defleppard-songsfromthesparklelounge music reviews Virgin Media
Arena-filling UK metal veterans rock out as if grunge never happened
Their first album of original material for six years, Songs From The Sparkle Lounge sees Sheffield rock dinosaurs Def Leppard largely eschew the power ballads that defined 2002's X album in favour of their signature crunching pop-metal. It is a record that is likely to delight the many millions of fans who bought their iconic 1980s albums such as Pyromania and Hysteria, even if its dated sound and deficit of high-quality songs means it is unlikely to attract new recruits to their cause.
The band certainly sound hungry, with vocalist Joe Elliott's parched yelp and guitarist Vivian Campbell's screeching riffs to the fore, but listening to the album, it's impossible not to feel you have fallen into a time warp. Go sounds like something that Tommy Vance might have played on a Friday night rock show in 1983, while Only The Good Die Young and Bad Actress are reminders that Elliott has always been a chronically clichéd lyricist, even by metal's low standards. Laudable energy levels, then, but you are unlikely to pay too many return visits to the Sparkle Lounge.
More to try:
Whitesnake: Slide It In
Judas Priest: Hell Bent For Leather
Diamond Head: Behold The Beginning
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