Def Leppard - Adrenalize

Let’s be honest with ourselves here. Everyone has a Def Leppard phase. I can’t explain it. Some sort of faulty wiring from God. But there has been or there will be a period in which you think Def Leppard is cool. It’s best to just accept it and move on.

So which Lep album did I crank out? Pyromania with the pulsating ode to stupidity “Rock Of Ages”? Or perhaps Hysteria with the iconic stripper anthem “Pour Some Sugar On Me”? Nope, I had Adrenalize with… um… something, I guess.

Looking over the tracklist, not much of it seems familiar, which is kind of odd. I remember the album being pretty huge at the time. I even had the accompanying Visualize VHS, featuring the seven music videos released for this album. Yes, out of the 10 songs, 7 (!) were released as singles. Who do these guys think they are? Michael Jackson?

According to Wikipedia, this album knocked Nirvana’s Nevermind from the #1 spot on Billboard. A cheesy hair metal band beat out the kings of grunge during the height of grunge??? So why did we as a nation decide to collectively erase this from our memories? Maybe the answer lies inside. Let’s hit play.

(Is it too late to listen to Thriller or Nevermind instead? I’m scared)

Okay, things start off on a decent note with the fun little romp “Let’s Get Rocked.” I think Lep might be the only band that likes rock n’ roll more than AC/DC. Though I must question the line “I’m sick and tired of dancing with this broom.” Is this something teenage boys do in England?

Then track 2 starts and my lactose intolerance is already giving me diarrhea. Where’s Bon Scott when you need him? Oh yeah, choked on his own vomit.

Lep guitarist Steve Clark choked on his own vomit before the recording of this album. AC/DC went on to make Back In Black. Def Leppard went on to make this.

Continuing with my stream of consciousness here, I remember on the Visualize tape, there was an interview with Joe Elliott saying that they still had the punk rock spirit. Um, okay?

We’re halfway through the album and I’m ready to throw in the towel when “Stand Up, Kick Love Into Motion” catches me by surprise. This is a power ballad that can stand tall amongst the best the eighties had to offer. I mean, if you’re into that sort of stuff. Which I most certainly am not. *locks door and shuts blinds*

And then we’re back into “Def Leppard makes me hate music and life in general” territory. I’m beginning to think that “Stand Up” only seems good because of the craptasticness of the rest of the album.

This is essentially, Hysteria, Pt. 2. Def Leppard does all the things that Def Leppard does. So I guess if you’re in your Def Leppard phase and have finished listening to Hysteria, you could do worse than this. You could also do a lot better. Like not listening to Def Leppard.

Before I’m completely done with this, I’ll watch the video for “Let’s Get Rocked.” It was kind of cool back in the day, with its state-of-the-art CGI animation. I dare say the graphics can stand up alongside the stuff you see these days. In commercials for The General Insurance, I mean.