![]() ” The band then toured the UK opening for For the Record … “On Through the Night is awfully impressive for a band making its vinyl debut. “Displaying a wisdom beyond their years, Def Leppard take the timeworn basics of heavy metal, give them a punky Eighties overhaul and come up with, uh, heavy melody, ” stated David Fricke in Rolling Stone. ” Songs like “Rock Brigade, ” “Hello America, ” “When the Walls Come Tumbling Down, ” “Overture, ” “Sorrow is a Woman, ” and “Wasted ” were recorded in just eighteen days and made for a remarkably strong outing. ![]() “We wanted to do it right from the start and be polished. “We actually wrote the first album nine months before ever playing a live concert, ” Willis told Guitar Player. In 1980 the chartbreaking On Through the Night was released, climbing all the way to #51 in the US. AC/DC manager Peter Mensch picked up the group and convinced Polygram to sign them to a deal. They recorded a privately-made EP, Getcha Rocks Off, which sold out its initial 24, 000 copies. “We always thought our songs would be good enough to get us by, ” Allen told John Swenson in Rolling Stone.īritain experienced a new wave of heavy metal as the ’80srolled in and Def Leppard was in a prime position to cash in. With a twin guitar assault reminiscent of Wishbone Ash, they began gigging in bars with a repertoire that included 50% of their own originals. In July of 1978 they made their debut at Westfield School in Sheffield earning a grand total of $12.00. With the addition of Elliott and drummer Allen, they changed their name to Deaf Leppard and later dropped the a. Already playing with Savage on bass in the band Atomic Mass, Willis asked Clark to sit in and he soon joined the group. Guitarist Willis was studying engineering at college when he met fellow axeman Clark. “I figured out fairly early that I wasn ’t gonna be a brain surgeon or a nuclear physicist, ” he told Rolling Stone, “so I fantasized about rock and roll. Before employment as a van driver, lead singer Elliott used to dream about forming a band in school, creating song lists, logos, and band names while others in his class were studying. ![]() In a genre known for cliched riffs and monotonous beats, these heavy metalheads have created a sound of their own while becoming one of the top-selling groups in rock and roll.Īll five original members, Joe Elliott, Pete Willis, Steve Clark, Rick Savage and Rick Allen, come from the steel-producing town of Sheffield, England. “This band frequently transcends the mundane through sheer musical energy and playing ability, ” wrote Jim Schwartz in Guitar Player. ![]() Despite an average age of only eighteen, Def Leppard burst onto the heavy metal scene back in 1980 like a group of seasoned veterans. ![]()
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