Review Summary: An album for the band
‘And I'm tied to the sky
As you claw at my eyes
And I wait for the flood
I swim in blood
As I crawl to my knees
And I beg your disease
Taste the ice on your breath
As you catch your death’
Now those are some lyrics that I never would have imagined I’ll be referencing too while reviewing a Def Leppard album. Def Leppard released ‘Slang’ in 1996, and 10 years of misfortune and pent up frustration was finally allowed to be released.
Despite the usually happy and fun atmosphere found in most Def Leppard albums, the band has been through quite a lot in their career. On 31st December 1984, after releasing their hit album ‘Pyromania’, drummer Rick Allen lost his left arm in a car crash. Despite the severity of the accident, Allen did not give up hope on his musical career and managed to learn to play the drums using his legs and one remaining arm. Def Leppard went on to release their commercial juggernaut ‘Hysteria’.
As Def Leppard was getting ready to release their fifth album, Steve Clark died of an accidental overdose. The rest of the members released ‘Adrenalize’, a decent commercial success, but an album that did not reflect what the band was going through. Mutt Lange did not allow any negativity to invade the band songwriting, resulting in an emotionless album (with ‘White Lightning’ being the exception).
Mutt Lange was dismissed, and Def Leppard released ‘Slang’, a darker and bleaker album.
The album featured a more introspective lyrical approach by the band. Poppy ballad, ‘All I Want Is Everything’, deals with the subject of aids. The song has a catchy riff to accompany the powerful lyrics.
Acoustic ballad, ‘Blood Runs Cold’, seems to deal with Steve Clark’s death, and the pain and helplessness the band felt as they watched their friend wither away. This song is probably the best song on the album, musically it’s quite simple, but it accompanies the lyrics well.
‘Truth’ opens up the album in unique fashion, as the song sound nothing like anything Def Leppard have released before. Featuring a heavy beat and progressive guitar work, its really worth hearing. ‘Turn to Dust’ follows, and is a darker version of a typical Def Leppard song. The song has a big chorus, and could have been a hit single, if released.
‘Work It Out’ and ‘Slang’ was the main singles released from the album. ‘Work It Out’ is an interesting song, which captures the overall feel of the album well, but the song was not received well by the public due to how different it sound from the typical Def Leppard Singles. ‘Slang’ is a weak song that might have been okay on ‘Adrenalize’ but sound completely out of place on this album. The title track is about phone sex, and Joe Elliot raps instead of sings for most of the song.
‘Breathe a sigh’ is the closest to a radio ballad, the album offers. It’s a mellow song, with average lyrics, but the song alternates from the typical formula of verse – chorus –verse – chorus, also Elliot sings the song was some real emotion.
‘Gift of Flesh’ and ‘Deliver Me’ are the two rockers of the album. ‘Deliver Me’ is badly sung, but everything else is quite good. ‘Gift of Flesh’ is one of the gems of the album. The lyrics are great, the chorus catchy and the song just rocks hard. The song also has a great solo.
‘Slang’ didn’t make much of an impact on the music scene, and Def Leppard returned to their ‘roots’ with ‘Euphoria’.
