Phil Collen – Metal Express Radio

DEF LEPPARD – Drastic Symphonies

May 26, 2023 Lana Teramae

Still riding on the success of their twelfth studio album, Diamond Star Halos (2022), English Hard Rock band Def Leppard kept the momentum going by releasing Drastic Symphonies, an album featuring reimagined and orchestrated versions of their hits and deep cuts. Unlike Metallica’s S&M (1999), where the band performed with an orchestra live, Def Leppard combined original audio tape recordings with newly rerecorded vocal / guitar overdubs and symphonic arrangements from the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at Abbey Road Studios. Though they’re not the first band to do the “Rock meets symphony” concept, they do a good job of adding new flavors to their classics and lesser-known tunes. The tracklist covers old stuff and new stuff, with the oldest being from High ‘n’ Dry (1981). The Good and the Bad Slang (1996) is represented with a newly modern version of “Turn to Dust.” The string instruments and new percussion elements brighten up the song, giving it a more vibrant and atmospheric feel to it. “Animal” strips back some of the guitar melodies, allowing the orchestra to shine. Still big and epic, like the original version, but in a way never done before. The orchestra’s theatrical components breathe new life into overplayed classics such as “Bringin’ On the Heartbreak” and “Switch 625.” The bombastic “Gods of War” is another standout track with big timpanis and symphonic guitar melodies, brightening up a song with such a serious political message behind it. For Pyromania (1983) fans out there, Def Leppard covers “Too Late for Love,” which features vocalist Joe Elliott duetting with his younger self. The band’s signature backing vocals are present on Drastic Symphonies. The production is polished and refined, but not to the extent of Mutt Lange’s doing, just enough for the band and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra to do the talking. …READ MORE

DELTA DEEP – East Coast Live

December 24, 2017 Maxxxwell Carlisle

This borderline super-group made up of Def Leppard’s Phil Collen, Stone Temple Pilots’ Rob DeLeo, and seasoned session players Forrest Robinson and Debi Blackwell-Cook, brings together an unexpected but very fruitful cast of characters for a heartfelt and fun delta blues exploration. East Coast Live features the act’s 2016 performance at Daryl’s House in Pawling, NY. With this live album essentially being an entire, single live show, the release has an unquestioningly genuine, organic vibe to it; something that is often missed on modern live albums. While this is, without a doubt, a straight-ahead blues release, there are some strong rock elements to be found here as well, mostly noticeable in the drums and some of the lead guitar work. This is to be expected given the musicians involved. One welcome aspect of this album is that Delta Deep doesn’t rely too much on traditional blues standards, instead favoring traditional yet original material for most of the set. In a genre that tends to stick to a relatively short list of typical tunes, this is a refreshing and invigorating approach. Along with the East Coast Live album, the band has also released a DVD featuring several of the key songs from the same concert. Fans of the blues or even 70s and 80s rock will enjoy this release. Highlights include “Bang The Lid”, “Black Coffee”, and “Bless These Blues”.

Interview with Phil Collen (Def Leppard/Manraze)

January 5, 2014 Mick Burgess

After a busy year with Def Leppard, guitarist Phil Collen found some time to record new material with his side project Manraze. Mick Burgess caught up with Phil to chat about his new EP, Def Leppard’s Vegas residency and his early days in Girl. You have a new Manraze EP out called “I Surrender.” Are you pleased now that it’s finally released? It’s finally out and we’re really excited. It’s been 8 years in the works. We actually started recording it 8 years ago but it wasn’t quite right. The lyrics, the chorus and everything like that. Then last year I was on tour with Def Leppard and I had a day off and started singing this chorus and I thought that was it. We kept Paul Cook’s original drum track and re-recorded the guitars and new vocals and Simon put some bass on it and we mixed it in Dublin and added a few things to it and it turned out great. We love it and think it’s just about the best thing we’ve ever done. We had a similar thing with “Animal” by Def Leppard. We had that idea for three years and started recording it and Mutt Lange said that we should just keep the vocal track and we redid the whole of the rest of the track and that ended up being our first hit in the UK. When it’s right it’s right and when it’s not it’s best to let it sit for a while and return to it later. It just took 8 years for everything to fall into place with “I Surrender” Why did you decide to do an EP at this stage? The song had taken so long to do that when it was finished we just wanted to get it out …READ MORE

DEF LEPPARD – Yeah!

May 23, 2006 Gary McLean

Def Leppard has been around for a long time, but they have never recorded an album consisting entirely of cover songs; the closest they came was with Retroactive, which had a few cover songs amongst its collection of rarities, B-sides, and oddities. Since they already have a couple of “hits” compilations, the time was right for a cover disc, it seems. With their latest outing, simply entitled Yeah!, Def Leppard pays tribute to some of the artists that influenced them in their youth. Some of the “tributized” acts to be found here include: T-Rex, David Bowie, Sweet, Electric Light Orchestra, Blondie, The Kinks, Rod Stewart, Thin Lizzy, and John Kongas. Yes, John Kongas. If you’re familiar with tribute albums, you know how they work: the songs either stick very close to the originals, or they get taken to strange new places. Def Leppard goes with the “stick close to the originals” option on Yeah!, with the songs generally sounding a lot like the source material, but with a bit of that patented Def Leppard sheen thrown in for good measure. Since all of the original songs were first recorded in the 1960s and 1970s, younger listeners might not be familiar with a lot of the tunes here; those who are “of a certain age” and/or from the United Kingdom (where nearly all of the artists covered here originated from) will probably remember hearing these songs on the radio or perish forbid, vinyl. For what it is, Yeah! is generally successful. If you like tribute albums (and Def Leppard), you’ll probably like this one too. If you don’t like cover albums, well… Def Leppard sounds like they had an enjoyable time recording this, as a good sense of fun and energy run throughout most of the tracks. The choice of songs …READ MORE