“If you’re alone tonight…..”
It might sound crazy but whenever I’m having a fit of rage or something has me extremely angry, I put on Def Leppard’s Hysteria album and I calm down. Specifically, the title track for this album puts me in a very calm mood. I don’t know why and I probably never will, but the song just relaxes me. It apparently had some sort of effect on other people as well. Hysteria is Def Leppard’s best selling album and the band released a whopping seven singles from it.
All seven of the singles reached the Billboard Top 100 with Women peaking at #80 and Love Bites hitting #1. Pour Some Sugar On Me topped out at #2 while Hysteria reached #10. Animal reached #19. Rocket made it to #12 and Armageddon It peaked at #3. For those keeping count, that’s three top ten tracks, and six top twenty tracks. Singles were released from the album in three different years.
Fans of the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal either loved or hated the album. Some embraced it for bringing metal into the mainstream and others hated that it sounded too much like pop music. For me, Hysteria was an amazing blend of slick production, radio friendly tracks, and just enough rockers to keep me completely enthralled with the band and their music.
Joe Elliott’s voice sounded amazing while being backed up by the guitar one-two combo of Steve Clark and Phil Collen. Rick Savage’s bass kept everything in time along with Rick Allen’s drums which were specially created for him due to the fact that he lost an arm in an accident in 1984. Allen’s accident was the reason that there were four years between Hysteria and the band’s prior album, Pyromania. Sadly, tragedy would strike the band again in 1991 when Steve Clark would succumb to alcohol poisoning. He would be replaced by Vivian Campbell. The rest of the group would remain the same with no member changes since the loss of Clark.
Hysteria is one of the few albums that I have that I can listen to in its entirety every time. The albums five other tracks (twelve in total) are just as awesome as the singles. My favorite songs on the album include all of the singles and Gods of War and Don’t Shoot Shotgun. There really isn’t a bad track on the album. It’s as close to hard rock and pop metal perfection as you’re ever going to get.
If you haven’t listened to this album yet, purchase it. I have it on cassette, CD, and a digital download. There have been a few different releases of the album over the years including a 30th Anniversary deluxe version. This album is amazing and you won’t regret buying it.
Thanks for checking out my post. I’ll see you all again real soon.
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