JOE ELLIOTT/PHIL COLLEN Discuss DEF LEPPARD Single KICK From DIAMOND STAR HALOS

Tuesday, 12th April 2022

Def Leppard 2022

Def Leppard members Joe Elliott and Phil Collen discussed the new single Kick during an interview for the new Diamond Star Halos album.

'Diamond Star Halos' is the band's 12th studio album.

As announced on 17h March it will be released on Friday 27th May 2022.

Joe and Phil spoke to Consequence's Heavy Consequence feature for a 21 minute interview promoting the Diamond Star Halos album and The Stadium Tour.

Consequence was formerly known as Consequence Of Sound.

Watch the full 21 minute interview video below.

New Single Kick

Phil talked about how the song Kick was first written for possibly use by another artist.

Having hard the song Joe insisted it become a Def Leppard song.

This Guitar/New Unrecorded Songs

Joe went on to discuss This Guitar which was written in 2003 by Phil with writing partner C. J. Vanston.

Joe would also reveal the band have two other new songs 'on the go' with one of them ready to record.

Visit the Tour News section. For more news on future tour plans.

Visit the Album News section for more news on new music (based on band member quotes).

Def Leppard 2022.

Joe Elliott/Phil Collen - April 2022 Interview Quotes

New Single Kick

Phil Collen - "Yeah Kick was the last song to come in you know. I actually was writing with some other guys. That one was with Dave Bassett. And we were trying to - I'm always trying to write a classic stadium anthem. You know in the We Will Rock You, I Love Rock And Roll category kind of vibe. And they're the hardest songs to write, because, you know, you need integrity. And you need vibe when you do something like that."

Phil Collen - "And a lot of the time they just sound, you know, fake and nonsense. So that was it and I kind of based it on a kind of Slade, Gary Glitter, T. Rex, Mott The Hoople type thing. That was the thing. The kind of reference."

Phil Collen - "So I had a drum pattern that I'd kind of programmed in this kind of BPM structure. And then I was just playing riffs over the top of it. And then that riff come and then I had a basic idea for the Kick thing. And said to Dave yeah it's gotta be like that and all of a sudden he started flowing."

Phil Collen - "Like me and Joe do. We had a similar thing going. And he come with this great riff for the intro that's like Eddie Cochran that I would never have played. And it started turning into this thing and it was gonna be for someone else and I played it for Joe and he said 'Are you insane? This is a Def Leppard song. We have to do this!'."

Phil Collen - "So I said play it to the other guys just to just make sure. And they got back. Sav got back and immediately said 'Sugar anyone?' because Pour Some Sugar On Me was the last track we did for Hysteria. And we'd essentially finished the album."

Phil Collen - "And Joe had come up with Pour Some Sugar On Me. And that got recorded in ten days. So we done this one fairly quick as well you know. Everyone started putting their parts on Kick. And it just absolutely was - IS a Def Leppard song."

Joe Elliott - "Absolutely it is!. And I, from the first time I heard it I thought I can't wait to have a go at this. I don't give a hoot really who writes the lyrics. When you've grown up watching Roger Daltrey or Freddie Mercury readily accept other people's lyrics. it's never been an issue for me. I sing Phil's lyrics all the time."

Joe Elliott - "All the way through since he first started writing with us. It's the best idea always wins. But the fact that it was, you know, the album was finished as far as we were concerned. So Phil went back to just writing with other guys for fun. See what, you know, who knows who that song might have ended up with in a different universe you know."

16th Unrecorded Song

Joe Elliott - "But because it was open ended we were still in lockdown. There was still no delivery scheduled for this album. We could - we actually did. Me, Phil and Dave sat down and wrote another one."

Phil Collen - "Yeah we actually finished that off. But we hadn't recorded it."

Joe Elliott - "Yeah we just haven't got round to doing it yet because we realised that with the 8 month delivery time for vinyl. We had to impose a cut off for ourselves at least. So we said save it, it'll be fine. I mean that song was written in 2021 that's yet to come out. It'll come out whenever."

This Guitar/17th Unfinished Song

Joe Elliott - "This Guitar which is a song that Phil wrote with his mate C. J. in 2003 was at the time 17 years old. Is now 19 years old. This is the one that I've been begging Phil for - since I've first heard it. Something has to be done with this song."

Joe Elliott - "Whether it's us or whether you give it to, you know, a country artist or whatever. This song is too good to sit around gathering cobwebs. So the fact that we've got this, you know, a couple of other ideas. In fact there's a second one not even close to being half finished on the go."

Joe Elliott - "But so we just really embraced this way of writing. Phil will send me an idea and say have you got anything for this?. He's not expecting an answer now. You live with it and when something pops into your head you come up with it. The Brill Building idea of writing a song between 9 and 5. I find an astonishing thing to be able to do because at 4pm your Neil Sedaka's or your Carole King's are going 'Oh f**k I haven't got a chorus!'."

Joe Elliott - "And then they have to just bodge anything to get it done. And we don't do that. We wait until inspiration hits and And then you pull it out the sky and fit it in. And it's a beautiful way to work. So the fact that This Guitar was sitting around for so long just waiting for it's opportunity."

Joe Elliott - "And this was the perfect project for it 'cause I have no doubt that I've suggested half way through Sparkle Lounge or halfway through the Def Leppard album 'Hey what about This Guitar?'. But we're 6, 7 songs in and you listen to the demo and go 'It's not gonna work'."

Joe Elliott - "But when we're starting from scratch with this totally different head space. As we did on this record. Anything goes. For example a Ukulele on one of Phil's songs. Two of my songs written on a piano."

Joe Elliott - "This would have not got through the filter five, six, seven, eight years ago. So we broadened our horizons. And it worked massively in our favour that it's a shame it took something like, you know, lockdown to do it but better late than never."

Joe Elliott - "And I just think that part of your journey is these things happen when they're supposed to. So maybe this just was the right time you know."

Buy 'Diamond Star Halos' Online

Amazon - Regular CD
Amazon - Deluxe CD
Amazon - Vinyl
Amazon - MP3

Diamond Star Halos - Tracklisting

01 - Take What You Want - 4:14
02 - Kick - 3:42 - (Collen) - Amazon - (MP3)
03 - Fire It Up - 3:19
04 - This Guitar [feat. Alison Krauss] - 3:50
05 - SOS Emergency - 3:25
06 - Liquid Dust - 4:01
07 - U Rok Mi - 3:33
08 - Goodbye For Good This Time - 4:27
09 - All We Need - 4:46
10 - Open Your Eyes - 4:19
11 - Gimme A Kiss - 3:12
12 - Angels (Can’t Help You Now) - 4:57
13 - Lifeless [feat. Alison Krauss] - 4:19 - (Collen/Elliott)
14 - Unbreakable - 3:46
15 - From Here To Eternity - 5:37