JOE ELLIOTT Says DIAMOND STAR HALOS Possibly DEF LEPPARD's Greatest Album

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Monday, 23rd May 2022

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Def Leppard 2022

Def Leppard members Joe Elliott and Rick Savage have been interviewed and mentioned the new Diamond Star Halos album.

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

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

Joe and Sav spoke to QOBUZ to promote Diamond Star Halos.

They talked about some of their favourite album, albums they have worked on and the new Diamond Star Halos album.

And they revealed the real reason why they enjoyed making the album so much...

View the full 6 minute interview video below.

Greatest Album

Joe said he feels the new album is possibly the band's greatest.

Cover Artwork

Both Sav and Joe commented briefly on the great front cover artwork.

Ronnie Wood/Rolling Stones

Joe once again recounted the story of his work on Ronnie Wood's 1992 solo album.

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).

Joe Elliott/Rick Savage - May 2022 Interview Quotes - (Transcribed by dltourhistory)

Def Leppard - Diamond Star Halos

Rick Savage - "Great album cover. That's where it starts you know."

Joe Elliott - "Yeah it pops actually. Well it's our latest and possibly greatest album."

Joe Elliott - "Certainly a statement for a band that's been around for - well the two of us 45 years."

Joe Elliott - "To make an album this cohesive at this part of our career. There's not many bands."

Joe Elliott - "None of our peers really go there any more."

Joe Elliott - "It was born in lockdown and it was delivered in lockdown. And it was the great experience that we've ever had in the studio and we never saw each other once."

Rick Savage - "That's probably why."

Sex Pistols - Never Mind The Bollocks

Joe Elliott - "A great punk album. One of the greatest actually. Great musicianship as well and only two people playing on that record for the most part. Did you know that?. Because Jonesy did all the bass as well except for on one track."

Joe Elliott - "It's a very tight record for a punk album."

Rick Savage - "The Punk bible."

Down 'n' Outz - My Re-Generation

Joe Elliott - "Recorded in about two of three days actually. It was just a diary of one gig that I did opening for Mott The Hoople."

Joe Elliott - "I picked ten of my favourite non Mott The Hoople songs to open for them with. And then when we'd finished the gig, I got brow beaten by the audience to go and record them."

Joe Elliott - "So I did and had a great deal of fun doing it."

T. Rex - Electric Warrior

Joe Elliott - "I saw them live on that tour. The 23rd October 1971. It was my first ever gig. Sheffield City Hall on the Electric Warrior tour."

Joe Elliott - "It's not the greatest album of all time. But it's one of the greatest moments for me 'cause I was twelve and that album is in my DNA. It always will be."

Joe Elliott - "It's just a fantastic album."

Robert Plant And Alison Krauss - Raising Sand

Joe Elliott - "Alison with Robert Plant. God bless them."

Rick Savage - "The meeting of two fantastic voices. I mean that's all I can say about that."

Joe Elliott - "Yeah. That's a fantastic album. Both of them are incredibly good singers. They compliment each other perfectly."

AC/DC - Powerage

Joe Elliott - "My favourite AC/DC album of all time by a country mile. And Keith Richards'."

Rick Savage - "Is that right?."

Joe Elliott - "Yeah. Keith Richards loves that album."

Rick Savage - "I went to see them on this tour."

Joe Elliott - "Were you old enough?. We went to see them at the Polytechnic."

Rick Savage - "It's still even to this day the loudest gig I have ever ever been to. And we supported AC/DC on numerous times. And one, they were fantastic. But two, they were really really loud."

David Bowie - Aladdin Sane

Rick Savage - "Well you've taken this from Joe's collection. Aladdin Sane David Bowie. ."

Joe Elliott - "Yeah they have pretty much yeah. This is the first David Bowie album to feature Mike Garson on piano. And the greatest example of how bonkerzoid that man can be is the title track Aladdin Sane."

Joe Elliott - "But listen to the rework of the Rolling Stones song Let's Spend The Night Together. And listen to how he can change what is essentially an R and B song into something rather more flowery."

Joe Elliott - "It's a fantastic record. It's a Mick Ronson album really. The guitar playing on things like Cracked Actor, Watch That Man. Panic In Detroit. Just absolutely superb."

Rick Savage - "Absolutely sums up a specific era in time. Bang smack in the middle of the glam 70s stuff. Absolutely brilliant."

The Kinks - Something Else

Joe Elliott - "I'm more of a Picture Book kind of guy. Or The Rise And Decline Of Western Civilisation, whatever that album was called. Shangri La would be my second favourite Kinks song of all time. Slightly behind obviously Waterloo Sunset. Which is one of the greatest songs ever written. Big fan of Ray Davies' songwriting."

Mott The Hoople - All The Young Dudes

Joe Elliott - "I find the album a bit tinny to be quite honest. Big fan of the fact that David Bowie gave them their career back. Actually gave them a career in the first place."

Joe Elliott - "They were floundering up till that album coming out. And then he gave them All The Young Dudes did David Bowie. And a band was reborn."

Joe Elliott - "The actual album itself is a bit crap. But the song is incredible. You can actually tell when you listen to the album that David Bowie spent like three days mixing one song. And then three days mixing the rest of the album."

Joe Elliott - "But it was the start of a beautiful thing because the album that followed this. Mott. Which featured All The Way From Memphis and Honaloochie Boogie, is one of the greatest albums ever made."

Ronnie Wood - Slide On This

Joe Elliott - "Here's a good one because this is a bass thing. So this is Ronnie Wood's solo album from 1992 which was recorded in 1991, early 1992. At his then house in Kildare in Southern Ireland. ."

Joe Elliott - "He'd been round to my studio about six months previously to look at my studio to see if he wanted the same people to build his studio. Which he did."

Joe Elliott - "And once it was built he called me and he said will you come over and sing some backing vocals on my solo album. I said OK sure why not."

Joe Elliott - "And so I did and I did a duet with him on a song called Always Wanted More. And then he asked me to sing backing vocals on Show Me. Which he had yet to record."

Rick Savage - "I know what's coming here. I know what's coming."

Joe Elliott - "So he said you play guitar right. 'Cause I'd actually one Jean Genie with him on Night Hawks. ."

Rick Savage - "Which was a TV show in Ireland."

Joe Elliott - "A TV show in Ireland. I did Jean Genie. Played rhythm guitar. And he said well if you can play guitar you can play bass. I see his logic, but I know it's not that simple."

Rick Savage - "Oh it is."

Joe Elliott - "He said you play bass. And we'll put a quick backing track down and then we'll sing the backing vocals. Well I played bass with Ronnie Wood on guitar and Charlie Watts on the drums."

Joe Elliott - "And I had to go back to the studio the next day and see if they believed me or think I was just dreaming it or making it up. It really happened. But they didn't keep my bass sadly. i think it came out as a Japanese bonus track. I think Doug Wimbish did them all again."

Joe Elliott - "But yeah it's actually a pretty good record actually. Ronnie's a much better played than anyone would ever give him credit for."

News Source - qobuz.com

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