Revisiting Def Leppard’s Adrenalize

[Tommy2Tone84]

I remember some being critical of this release because of the two singles “Let’s Get Rocked” and “Make Love Like A Man” at the time and commenting on how out of touch the band looked and sounded in the wake of the burgeoning Seattle scene. Neither song were my favorite but this release is surprisingly a strong effort with a number of Steve Clark sleeper cell, deep cuts like Heaven Is, Tonight, Stand Up, and the fan favorite, Hysteria left over “Tear It Down.” I was surprised Steve had a co-write on “Make Love Like A Man.” It appears had he lived that track still would’ve made it to our eyes and ears for consumption. I saw them on this tour and they were nothing short of brilliant. I saw Metallica the same year and remember thinking that was the first time I started to see cracks in their armor and felt they had jumped the shark. They weren’t the same ferocious band bringing the same can of scathing whoop ass I had seen a few short years before. They seemed tired, bored, fat and lazy.


If I had my druthers Pete Willis would have never left the band and in a perfect world Pete and Steve would still be in the band today or worst case scenario, Pete and Vivian would be their guitarists today. I have to hand it to the band. They released a much better album at the time than a lot of people, including myself, gave them credit for.

I also thought the Lep’s performance at the FMTC was the best out of them, Metallica, and Guns N Roses. You almost can’t count Extreme given they did a tribute band set that day.


The Lep’s have had their ups and downs but they have aged well and slid impressively into senior citizenship. I’ve seen them a handful of times over the last 25 years and except for one show that was only memorable for how miserably shitty it was, have upped their game. I’ve been most impressed with Joe Elliott. He’s had his share of vocal issues and vocal fatigue over the years. Their live sound guys have done a fantastic job of mixing him to make him sound better than he probably did in reality. But the last time I saw them, he seemed to step up his game. I don’t remember him sounding better except for on the Adrenalize tour.

[JizzySynatra]

I had the same experience with that album a couple summers ago. I avoided it because the two singles were terrible and I really didn't even listen to it back in the day when it was released. I agree that there are some really great songs on there like "Heaven is," "White Lightning," and "Stand Up." I was definitely surprised at how good it was and kind of regret missing out on those tracks back in 92'.

[steviedoes]

Hysteria had better and more successful singles, but as an album - I actually like Adrenalize better.

[LAglamrocker]

Best Leppard cd ever
Best tour ever 5 from Adrenalize - 7 from Hysteria
Heaven Is better than your favorite song ever

Only place I’ve ever heard hate for Make Love Like A Man is this place- but most of these people worship stupidass Rush - Led Zepp crap- boring AC DC- The Beatles and so on.

Bands that sound like Adrenalize rule the world..Cherry Pie- Bang Bang- Tuesdays Rain

[Rocker4Real]

It's still baffling that Make Love Like A Man was able to make the Pop top 40. I suspect shenanigans.

[daveg]

Love it. The album cuts are all really strong.

Hate to agree with LAGlam, but Heaven Is...is top 5 DL song.

[PBFSUCKS]

Let’s Get Rocked is a perfect example of why grunge took over for a bit.

One of the worst songs, lyrically ever. Unless you are a ten year old.

Other than that, I’m a big Def Leppard fan.

[LitaStrauss]

Let’s Get Rocked is a perfect example of why grunge took over for a bit.

One of the worst songs, lyrically ever. Unless you are a ten year old.

Other than that, I’m a big Def Leppard fan.

That song was released after grunge had already started. It came out in March 1992. Nirvana and Pearl Jam blew up in the fall of 91. Soundgarden and Alice In Chains were also already out and doing well. That song shouldn't have done well in 87, so the fact that it did well in 1992 and people still know it is kind of crazy.

[ParaDime77]

Stand Up is a great song. I recall seeing DL tour this album when l was a Freshman in High School. They were still doing the in the round set up. Crowd was down a full 1/3 from the prior tour.

[Fat_Elvis]

This album is mostly garbage, no matter how many times I revisit it.

[DangerZone]

The B side version of “tear it down” is so much better.
They sucked the life right out of it

[Tommy2Tone84]

Let’s Get Rocked is a perfect example of why grunge took over for a bit.

One of the worst songs, lyrically ever. Unless you are a ten year old.

Other than that, I’m a big Def Leppard fan.

That song was released after grunge had already started. It came out in March 1992. Nirvana and Pearl Jam blew up in the fall of 91. Soundgarden and Alice In Chains were also already out and doing well. That song shouldn't have done well in 87, so the fact that it did well in 1992 and people still know it is kind of crazy.

