing a dynamic band that has perfectly mastered the fusion between energy and melody. This is what strongly looks like the birth of a legend. - Official website
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TRACK LISTING:
01. Let It Go - 4:43
02. Another Hit And Run - 4:58
03. High 'N' Dry (Saturday Night) - 3:26
04. Bringin' On The Heartbreak - 4:33
05. Switch 625 - 3:03
06. You Got Me Runnin' - 4:22
07. Lady Strange - 4:38
08. On Through The Night - 5:06
09. Mirror, Mirror (Look Into My Eyes) - 4:07
10. No No No - 3:13
LINEUP:
Joe Elliott: Chant
Pete Willis: Guitares
Rick Allen: Batterie
Rick Savage : Basse
Steve Clark: Guitares
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(0) MIND(S) FROM OUR READERS
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Top of the page
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(0) COMMENT(S)
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READERS
5/5 (5 view(s))
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STAFF:
4.3/5 (7 view(s))
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IN RELATION WITH DEF LEPPARD
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LAST INTERVIEW
DEF LEPPARD (APRIL 2022)
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Def Leppard did us the honor of interviewing them for the first time at Music Waves, on the occasion of the release of their new album, "Diamond Star Halos"!
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OTHER REVIEWS
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OTHER(S) REVIEWS ABOUT DEF LEPPARD
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