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Interview :: 6th July 2005. Def Leppard just wants to have fun :: Quick, name the year: Def Leppard's latest album debuts in the Top 10. Its new pop-rock tune is blasting out of radio stations around the country. The band is touring with Canadian rocker Bryan Adams on some dates, and on others with Tesla. The year? You're living in it. Def Leppard in 2005 looks a bit different than it did in, say, 1985. The new album, which debuted at No. 10 last month, is a two-disc anthology called "Rock Of Ages" (Island). And that new recording, "No Matter What," is actually a cover of the 1970 Badfinger hit. The radio play is coming mostly from classic-rock stations. But singer Joe Elliott, 45, is still savoring the success of his nearly 30-year-old band. "We sold out tonight and Pittsburgh three days ago," he says, speaking by phone on a recent Monday before a gig at Connecticut's Mohegan Sun casino. "Chicago sold out in a couple of days. When you know up-front that there's that kind of excitement, it's all your dreams come true." (Def Leppard performed a last-minute show at Philadelphia's Live 8 concert Saturday.) The band first stormed America in the early 1980s, back when metal was heavy and pop was for sissies. But with the help of superproducer Robert "Mutt" Lange, Def Leppard mixed hard rock with slick pop melodies, helping bring metal to the masses - especially girls. With "Photograph," "Foolin'" and other catchy-yet-crunchy hits - not to mention tight pants and lots of hair spray - Def Leppard became one of the decade's biggest bands. It also became famous for a string of bad luck. In December 1984, while recording the "Hysteria" album (the follow-up to the blockbuster "Pyromania"), drummer Rick Allen crashed his Corvette Stingray and lost his left arm. On Jan. 8, 1991, guitarist Steve Clark was found dead in his London apartment, apparently after mixing alcohol, painkillers and antidepressants. Yet Def Leppard stuck together. Allen continues to play drums; Clark was replaced by Vivian Campbell, formerly of Whitesnake and Dio. "A one-armed drummer, a dead guitar player - these things weren't part of the plan," Elliott says. "Ian Hunter once said, 'You don't learn anything from success.' I understand what he means. You really do learn from your mistakes, and you learn to deal with situations that shouldn't have happened." The band's next project: An album of cover tunes titled "Yeah!" Among the 14 tracks are the Kinks' "Waterloo Sunset," Sweet's "Hell Raiser" and others by David Bowie, T. Rex and Roxy Music. (The band tried to cover a Sparks song but found it "too keyboardy," Elliott notes.) Is the album a comeback? A grand statement? A new direction? "There's nothing deep and meaningful, unless meaningful is pumping your fist in the air and shouting, 'Yeah!'" Elliott says. "It's fun, and that's all it's supposed to be." Rafer Guzmán © Newsday 2005 :: (Link Expired).

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