This is accurate. Ten and Nevermind started taking off in the fall of 1991. Facelift was right there too with Man In The Box getting MTV play. It wasn’t like Grunge came in and wiped all the hair bands and 80s bands out. It was very gradual with a lot of people at MTV in front and behind the scenes jumping on Seattle’s balls. 1991-92 was a weird year.

1993 was really where the anti 80s sentiment took hold.


While the band seemed slightly out of step at the 1992 VMA’s that year they killed it the rest of the year. They were all over MTV, played the FMTC, were multiplatinum and had a successful headlining tour.

[Tommy2Tone84]

It's still baffling that Make Love Like A Man was able to make the Pop top 40. I suspect shenanigans.

I suspect shenanigans involving any Top 40 hit. Payola, Cocaine, Strippers, Private Jets, Backroom Deals, Handshakes is what made the industry go around for most of its existence.

[Tommy2Tone84]

Stand Up is a great song. I recall seeing DL tour this album when l was a Freshman in High School. They were still doing the in the round set up. Crowd was down a full 1/3 from the prior tour.

I saw them on that tour and the arena was sold out to the rafters. 16,000 people going nuts. I’ve seen the band numerous times since then and that show was the best I’ve ever seen them. Vivian was new to the band and shared lead guitar duties equally with Phil. Phil’s ego got in the way later and Vivian’s role was glaringly reduced over the years. Vivian was an absolute monster. He had chops but he had feel too. His note choices and phrasing blew Phil out of the water. Phil has his strong points but he’s my least favorite out of the four guys. Steve, as much of a rock star as he is, and as cool as his swagger was, wasn’t exactly awesome at the end of his life. You can tell he’s burnt out on the Hysteria tour. Maybe the same fate would have befallen Pete too.

I know I sound like a fan girl but Vivian is an absolute pro. I was never a giant Dio fan for some reason, and you almost can’t count Vivian’s time in Coversnake. The night I saw them the guy was like Gary Moore, Michael Schenker, Randy Rhoads and John Sykes all rolled into one. Hands down one of the best performances I’ve seen by a guitarist. Dio really f*cked up letting go of him all because he had the audacity to ask for a fairer slice of the pie as a twenty-something year old kid.

[Bono Nettencourt]

Stand Up is a great song. I recall seeing DL tour this album when l was a Freshman in High School. They were still doing the in the round set up. Crowd was down a full 1/3 from the prior tour.

I saw them on that tour and the arena was sold out to the rafters. 16,000 people going nuts. I’ve seen the band numerous times since then and that show was the best I’ve ever seen them. Vivian was new to the band and shared lead guitar duties equally with Phil. Phil’s ego got in the way later and Vivian’s role was glaringly reduced over the years. Vivian was an absolute monster. He had chops but he had feel too. His note choices and phrasing blew Phil out of the water. Phil has his strong points but he’s my least favorite out of the four guys. Steve, as much of a rock star as he is, and as cool as his swagger was, wasn’t exactly awesome at the end of his life. You can tell he’s burnt out on the Hysteria tour. Maybe the same fate would have befallen Pete too.

It did - he couldn't handle the life BEFORE they were famous, that's why he got kicked out of his own band.

BTW, Viv Campbell is heinously overrated.

[NeonKnite]

Terrible album. "Let's Get Rocked" is embarrassing level bad.

Never bothered with another DF release from the point onward.

[TheDeadBastard]

The B side version of “tear it down” is so much better.
They sucked the life right out of it

Winner winner chicken dinner.

[Love_Industry]

BTW, Viv Campbell is heinously overrated.

He did great playing simplistic NWOBHM in SS and his style was a good fit for early Dio, but that's about it.

Cov picked him for his "MTV band" because he was young and could run around on stage and play fast.

That's Viv's wheelhouse but outside that he can't do much, and he couldn't write a GOOD song to save his life.
Unfortunately for Cov, nobody else in that band could either. Maybe Vai if he was told to but he wasn't.

[Love_Industry]

That song was released after grunge had already started. It came out in March 1992. Nirvana and Pearl Jam blew up in the fall of 91. Soundgarden and Alice In Chains were also already out and doing well. That song shouldn't have done well in 87, so the fact that it did well in 1992 and people still know it is kind of crazy.

This is accurate. Ten and Nevermind started taking off in the fall of 1991. Facelift was right there too with Man In The Box getting MTV play. It wasn’t like Grunge came in and wiped all the hair bands and 80s bands out. It was very gradual with a lot of people at MTV in front and behind the scenes jumping on Seattle’s balls. 1991-92 was a weird year.

1993 was really where the anti 80s sentiment took hold.

