There was a time in high school during in which I insisted that Def Leppard trumped all comers. Sitting on the brick tree-planters spread around my high school's courtyard, my friends and I would debate all matters of great concern: cars, girls, and, of course, music. And, as far as I was concerned, cars were nothing compared to trucks, girls were a complete, unsolvable mystery, and Def Leppard was it.
This is not entirely true, at least the part about girls: Jamie and I had declared Virginia, who we frequently saw passing the same spot during our lunch period, to be deemed worthy of the nickname of "The Virgin." This was not based on any evidence that would support this nickname - neither of us were lucky and/or cool enough to know her in any capacity, let alone one which would have earned us the privilege of learning this first hand, so to speak. No, it was based entirely on the fact that she was a rather unfriendly girl, cold, even, seemingly delicate like porcelain with a skin tone to match, and hung out with a small, but decidedly odd crowd of dysfunctional looking outcasts. The latter part of this pretty much summed up my crowd, too, but "The Virgin" had the benefit of being extremely hot. We, as can easily be assumed, were not. Regardless, somehow we came to the conclusion that, due to being named Virginia and all of the other factors added in, including that we were complete dorks with unrestrained imaginations, she must obviously be that mythical creature found only in movies: the entirely ignored yet extremely hot young lass who, being entirely ignored, was obviously as pure as fresh snow, and equally obviously saving herself for one of us. Perhaps it made us feel better to think that someone else, far more attractive than we were, was in the same predicament, too.
Music was not just a topic of discussion but of deep, often prickly debates. A frequent point of contention was that topic that still fuels many a musical argument: who was the best guitarist? The names tossed around back in those days were so casually used as to suggest they'd already reached the plateau at which it was unquestioned that they would always remain among the greats - George Lynch, Steve Stevens, Jake E. Lee, Kirk Hammett, etc. And I would always offer my pick - Steve Clark from Def Leppard, not based on any particular knowledge of guitar playing. I simply based my criteria on the fact that I loved Def Leppard and therefore Clark had to be the best. This insistence often led to many an argument, with the others tossing names out to challenge his position at the top of the guitar pile.
Article comments
1 - Mark Saleski
great stuff tom.
...a circle of trust between everyone involved
perfect. that's exactly right.
2 - Brian aka Guppusmaximus
Great Article man!!
I remember High School being more about Music than learning - Maybe that's why I'm poor.
Old School Def Leppard will always be one of my favs... Pyromania is it & will always be it.
*BTW* I'll forgive you for lumping The Guitar GOD(Yngwie)in with all those other hacks *Smirk*
Though, I still don't think alot of people understand what that man did for Heavy Metal(my opinion)
3 - Tom Johnson
Thanks Mark!
I just realized that Hysteria hit its 20th anniversary a couple weeks ago (August 4). Weird - I guess I must have bought that right when it came out without realizing it with the intent to listen to it on a long flight to a vacation in Hawaii. And I bought it at a grocery store.
4 - Tom Johnson
You're right, Brian. Pyromania is the better album, but Hysteria was, along with some other albums I'll eventually get to in this series, part of the soundtrack of my high school experience. And it still sounds unusual today - it's like the band tried to make an album that sounded like their concept of "the future" and came up with something that no one ever could duplicate, including themselves. But Pyromania is a complete, total, kick-ass album from beginning to end. It's just a blast to play loud.
5 - Brian aka Guppusmaximus
I hear ya, Tom!
I certainly wasn't knocking Hysteria because I do like that album & I think you are correct by saying that they were really trying to not only produce a killer album but to truly capture their own sound. I do believe that they were also,for a lack of better words,getting used to the sounds that Rick Allen was laying down with that pioneering kit, which he doesn't get enough credit for especially back in 1987.
6 - Mrs. Debbie Clark
Great article but I do have one question. What does the writer think about the other half of The Terror Twins? Phil Collen got slighted here!
7 - Tom Johnson
No slighting at all, Debbie. Phil's obviously a great guitarist, but the subject of the article wasn't really about just Def Leppard but about how I discovered what I keyed in on in music. Steve's absence simply illustrated how important he was to the band. It wasn't intended to slight his equally talented bandmate.
8 - Mrs. Debbie Clark
Thanks, Tom! I understand what you meant. I agree with you with what you said about Steve. The effects of his absence is still being felt today!
9 - Gray Hunter
I don't think Phil Collen ever got 'slighted.' I do believe he's a big reason Stevie declined. But, whatever. Hysteria rocks, the pinnacle of 80s rock.
I may be alone in this thought, but I really think Slang is one of the better Def Lep albums.
10 - Tom Johnson
Absolutely not alone, Gray. I'm a very big fan of Slang. I really wish they'd stuck with the decision to veer drastically away from their older sound. I think it would have done them good, even though I like Euphoria, or most of it, a lot, too. I think they really should have made a good break with the past and, when Slang came out, I was very excited about where they might go next. Euphoria was more than a bit of a letdown in light of my hopes. I've forgiven it for not being what I expected, obviously. As for X, however . . .