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By Darren White

And then came Def Leppard. Say what you will about those Mutt Lange-produced, early '80s pop-metal records like Pyromania (and I have said quite a bit), those monster hooks, killer riffs and sing-along choruses are twice as fun live as a dour Pearl Jam performance.

There's a certain amount of cheesiness to Def Leppard, after all; and everyone, from the fans to most likely, the band itself, knows it. But as the Rolling Stones said, "It's only rock 'n' roll." The late '70s, early '80s arena rock songs that these bands have made don't stand on the artistic level of, say, a good Kinks song, or even a good Tom Petty song, but then again, that's not the point. Rock is supposed to be, above all, fun, and if a crowd of fans is having a blast singing songs that remind them of years gone by, what's so wrong with that?

By Star Telegram 2007.

Read the full review at - star-telegram.com

By Mario Tarradell

Finally, there's Def Leppard. The band headlined at Smirnoff last year and packed a sell-out crowd of 20,000. Twelve months later, they're down 3,000 attendees. Still, not bad at all for a so-called '80s band.

Anyway, deadlines allowed me to witness only the first hour of the Leppard's show. But it's doubtful they would have topped "Love Bites." That song is the sexiest heavy-metal ballad ever recorded. You had guitarist Vivian Campbell's sultry, piercing guitar solo and lead singer Joe Elliott's suggestive lyrics. Add in drummer Rick Allen's simmering beat and you got a memorable concert snapshot.

There's more to say about each gig. Styx rocked with youthful abandon during "Too Much Time On My Hands." Foreigner's "Urgent" was immediate, what with Tom Gimbel's rhythmic saxophone and Mr. Hansen's powder-keg potency. Def Leppard's intimate rendition of "Bringing on the Heartbreak" proved all consuming.

By Dallas Morning News 2007.

Read the full review at - dallasnews.com

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