| supernova190188 10.08.2004 12:31 |
what does everyone here think of Def Leppard? |
| Rien 10.08.2004 12:35 |
Well, I think some boys and girls around here first should learn to read and to understand in what area all these lame nonsense topics should be posted. |
| Penis - Vagina 10.08.2004 13:03 |
Few bands embodied the pure excess of the '70s like Queen. Embracing the exaggerated pomp of prog-rock and heavy metal, as well as vaudevellian music-hall, the British quartet delved deeply into camp and bombast, creating a huge, mock-operatic sound with layered guitars and overdubbed vocals. Queen's music was a bizarre yet highly accessible fusion of the macho and the fey. For years, their albums boasted the motto "no synthesizers were used on this record," signaling their allegiance with the legions of post-Led Zeppelin hard rock bands. But vocalist Freddie Mercury brought an extravagant sense of camp to the band, pushing them towards kitschy humor and pseudo-classical arrangements, as epitomized on their best-known song, "Bohemian Rhapsody." Mercury, it must be said, was a flamboyant bisexual, who managed to keep his sexuality in the closet until his death from AIDS in 1992. Nevertheless, his sexuality was apparent throughout Queen's music, from their very name to their veiled lyrics -- it was truly bizarre to hear gay anthems like "We Are the Champions" turn into celebrations of sports victories. That would have been impossible without Mercury, one of the most dynamic and charismatic frontmen in rock history. Through his legendary theatrical performances, Queen became one of the most popular bands in the world in the mid-'70s; in England, they remained second only to the Beatles in popularity and collectibility in the '90s. Despite their enormous popularity, Queen were never taken seriously by rock critics -- an infamous Rolling Stone review labeled their 1979 album Jazz as "fascist." In spite of such harsh criticism, the band's popularity rarely waned; even in the late '80s, the group retained a fanatical following except America. In the States, their popularity peaked in the early '80s, just as they finished nearly a decade's worth of extraordinarily popular records. And while those records were never praised, they sold in enormous numbers, and traces of Queen's music could be heard in several generations of hard rock and metal bands in the next two decades, from Metallica to Smashing Pumpkins. The origins of Queen lay in the hard-rock psychedelic group Smile, which guitarist Brian May and drummer Roger Taylor joined in 1967. Following the departure of Smile's lead vocalist Tim Staffell in 1971, May and Taylor formed a group with Freddie Mercury, the former lead singer for Wreckage. Within a few months, bassist John Deacon joined them, and they began rehearsing. Over the next two years, as all four members completed college, they simply rehearsed, playing just a handful of gigs. By 1973, they had begun to concentrate on their career, releasing the Roy Thomas Baker-produced Queen that year and setting out on their first tour. Queen was more or less a straight metal album and failed to receive much acclaim, but Queen II became an unexpected British breakthrough early in 1974. Before its release, the band played Top of the Pops, performing "Seven Seas of Rhye." Both the song and the performance were a smash success, and the single rocketed into the Top Ten, setting the stage for Queen II to reach number five. Following its release, the group embarked on their first American tour, supporting Mott the Hoople. On the strength of their campily dramatic performances, the album climbed to number 43 in the states. Queen released their third album, Sheer Heart Attack, before the end of 1974. The music- hall-meets-Zeppelin "Killer Queen" climbed to number two on the U.K. charts, taking the album to number two as well. Sheer Heart Attack made some inroads in America as well, setting the stage for the breakthrough of 1975's A Night At the Opera. Queen labored long and hard over the record; according to many reports, it was the most expensive rock record ever made at the time of its release. The first single |
| Penis - Vagina 10.08.2004 13:03 |
