Wednesday, 5th February 2014
Def Leppard will release the Slang Deluxe Edition on 11th February and a 1996 Joe Elliott interview is available to read.
Dotmusic interviewed Joe about the upcoming album release and tour in March 1996 which can be read below.
Dotmusic - Joe Elliott Interview March 1996
Def Leppard - Taking a Brave New Direction
Slang has been an aid to musical self-expression since songwriting began, so when singer Joe Elliott explains why Def Leppard's first album for four years bears such an enigmatic title, his answer has a familiar ring. "We're using the word 'slang' like a bleep, the same way we've missed out words on songs that obviously would have been swear or sexual words," says Elliott.
"If there was no slang language, there would be no rock'n'roll. You can't walk into the Houses of Parliament and go 'I ain't got nobody' - but if you're Ella Fitzgerald, Little Richard, Johnny Rotten or me you can make a living out of it." Like Mercury stablemates Bon Jovi, Def Leppard are embarking on a new risk-taking musical chapter. The wall-to-wall harmonies are used sparingly, anthemic choruses now take second place to overall feel and the lyrics are more oblique.
Elliott anticipates brickbats as well as bouquets from fans. "We just hope people give it the chance. I'm sure there's a few out there who want more of the same - but we need to be able to grow up." The band's early history was intertwined with studio supremo Mutt Lange, whose multi-overdubs characterised their sound. Currently behind the controls is Pete Woodroffe, who first worked with the band in 1988 as assistant to Adrenalize producer Mike Shipley. His brief as engineer and co-producer was to create an organic, natural sound and one of the key ingredients is that drummer Rick Allen is playing an ordinary kit for the first time since the 1984 car accident that cost him an arm.
"It was nice to see Rick playing real drums again," explains Elliott. "Eleven years later, he's playing better than he did when he had two arms. It made the rest of us attack our own part of the album with a lot more confidence." The band's own Bludgeon Riffola label operates independently of Mercury's A&anp;R machinery, allowing them to put out what they want. Elliott says, "After 40m albums, I don't think we need to prove anything. There's no way we could be puppets the way bands like Sweet used to be."
With three members of the band based in the US and two in Dublin, demo tapes have been winging their way across the globe as hours spent hunched over Dat machines bore fruit. "You don't need to go to Electric Ladyland to make a good record any more," says Elliott. "You can do it in your kitchen." The results were honed and perfected during 11 months in the Spanish villa they turned into a studio. Elliott says, "Once, when people put Def Leppard records on, they went 'wow, listen to the production, isn't it great?' Now we want them to think the band sound great."
Guitarist Vivian Campbell's first album with the band has seen him contribute fully to the songwriting and recording processes: indeed, Work It Out, the first US single, is his song. Elliott says, "When Vivian joined the band, his sound was slightly alien to us; now he blends very well with Sav (Rick Savage, bass) and Phil (Collen, guitar). The three of them have really got it nailed." The tour to promote Slang hits India and South-East Asia in May and June, then moves on to the US before arriving in Europe around October.
Radio One Rock Show presenter John Cavanagh is confident the album and tour will go down well. "They're one of the bands who, on the hipness scale, rate lower than Cliff Richard but, as far as selling records goes, I'm sure they dwarf Oasis. What they've done very cleverly is kept faith with their fans of 15 years ago. They've evolved into something akin to Bon Jovi - a rock band who are popular entertainers."
Kerrang! news editor Malcolm Dome awaits the new release with interest. "We still regard them as being a cool band. Iron Maiden are their one contemporary who've stuck with them, but they're on the slide now and Leppard are still very relevant." "A lot of our Iyrics in the past have been written purely as an extra instrument... you can't read them and expect them to mean anything. With this record, we're printing the Iyrics for the first time in ages because we believe there's something worth listening to."
Don't expect everything to be spelled out, though. "We've stopped doing the adolescent rock thing, but we don't want to explain what it's all about: buy it, listen to it and figure it out for yourself." Whereas Leppard's aim in the past was "to make Queen albums...or better than Queen albums", Elliott now sees them as contemporaries of U2, Led Zeppelin and The Stones in terms of longevity and how they want to progress.
They'll have missed the stadium season, but Pete Feenstra, who promoted the London concert of Leppard's three-continents in a day project, believes they can fill any venue.
"Even though the Vault gig was never publicised by more than word of mouth we had people camping out. Quite obviously they've got a hard-core audience who are prepared to suffer to see the band.
Their crowd-pulling potential is enormous." With drummer Allen back to his best and Campbell a fully-fledged replacement for the late Steve Clark, Def Leppard have never been in better shape to promote their most challenging album to date.
By Dotmusic.
All previous updates on this release and new music can be found in the Album News section.
- Buy 2CD Album @ - Amazon.com - 11th February 2014
- Buy Double Vinyl Album @ - Amazon.com - 11th February 2014
- Buy MP3 @ - Amazon.com - 11th February 2014
- Buy 2CD Album @ - Amazon.co.uk - 11th February 2014 (Import)
- Buy Double Vinyl Album @ - Amazon.co.uk - 11th February 2014 (Import)
- Buy MP3 @ - Amazon.co.uk - 11th February 2014
- Def Leppard - Slang Deluxe Edition 2014
- Def Leppard - Slang Album 1996
- Def Leppard - 2014 Album News
- Previous News - 30th January 2014