Def Leppard News - Joe Elliott On We Belong Lead Vocals And The Def Leppard Album

Joe Elliott On We Belong Lead Vocals And The Def Leppard Album

Friday, 19th August 2016

Joe Elliott 2016.
Pic by Chele Drappel

Def Leppard singer Joe Elliott has been interviewed by Houston radio and mentioned the current studio album.

Joe talked about the 2015/2016 tour, being on the road, touring with REO Speedwagon/Tesla, the current studio album, Hysteria, We Belong, album anniversaries and the song Lady Strange.

Listen to the full 15 minute interview below.

He was promoting the show in Houston which takes place on 22nd August.

Visit the Album News section. For more news on new music (based on band member quotes) dating back to January 2011.

Jennifer Tyler/The Eagle - Joe Elliott Interview Quotes

We Belong/Backing Vocals

"Yeah you know in the old days they used to say oh you've gotta have a gimmick. We were having these - we were just having some coffee break or whatever and I'd been thinking about this song. How can we elevate this thing?. It was always, it was a good song but I just had this vibe and I said to them. I said I've got this idea. I think we'd been talking about the fact that people were always saying like you know the backing vocals on Def Leppard records are spectacular. And I was always extremely proud of the fact that when these guys sing, you're like listening to them - this is like Queen meets the Beach Boys. Amazing backing vocals. So I said wouldn't it be great if they could actually hear you sing individually as opposed to just collective harmonies."

"I said I want everybody to sing a line each. The Beatles kind of did it on one of the Anthology songs. I think it was Free As A Bird maybe where they all took lead because there wasn't enough Lennon lead vocals to finish the song. So McCartney sang a verse and George Harrison sang a verse. So it wasn't like the first time anybody had done this. But I think that might have been percolating in the back of my head. And everybody was up for it even Rick Allen. I said you've got to sing a line and he went 'Alright' because Rick can sing but because of his situation with losing his arm and really wanting to concentrate and sit on the thing, we took that responsibility away from him."

"But in the studio he nailed it you know. And everybody gets to sing a line and I get to finish the whole thing off. And we've got this - again it's just something a little different. We've never done it before. We'll probably never do it again but it was the right thing to do at that time."

The 2015/2016 World Tour

"We did some pick up shows to kind of close off last year because we had to cancel some shows in January. And then we picked them up and then we started again in Boston in June. But we did do a kind on April into May I think it was. But we actually have been out since April of last year and we finish in October."

"We kind of went out there doing like prep work. We had the album in the can. We weren't playing any of it live but we were out telling the world about it and prepping them for this record. And then we kind of started the world tour if you like in Japan. When the album had just come out and it was Number One in Japan when we actually toured there and then same thing in Australia. And then we did the UK with a Top Five album And then we came back into the States after the new year. And we roll right through to October."

Def Leppard Studio Album

"We didn't really know we were making it and as naive as that sounds that's exactly how we wanted it to be. That was the whole thing, all the reigns had been untied. The shackles were gone. Like you say, no record label, no delivery date. No 'Well, you need a hit'. And all this stuff. It's like, look you know if we write one, we write one and if we don't, we don't. We're just gonna write songs that we like. That we would be happy to play. That we can share the experience with each other and indulge each other a little bit."

"There's always gonna be one song where someone goes I don't quite get it but hey if you're really into this, I'll go along with it. And then ten minutes later you're going actually I was completely wrong, this is a really good song. You know because your head's not in the right place every morning you wake up. And we've kind of learn to deal with that over the years. We all know each other's way of writing and what each one of us is likely to bring to the table."

"But there was none of that like oh I better bring in something that - it was just totally heartfelt. Everything, there was no mathematics involved in this. It's probably the first time ever that we didn't once think about Hysteria."