Like 2005's Rock of Ages: The Definitive Collection, 2018's The Story So Far: The Best of Def Leppard spans 35 songs spread over two discs. Since this is a basic hits collection, that means there is considerable overlap between the two compilations: a grand total of 20 tracks, with the remaining 15 largely dedicated to deep cuts, along with a new cover of Depeche Mode's "Personal Jesus." On the whole, The Story So Far doesn't necessarily best Rock of Ages, but it's not worse, either. The difference between the two compilations is on the margins, with the album cuts on both proving that Def Leppard delivered plenty of excellent music that wasn't always hits.
There were a lot of heavy metal bands in the 1980s and there were a lot of pop bands too; there weren't many who combined the two styles as well as Def Leppard did. This is a statement that the simply titled The CD Collection, Vol. 1 proves over and over during the course of its playing time. Made up of the four albums the band released during the 1980s, a live show recorded in 1983 (which was issued as part of the deluxe edition of Pyromania), a disc of B-sides and rarities, and a mini-disc of the band's self-titled 1979 EP, the set is filled with razor-sharp riffs, hooky choruses, thudding backbeats, inferno-hot guitar soloing, keening vocal harmonies, and the inimitable yelp of singer Joe Elliott as it runs through their early career.
Where Pyromania had set the standard for polished, catchy pop-metal, Hysteria only upped the ante. Pyromania's slick, layered Mutt Lange production turned into a painstaking obsession with dense sonic detail on Hysteria, with the result that some critics dismissed the record as a stiff, mechanized pop sellout (perhaps due in part to Rick Allen's new, partially electronic drum kit)…
On the 11th June 2021, legendary British rock ‘n’ roll icons and Rock & Roll Hall of Fame® inductees Def Leppard will release Def Leppard – Volume Three, a new limited edition box set UMC/Virgin. This set marks the third of four volumes of the band’s complete recorded output in a limited-edition CD box set. They contain all the recordings from the band in the 2000’s and features the original packaging on both formats. The albums were re-mastered by Ronan McHugh and Joe Elliott at Joe’s Garage and cut by Greg Moore. Housed in rigid boxes the sets also contain a hard-backed book with rare photos by Ross Halfin and notes by Classic Rock Magazine’s Paul Elliott. Band members Joe Elliott, Rick Savage, Rick Allen and Phil Collen have also contributed introductions to the set.
Like 2005's Rock of Ages: The Definitive Collection, 2018's The Story So Far: The Best of Def Leppard spans 35 songs spread over two discs. Since this is a basic hits collection, that means there is considerable overlap between the two compilations: a grand total of 20 tracks, with the remaining 15 largely dedicated to deep cuts, along with a new cover of Depeche Mode's "Personal Jesus." On the whole, The Story So Far doesn't necessarily best Rock of Ages, but it's not worse, either. The difference between the two compilations is on the margins, with the album cuts on both proving that Def Leppard delivered plenty of excellent music that wasn't always hits.
Hysteria is the fourth studio album by English hard rock band Def Leppard. It was released on August 3rd, 1987 and is the band's best-selling album to date, selling over 25 million copies worldwide and charting at #1 on the Billboard 200 in the US…