Faced with their decreased popularity in the U.S. and waning popularity in Britain, Queen began touring foreign markets, cultivating a large, dedicated fan base in Latin America, Asia and Africa, continents that most rock groups ignored. In 1985, they returned to popularity in Britain in the wake of their show-stopping performance at Live Aid. The following year, they released A Kind of Magic to strong European sales, but they failed to make headway in the States. The same fate befell 1989's The Miracle, yet 1991's Innuendo was greeted more favorably, going gold and peaking at number 30 in the U.S. Nevertheless, it still was a far bigger success in Europe, entering the U.K. charts at number one. By 1991, Queen had drastically scaled back its activity, causing many rumors to circulate about Freddie Mercury's health. On November 23, he issued a statement confirming that he was stricken with AIDS; he died the next day. The following spring, the remaining members of Queen held a memorial concert at Wembley Stadium, which was broadcast to an international audience of more than one billion. Featuring such guest artists as David Bowie, Elton John, Annie Lennox, Def Leppard and Guns N' Roses, the concert raised millions for the Mercury Phoenix Trust, which was established for AIDS awareness. The concert coincided with a revival of interest in "Bohemian Rhapsody," which climbed to number two in the U.S. and number one in the U.K. in the wake of its appearance in the Mike Myers comedy Wayne's World. Following Mercury's death, the remaining members of Queen were fairly quiet. Brian May released his second solo album, Back to the Light, in 1993, ten years after the release of his first record. Roger Taylor cut a few records with the Cross, which he had been playing with since 1987, while Deacon essentially retired. The three reunited in 1994 to record backing tapes for vocal tracks Mercury recorded on his death bed. The resulting album, Made in Heaven, was released in 1995 to mixed reviews and strong sales, particularly in Europe. Crown Jewels, a box set repackaging their first eight LPs, followed in 1998. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide |
| Mr.Jingles 10.08.2004 13:05 |
I'm still going to reply anyways... Def Leppard was along with Bon Jovi, Van Halen, and Guns N' Roses the best hair bands of the 80s. I'd include Metallica, but they were more hard core metal than mainstream hard rock. 'Pyromania', 'Hysteria' and 'Adenalize' are KICK ASS albums. Anyone who loves pure 80s hard rock would love Def Leppard. |
| Sebastian 10.08.2004 17:09 |
The songs they write - I don't like them so much The band itself (the quality of the instrumentalists, the chesmistry between them...) - Love it |
| Sir B.A Baracus 10.08.2004 17:14 |
Def Leppard? Didn't they sing "Free Bird"? Didn't thier guitar player die in a plane crash? Did the singer OD on Heroin? Oh, THAT Def Leppard? Loved 'em. Too bad, though. Shame they died so young. Poor Def Leppard, dead as a doornail! |
| Eirik Drange 10.08.2004 17:41 |
lots of great songs - but often suffers from the ultra smooth productions I feel. check out the various acoustic stuff they've done. hysteria & pur some sugar on me are SUPERB songs when played acoustic |
| Banquo 10.08.2004 23:37 |
Def Leppard are fucking shite. There is no other word to describe them. |
| FreDRicca_MeRcUrY 11.08.2004 00:28 |
THEY SUCK ASS |
| Roy ® 11.08.2004 02:36 |
I think this Def Leppard belongs in the personal part. |
| goinback 11.08.2004 02:39 |
They're an '80s hair band. *shrugs* |
| rhapsody__87 11.08.2004 21:53 |
"Def Leppard was along with Bon Jovi, Van Halen, and Guns N' Roses the best hair bands of the 80s. I'd include Metallica, but they were more hard core metal than mainstream hard rock." GNR are NOT a hair band! They looked like hair but certainly didn't play hair metal music. |
| Penis - Vagina 11.08.2004 23:58 |
Apologies for my earlier post. I liked Def Lep when I was young. Lost interest as I matured, but I do think the one-armed wife-beating drummer has/had lots of talent. |
| Oberon 12.08.2004 07:59 |
