I had been to see the Leppard once before in 1996; then Terrorvision were supporting, who were arguably the biggest rock band in the mainstream charts of that time, but struggled to even hold a candle to Def Leppard. However, times change so very quickly in the world of music, and certainly three years in the minds of most British music lovers is a long time, considering the popularity of individuals Spears, Aguilera, Williams, and so on.
As is often the case with an aged, and out of favour band, they tend to hang on to the past, and the nostalgia that fans of Def Leppard past and present, still yearn for. Although the album 'Euphoria' provides a brief respite into the structure of albums of the past, the actions of the band members during the performances seemed too choreographed for the members of the audience to be fully interested; certainly, both times I have seen them, Terrorvision for support in '96, and Lukan in '99, they started off with 'Rock! Rock! 'Till you Drop!' from the Pyromania album, and did tend to focus on the their two big albums from the 80's, "Pyromania" and "Hysteria", playing three songs from the current album, the title track from "Slang", two from the "Adrenalize" album, and two from the "High 'N' Dry" album.
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In turn being committed to the audiences' responses, they are probably realising that they've had their day in the UK market, but may find some comfort in the US, where there is a wider scope of music genres available on stations. Although it is pleasant to hear the technical prowess of Def Leppard ahead of some of today's bands, their time has been perceived to have been gone, unless they can match or go further beyond the differences in style of the 'slang' album of 96.
Despite that, the band's members were technically impressive, with Phil Colleen, Rick Allen, and Viv Campbell, still proving that such ability shines through in the modern environment. Although a lot of potential has been seen in the years that have past.
Craig Aston
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