St. Louis, MO - Media Reviews

Def Leppard @ The Checkerdome By St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Def Leppard proved beyond a shadow of a doubt Saturday night at The Checkerdome that heavy metal, a mutation of rock 'n' roll that emphasizes screaming guitars and vocals, can still be a viable and exciting form of music.

Heavy metal has always been a music of excess - excessive guitar solos, excessive volume and much more - but Def Leppard succeeded largely by holding back.

Some bands show off individual talents, but Def Leppard plays as a band.

The songs count here, not the players.

This concentration on the melodic aspect of heavy metal and Def Leppard's non-stop highly energetic performance would have been impossible to imagine without the punk-rock explosion in Britain in 1976.

The members of Def Leppard are all young and obviously felt the energy emitted by such bands as the Sex Pistols.

They combined these two elements of punk with the basic sounds and escapist themes of heavy metal idols, such as Led Zeppelin, to create their own unique sounds.

With only two or three brief digressions for weak material of dumb but flashy guitar solos, Def Leppard provided a non-stop show of nearly two hours of excitement.

The highlights were the three hugely successful hits from their latest and best album, 'Pyromania'.

After those songs, the volume was turned up so high that distinguishing individual elements of a song was often difficult.

The real triumph of Def Leppard was that - unlike almost any other heavy metal band in history - the resulting mighty roar was still worth hearing.

By St. Louis Post-Dispatch 1983.

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