Def Leppard "Pyromania" 30th Anniversary

If you weren't around on January 20th, 1983, here's what you missed: Han Solo would be frozen in carbonite for several more months, leg warmers were about to become de rigueur fashion for teenage girls, Underoath singer Spencer Chamberlain was barely two weeks old, KISS would appear for the first time sans make up later that year and music fans had long since learned that the music video had killed the radio star. Except Def Leppard would be having none of that, because on January 20th, 1983 the five lads from Sheffield, England released an album which would set fire to both radio and MTV.

Fueled by the singles "Photograph," "Foolin'" and "Rock of Ages," Pyromania, alongside Michael Jackson's Thriller and The Police Synchronicity, would become one of the defining albums of the year and of the golden age of the music video. Produced by Robert John "Mutt" Lange, the album has gone on to achieve Diamond status for sales in excess of 10 million units. The album elevated Def Leppard from the initial ranks of the NWOBHM (New Wave of British Heavy Metal) into worldwide superstar status.



The heavy rotation, both over the airwaves and on TV screens, which Pyromania received made the album the ignition source of an entirely new metal subgenre: Hair Metal (or glam metal if you prefer).



The album also added the nonsensical phrase "Gunter glieben glauchen globen" into the lexicon of rock. The phrase has been sampled by J-Pop darlings, Puffy Ami Umi and The Offspring as a similar opening line for "Pretty Fly (for a White Guy)." For the record, the phrase is nothing more than German-sounding gibberish, uttered by Mutt Lange in place of the standard "1, 2, 3, 4..." count in during one of the innumerable recording takes of "Rock of Ages". Surely these four non-words and the epic nature of the song (coupled with the sword and sorcery imagery of the music video) is what earned it a spot on the in-game playlist of the criminally under appreciated video game, Brütal Legend.



Beyond these hits however, is more great music. Side one features the deep cuts "Stagefright," the mini-epic length "Die Hard the Hunter" and the power ballad "Too Late for Love," which, much like "Foolin'", rocks a bit harder than most songs where you were once meant to hold lighters aloft.



And while the lyrics might be a bit ridiculous, it is hard not to resist the innuendo-laden swagger of "Action! Not Words" from side two of the album.



Oh why not, let's share a fun story from the era...

I vividly remember not liking the song "Photograph" the first time I heard it. I recall thinking Joe Elliott's voice and the guitars didn't have the characteristic growl to be found on 1981's High 'n' Dry album, which had become engrained in my ears from repeated listens during the previous two years. That "well what do I know, really?" adolescent opinion quickly changed after the first time I absorbed the imagery of the song's music video (MTV was a frighteningly powerful medium before the post-2K era of instant music consumption). This lead to me going so far as to find a copy of the floor-to-ceiling poster of Marilyn Monroe seen in the video, which would adorn my bedroom wall for years to come in declaring my fandom for the band. I would go on to wear out more than one copy of the cassette as well.

The big three off of Pyromania are songs you can't possibly avoid from one source or another. If however you have not experienced the album as a whole, you should definitely check it out. Unlike many albums from the early 80's, it holds up remarkably well without drifting into dated-ness (credit producer Mutt Lange for that one). Trust me on this one, cos' baby I'm not f-f-f-foolin'.

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