I also agree. There was some successful 80s rock still in 1993, Guns and Leppard were still on their big tours and that year's Aerosmith album Get a Grip was massive with the Ballad Trilogy, but those were exceptions. Even a band like Bon Jovi which seemed big at the time of KTF didn't sell much. And in 94-95 the 80s were dead. Mötley and Poison bombed, Kiss couldn't even release their new album, only VH held their own. What's funny in retrospect is that grunge died around the same time it peaked - by 96 only Pearl Jam was going strong from the big 4, Kurt was dead and AIC and Soundgarden inactive.

Also, I don't hate LGR. The lyrics are stupid even for them, but musically it's a good Leppard song. Not outstanding but good and better than many others, also some on Hysteria.

[Rocker4Real]

It's still baffling that Make Love Like A Man was able to make the Pop top 40. I suspect shenanigans.

I suspect shenanigans involving any Top 40 hit. Payola, Cocaine, Strippers, Private Jets, Backroom Deals, Handshakes is what made the industry go around for most of its existence.

I was a teenager at the time and don't remember anyone caring about the latest single from DL. The popular form of payola at the time was to buy ads to make sure the song got enough plays.

[DonJuanDeMarco]

I’ll put it this way. I used to think the trilogy was Pyromania, Hysteria and this.

Over time that has changed and now I think the trilogy was High n Dry, Pyromania and Hysteria.

Adrenalize sounds like Hysteria production but the songs are light and fluffy. Very pop. It hasn’t held up as well as the other 3 but it’s better than anything that came after.

[Ryan81]

I became a big fan of DL right after Steve Clark died and I was really looking forward to this album and was pretty let down. Tonight and White Lightning are good. Lets Get Rocked and Make Love have terrible lyrics, but as songs they are so-so.

I remember being bummed out because Joe had gone back to his Hysteria mullet. For a while he had grown his bangs out and it looked pretty cool. In the Ozzy Don't Blame Me home video you can see it. I was devastated though when I saw the Let's Get Rocked video and he had cut the hair. I still find it hard to deal with. I guess I have good days, but for the most part it's been tough to deal with. My parents (who I still live with) think I'm being ridiculous. Especially my dad. He just doesn't understand. I guess I can't hold it against him because he is pretty old now.

On a positive note I will say that about 10 years ago, mostly on these forums, people kept saying how Joe's voice had absolutely gone to shit and sounded terrible, but on Viva Hysteria I thought he sounded great and was pleasantly surprised. I don't know if there is some trickery going on or what, but I think he sounds really good. He seems to be a good guy too. I enjoy his interviews and appreciate his genuine enthusiasm for music.

[BootyDaddy69]

The B side version of “tear it down” is so much better.
They sucked the life right out of it

This x100, the demo version is my fav Def Leppard song

[FreddyFender]

I remember being bummed out because Joe had gone back to his Hysteria mullet. For a while he had grown his bangs out and it looked pretty cool. In the Ozzy Don't Blame Me home video you can see it. I was devastated though when I saw the Let's Get Rocked video and he had cut the hair. I still find it hard to deal with. I guess I have good days, but for the most part it's been tough to deal with. My parents (who I still live with) think I'm being ridiculous. Especially my dad. He just doesn't understand. I guess I can't hold it against him because he is pretty old now.

[daveg]

On a positive note I will say that about 10 years ago, mostly on these forums, people kept saying how Joe's voice had absolutely gone to shit and sounded terrible, but on Viva Hysteria I thought he sounded great and was pleasantly surprised. I don't know if there is some trickery going on or what, but I think he sounds really good. He seems to be a good guy too. I enjoy his interviews and appreciate his genuine enthusiasm for music.

This.
I've seen DL in thier prime a bunch, and thought I was done with them live. The Stadium tour and videos I've seen recently have changed my mind and I got tiks in a few weeks. Dont care about setlist, just gonna enjoy it and say my goodbye to them live.

[roxxxtar]

Comparing Adrenalize to the crap they’ve released the last two decades, Adrenalize is a friggin masterpiece.
The drum sound on the album is atrocious though.

[ALMOSTsaved]

I really liked "Adrenalize" but, as I've said numerous times in the past Def Leppard's "Adrenalize" is the sister album of Bryan Adams's "Waking Up The Neighbours." You could interchange the songs from both albums and it would work. It's due mostly to Mutt Lange's production and his background vocals.

[skinni]

Adrenalize has that signature Def Leppard sound imbued with powerful anthems.

Adrenalize isn't just an amazing album, it's a timeless classic that even after all these years I still enjoy listening to on a regular basis.

[VinnieVincentsVag]

Terrible album. "Let's Get Rocked" is embarrassing level bad.

Never bothered with another DF release from the point onward.

This

[Ozzy Stradlin]

Tonight and White Lightning are good songs.

The rest of it, you can keep.

Let’s Get Rocked is an abomination of a song, with an even shittier video.

I never bought another Def Leppard album again after seeing that video, until I bought Retroactive, years later.