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Adrenalize
Home > Complete List of "d" Artists > Def Leppard > Item 46
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Adrenalize
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by Def Leppard
Sales Rank: 748342
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List Price: $55.98
$55.98
At Amazon
on 11-12-2008.
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Japanese only SHM-CD (Super High Material CD - playable on all CD players) paper sleeve pressing. Universal. 2008.
With their classic albums "Pyromania" (1983) and "Hysteria," (1987) Def Leppard proved to be one of the 1980s premier rock bands. They created and epitomized 80s pop-metal and drew countless imitators. They were really, THE definitive band of the 1980s pop-metal genre. In the early 90s, before the rise of grunge, demand was high for a new Def Leppard album. But as the mighty Def Leppard got started on their new album, tragedy struck the band. One night in early 1991, guitarist Steve Clarke mixed alcohol with painkillers, with fatal results. There is a cliché that says when Steve Clarke died, Def Leppard died with him. Listening to any post-Clarke Def Leppard album makes this painfully clear. Clarke was by far the most talented member of the band. An underrated guitar player, he was also the bands best songwriter, churning out some of the catchiest songs of the 80s. His loss was a death blow to the band. Without him Def Leppard has limped on ever since. 1992 saw the release of the first post-Clarke album "Adrenalize." While recording the album, rather than replace Clarke, the band opted to continue as a quartet (guitarist Vivian Campbell would later join the band). Not surprisingly, the albums best songs were co-written by Clarke. "Adrenalize" certainly has the style and feel of "Pyromania" and "Hysteria," but the album sounds weak. Def Leppard's signature sound is in place; catchy hooks, and melodic sing-along chorus; but it just doesn't fly. The album is just too pop-savvy and assessable for its own good. The bands once metallic edge has been filed down to nothing. The band is like a neutered pit-bull with no teeth. "Adrenalize" is just cheese, pure 80s sounding, generic, hair-metal cheese. "Adrenalize" makes Warrant's "Dirty Rotten Filthy Stinking Rich" (1989) sound like Slayer's "Reign in Blood" (1986) by comparison. The band sounds good; it's just that the songs are weak. Had Clarke not died, and had he co-written the songs and played on the album, it probably would have been a good CD. Try as he might, guitarist Phil Collen just can't match the intensity of the Willis/Clarke duel assault that made Def Leppard's first three albums so good. "Adrenalize" opens with its big hit "Let's get Rocked," which could possibly be the worst song the band has ever recorded. Not only is the music weak, but the lyrics are just soooo bad. For example: "Got a million ways to make my day But daddy don't agree 'Cos when I try to get away He says he got plans for me "Get your butt right out of bed" Stop buggin' me "Get up and move your sleepy head" Don't shake my tree He said "Mow the lawn" - who me? "Walk the dog" - not my style, man! "Take out the trash" - no way! "Tidy your room" - c'mon get real! Sorry dad, gotta disappear Let's get the rock out of here" Keep in mind that Joe Eliot was well into his 30s when he was singing about his dad telling him to "get your butt right out of bed" and "mow the lawn" and "walk the dog." Def Leppard's lyrics from their debut album, "On through the Night," when they were in their early 20, are actually pretty edgy and cool. Certainly light-years better than this dribble. The catchy mid-tempo "Heaven is," not surprisingly co-written by Clarke, is one of the album's best songs. "Make Love like a Man," (also co-written by Clarke) is just pure cheese. It's really no better than Slaughter or Trixter, or any other bastard child Def Leppard spawned. "Tonight" is the album's candy-ass obligatory power-balled. Somewhat derivative of the far superior "Foolin'" from "Pyromania," "Tonight" packs no punch. The mid-tempo "White Lightening," an ode to the dangers of substance abuse, and no doubt aimed at Clarke, is actually edgy and is one of better songs on the album. "Stand Up (Kick Love into Motion), also co-written by Clarke, has potential and is effective enough, but is ultimately too popish for its own good. "Personal Property," sounds like a smoothed-out "Rock Rock (Till you Drop), from "Pyromania," and is one of the albums better songs. The candy-ass "Have you ever needed someone so bad" should have been titled "Have you ever heard a song that sucked so bad." "I wanna touch you," also co-written by Clarke, is musically good, but is ruined by its insipid, asinine lyrics. The closing, Clarke co-penned hard-rocker "Tear it down" is good, but not great. Released at the height of grunge, "Adrenalize" managed to debut at number one in the US and sell six million copies. Back in '92 it was an anomaly for a Def Leppard video to receive constant rotation back-to-back with the likes of Nirvana and Pearl Jam. That such an album, so out of place in the early 90s, should be so successful, is a testament to how popular Def Leppard had been. The pure 80s sounding "Adrenalize" proved not only to be Def Leppard's last hit album, (minus 1993's "Retro Active" rarities album) but also proved to be pop-metal's last hurrah. "Adrenalize" was the last album of its type to enjoy multi-platinum success. It's just a shame that the once mighty Def Leppard ended their multi-platinum reign at the top on such a weak note.
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Adrenalize
Available from Amazon
Price: $55.98
Updated on 11-12-2008.
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