London, England - Media Reviews

Def Leppard @ Hammersmith Odeon By The Guardian

In the year of the second Great British Invasion of America, Def Leppard are something of an anomaly.

At the latest count, this hard rock band from Yorkshire has now sold a staggering 5.3 million copies of their 'Pyromania' album to the eager Americans, despite the fact that back home in Britain the band have only managed to sneak into the Top Forty singles chart.

The most publicised British favourites in America are the clever fashion bands like Culture Club, Spandau Ballet, and the Eurythmics.

But the Leppards are nothing to do with that scene, and neither are they part of the 'studs, smoke-bombs and silly macho posturing' school of heavy metal.

Instead, as they demonstrated at their painfully noisy Hammersmith Odeon show, they are a British equivalent of the old fashioned American big stadium bands who stick the words 'rock 'n' roll' into the lyrics as often as they can.

Deafen the audience when playing live, but in fact are often singing slick, if predictable, harmony material.

By The Guardian 1983.

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