Def Leppard
Southpark Meadows
Saturday, August 3
Back in 1983-’84, Van Halen and Def Leppard ruled the hard rock arena circuit
with larger-than-life hair, hooks, and stage shows. But even as Van Halen begat
Van Hagar, Def Leppard stayed virtually the same – save for drummer Rick Allen’s arm and guitarist Steve Clarke’s liver and life.
Now, in the year of the reunion, Def Leppard has returned unbroken to tour
behind Slang. But what should be a triumphant Leppard comeback is so far
meeting with deafening disinterest. Could it be that the news of David Lee
Roth’s return to Van Halen stole their thunder?
“It’s very weird, but I must admit nothing surprises me anymore,” says Joe
Elliot, who has fronted Def Leppard through 22 years and 40 million records. “I
can’t say I was shocked but I was like `You’re joking.’ Then I thought `Wow,
that’s pretty cool.’ I have a high regard for Sammy Hagar and loved the first
two Montrose albums, but Van Halen sort of became an `adult’ band when Sammy
joined… And as a fan of the early David Lee Roth stuff, I’m kind of very
intrigued to see what happens.”
And could what happens – a reunion record and stadium tour – have Def Leppard kicking themselves for their own longevity?
“It’s funny,” says Elliot, “We’ve been talking about that. It seems like if
you want to get back on top, you’ve got to split up for five years. Knowing our
luck, even if we did that as a career move, it wouldn’t work when we
reformed… There’s nothing about Def Leppard that makes people want to rush
out and go because `Hey, we might not see them anymore.’ There’s no fight
between Axl and Slash in Def Leppard. There’s no antagonistic relationship that
there is between Jagger/Richards and Daltrey/Townshend – or between anybody where you think half the reason you like them is because
they’re on the edge because they don’t get on as people. We’re reliable and
maybe that bores people a little bit.” – Andy Langer
This article appears in August 2 • 1996 and August 2 • 1996 (Cover).