Category Archives: Def Leppard
DEF LEPPARD – Songs from the Sparkle Lounge
Def Leppard – Songs from the Sparkle Lounge (2008, Bludgeon Riffola/Island Records)
Track Listing:
1. “Go” – 3:20
2. “Nine Lives” – 3:32
3. “C’mon C’mon” – 4:09
4. “Love” – 4:17
5. “Tomorrow” – 3:35
6. “Cruise Control” – 3:03
7. “Hallucinate” – 3:16
8. “Only the Good Die Young” – 3:33
9. “Bad Actress” – 3:03
10. “Come Undone” – 3:33
11. “Gotta Let It Go” – 3:55
Band:
Joe Elliott – Lead Vocals
Phil Collen – Guitars, Backing vocals
Vivian Campbell – Guitars, Backing vocals
Rick Savage – Bass, Backing Vocals
Rick Allen – Drums, Backing Vocals
I had been pretty excited about this release as the clips I had heard online were pretty good. Yes, even “the Tim McGraw song” aka – “Nine Lives”. Def Leppard is one of my favorite bands but they’ve struggled since the 90s with trying to balance the Mutt Lange sound with their desire to sound current and appeal to the mainstream. It’s led to some mixed results in the past and has done so here again.
The album starts off really strong with the heavy “Go”, then leads into the catchy “Nine Lives”. “Nine Lives” may feature Tim McGraw, but it’s the song that sounds most like “classic” Def Leppard on this album. “Love” is next and is starting to grow on me, although I initially didn’t like it. It’s almost like an outtake from the YEAH! sessions, except it’s not a cover song at all. It reminds me a lot of glam rock though.
“Bad Actress” seems to be getting the most praise from reviews I’ve seen, and although it’s definitely the most ”rock” of all the songs on the album, it just doesn’t appeal to me at all.
Luckily, Songs from the Sparkle Lounge easily trumps their last original studio album, 2002′s X, but it unfortunately fails to match the quality of 1999′s Euphoria, in my opinion. I read Def Lep tried to get Mutt Lange in the studio for a few songs, but that he was too busy to do it. That’s a shame, because this is certainly a good album, but a little help from Mutt could’ve made it great.
Don’t get me wrong though, I do enjoy the album and if you’re a Def Leppard fan that has actually moved past the “I wish they were still heavy metal” phase in your life (That was was over 27 years ago, people, get over it!), then I suggest giving it a listen.
By the way, the album cover is horrible.
Highlights: “Go”, “Nine Lives”, “C’mon C’mon”, “Tomorrow”, ”Hallucinate”, “Come Undone”, “Gotta Let It Go”
Rolling Stone’s review for ‘Songs from the Sparkle Lounge’
http://www.rollingstone.com/reviews/album/20255989/review/20256169/songs_from_the_sparkle_lounge
In the nineties, when producer Robert “Mutt” Lange disappeared into Switzerland with Shania Twain and dump trucks full of cash, he left Def Leppard stranded. Lange produced and co-wrote their best-selling release Hysteria, and the band tries hard to re-create that album’s magic on Songs From the Sparkle Lounge. “Go,” the opener, has the group’s signature layered vocals, crunching guitars and Seventies glam-rock vibe. But when the fivesome team up with Tim McGraw in a desperate country-crossover attempt on “Nine Lives,” the results aren’t pretty. From there, the band’s on cruise control — especially on the politically tinged “Cruise Control” and the Kansas-style power ballad “Love” — with songs that feel like inferior versions of hits two decades past. Def Leppard show signs of life on the headbanging “Bad Actress,” which takes on the Lindsay Lohans of the world, but it’s clear they’re missing their old producer. We await their 2010 Timbaland-aided comeback.
Not that RS is the end-all be-all of reviews. I generally expect them to trash any rock/metal acts, especially if they’re no longer a huge commercial success. That’s just their way, but… I’ve looked at a few blogs and they’re pretty much saying the same.
I haven’t had the chance to listen to the whole album, but I’ve liked what I listened to. “Go” and “Nine Lives” are really good (although McGraw’s appearance is worthless and pointless). I’ll be picking it up not too long after it comes out, so expect a recap of it then.
At least they aren’t doing the lame boyband & ballad stuff like they did on X and are making an attempt to return to their rock & roll roots.
UPDATE: MY thoughts on the album are here.