I like the Leps. They've got a good medolic sense to their music and use the two guitars well. However, and this is always difficult to determine, I do wonder how much of their music and style should be attributed to Mutt Lange. The first two albums were good rock albums, and were raw, and I can see that some people might prefer them for that reason. Pyromania and Hysteria particularly were a big leap, and that must be because of Lange. The songwriting credits favour the band, but the production I think comes from Lange. Might be wrong doing them a disservice, but there you go. Joe Elliot's voice suits Def Lep, but it isn't the best voice. Compare it to Danny Bowes from Thunder. Bowes is much better. (Thunder is a great British rock band who should have had more success IMO). Adrenalize went a little too over the top on production, and some of the songs were a little cheesy perhaps. Didn't listen to much of the their material after that until recently. Got the X album which is quite good and recently downloaded Euphoria, which again seems quite good. It moved back towards Hysteria. All in all, a good band who deserve the recognition they have. |
| Fenderek 12.08.2004 08:21 |
The stuff with one- handed drummer is just legendary... I like "Hysteria" and "Adrenalize"- lost the interest later on... ALTHOUGH- rcent "X" was pretty good again! |
| Mr.Jingles 12.08.2004 08:21 |
'Bringin' On A Heartbreak' is a goddamn great song. |
| LiarLiar 12.08.2004 11:04 |
They're nothing special, no evolution, no creativeness, no great musicians or composers, no complex sons, no great singer, several good classic rock song though. |
| thePresence 12.08.2004 13:51 |
Cherry Mash wrote: Mercury, it must be said, was a flamboyant bisexual, who managed to keep his sexuality in the closet until his death from AIDS in 1992.Mercury died in 1991.sorry, i had to! |
| thePresence 12.08.2004 13:51 |
Cherry Mash wrote: Mercury, it must be said, was a flamboyant bisexual, who managed to keep his sexuality in the closet until his death from AIDS in 1992.Mercury died in 1991.sorry, i had to! anyway def leppard kick a$$, If i may say! :) |
| thePresence 12.08.2004 13:52 |
Cherry Mash wrote: Mercury, it must be said, was a flamboyant bisexual, who managed to keep his sexuality in the closet until his death from AIDS in 1992.Mercury died in 1991.sorry, i had to! anyway def leppard kick a$$, If i may say! :P |
| Pluto 12.08.2004 14:22 |
i love def leppard |
| SallyJ. 13.08.2004 07:59 |
"See he was Biseksual, not that ,that is better or less than Gay but I was right. " You are one scary guy. And this belongs in .... the PERSONAL SECTION! |
| Krizzy 13.08.2004 10:07 |
I love Joe and those boys from DL, yummy |
| Sir B.A Baracus 13.08.2004 12:20 |
Saw them live at Wright State's Arena in March of 2003..............boy, they look OLD.....Joe is fat, can still sing, but the harmonizer effect that he uses gets old after about 2 songs. The first half of the show was great - played nothing but songs from On Throught The Night and Pyromania, High and Dry, and a few Hysteria cuts. The second half was all the over-produced schlock from Adrenalize on. My wife and I were 4th row, center stage, and we left as we heard Joe as "Do You Wanna Get Rocked, Dayton???" |
| Erin 13.08.2004 14:54 |
I saw them last year in Greenville, SC. The place was less than half full....I kid you not. I still loved seeing them..:-) We waited and got autographs after the show. |
| Krizzy 13.08.2004 15:44 |
Leave my Joe alone! |
| Giacco 73 18.09.2004 07:54 |
I think they are a very good band but "americanized" and commercialized too much their sound to follow the radiofonic incredible success that they achieved.They made good songs but with that catchy,fake,overproduced sound that make me feel diffident.But I loved them in the live dimension of the FM tribute back in 1992.They were great. |
| LiveAidQueen 18.09.2004 09:07 |
Mr.Jingles79 wrote: I'm still going to reply anyways... Def Leppard was along with Bon Jovi, Van Halen, and Guns N' Roses the best hair bands of the 80s. I'd include Metallica, but they were more hard core metal than mainstream hard rock. 'Pyromania', 'Hysteria' and 'Adenalize' are KICK ASS albums. Anyone who loves pure 80s hard rock would love Def Leppard.I agree with everything. |