May 31 2021
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4
Seven singles. Seven goddamn singles on this record. That’s insane. And thanks to a very kind and awesome 5th grade teacher who let us listen to cassettes during class… I have these tunes ingrained in my membrane. I “sang” Pour Some Sugar on Me over the phone to my first girlfriend at her request. She dumped me the next day. Okay, the timing here’s not exactly true but it didn’t last and it couldn’t last because when all is said and done, Love Bites. (At least in the 5th grade.)
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Feb 03 2022
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1
I have a weird relationship with rock music. The majority of my favorite albums EVER belong to rock and its subgenres. I love rock!! However, a lot of the biggest rock bands ever are bands I don't enjoy in the slightest. When you say you like rock, a lot of people think of these arena bands from the 80s, like Def Leppard or Bon Jovi. But this is EXACTLY what I DON'T mean when I say I love rock.
These 80s pop hair-metal bands do not sound good. The way they overproduce their music is sickening; it's really too much. It's irritatingly poppy. The music is engineered to be sickeningly cheesy and sweet. These bands are obsessed with their cool image more than anything, and it shows. Every single song is a painfully cliché and cringeworthy "anthem", and they're all indistinguishable from the others. The lyrics are uninspired. The formula is so overdone here.
It's exactly like Halloween candy: a piece of candy is fine once in a while, but once you grow out of adolescence, the thought of eating a bucket full of candy in one night makes you want to vomit. This album is a bucket full of cheap, over-processed junk candy, and it was really hard to enjoy more than a minute of it, let alone a whole hour of it.
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Jan 14 2022
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4
In 2022 ‘Hysteria’ feels like the most ridiculous album. It sounds all of the $4.5 million that it reportedly cost to make. It’s shiny, gleaming, glossy, expansive, excessive, bloated, monolithic…over produced, probably 20 minutes too long; and yet I still really like it because despite all my criticisms, the album is a heap of big, dumb fun. It reaches for your jugular, doesn’t let go for the duration, and demands you have a good time, which ultimately you will. Truly ‘Hysteria’ is to hair metal what ‘Thriller’ is to pop.
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May 03 2021
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2
Massively clichéd, ludicrous lyrics, teenage hair metal, pointless forgettable solos and generally indistinguishable from a dozen other 1980s middle of the road rock bands, (in this case from Sheffield but trying to sound like Americans). It's OK in small doses, just letting it wash over, but nothing stands out or grabs my attention; the songs aren't strong enough to transcend the limitations of the genre. Plastic rock.
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Mar 17 2021
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5
Where Pyromania had set the standard for polished, catchy pop-metal, Hysteria only upped the ante. Pyromania's slick, layered Mutt Lange production turned into a painstaking obsession with dense sonic detail on Hysteria, with the result that some critics dismissed the record as a stiff, mechanized pop sellout (perhaps due in part to Rick Allen's new, partially electronic drum kit). But Def Leppard's music had always employed big, anthemic hooks, and few of the pop-metal bands who had hit the charts in the wake of Pyromania could compete with Leppard's sense of craft; certainly none had the pop songwriting savvy to produce seven chart singles from the same album, as the stunningly consistent Hysteria did. Joe Elliott's lyrics owe an obvious debt to his obsession with T. Rex, particularly on the playfully silly anthem "Pour Some Sugar on Me," and the British glam rock tribute "Rocket," while power ballads like "Love Bites" and the title track lack the histrionics or gooey sentimentality of many similar offerings. The strong pop hooks and "perfect"-sounding production of Hysteria may not appeal to die-hard heavy metal fans, but it isn't heavy metal -- it's pop-metal, and arguably the best pop-metal ever recorded. Its blockbuster success helped pave the way for a whole new second wave of hair metal bands, while proving that the late-'80s musical climate could also be very friendly to veteran hard rock acts, a lead many would follow in the next few years.
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Nov 23 2022
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1
This album was so satisfyingly awful. I knew I would hate it going in, and every song confirmed my prejudice.
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Mar 10 2021
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5
This is a fun one. Just ridiculous 80s butt rock and soft metal. Tons of great shredders and power ballads. Kinda weird that they are an English band though. They would like they are straight from the sunset strip to me.
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May 03 2021
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5
Awwww I haven't heard Def Leppard in a long time and this was so much fun to hear again. Perfect bit of hair rock I needed. I ended up listening to the album three times throughout the day. Can't beat a bit of cheese rock to brighten a dull day.
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May 31 2021
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4
Underneath the hood this is a quietly insane record - the kitchen sink production, Joe Elliot's nonsensical stream-of-consciousness lyrics, the mere fact that the drum patterns had to be configured for three limbs - wild. Its subsequent success is the cherry on top. If you don't like melodic hair metal, it's an automatic one or two star, right? I do, though - and all the Mutt Lange bells and whistles are still a pleasure to behold.
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Mar 22 2023
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1
Hair metal is big, dumb, and bad
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Jan 26 2021
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4
Didn't realize how many Def Leppard songs that I knew came from this album
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Mar 24 2021
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4
More classic tracks than I realised. Pretty good album for their first album with a one armed drummer.
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Dec 13 2021
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4
Honestly this is jam packed full of catchy shit. Everything is pretty big, really well-written, perfectly executed, etc ec. The vocal harmonies in particular are where they really stand out I guess - and the way they meld with the guitar melodies so well. Production is flawless, if a little declawed, but it really is just a crystal clear, perfect little slice of late 80s production. It's openly cheesy as shit, just puts itself right out there celebrating the big hair/sleaze look - it's almost like they knew hipsters in 2021 would go into conniptions in the knowledge they can't stop it existing already. ha.
Criticisms: Excitable is a dead set awful song, and Don't Shoot Shotgun isn't far behind. Also, it feels like the whole album could have been one long song - great for cohesion, and might have been amazing at 30min... but 60? They could have trimmed the fat and I probably would've given it a 5/5.
That being said, it's been fun to listen to this again in full, haven't heard it beyond the hits in a good 10+ years. 4/5.
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Nov 23 2022
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4
I too am surprised with how much I enjoyed this album! I started off listening to it with my brother on a Thanksgiving road trip. We took turns reading the lyrics and laughing at their silliness; I mean, "Red light, green light, yellow light, go!" says it all. Then the songs started sticking in my head. When we arrived at our destination, I listened to the album again whilst shooting pool—a perfect Def Leppard scenario, I think. And the transition from ironic-love to genuine-love for DL's Hysteria took hold. I began to appreciate the boldest, largest moments on this album just as they're presented ("God of War," for instance, is fan-friggin-tastic!) And soon I was mumbling "Red light, yellow light, green light go" and "You got the peaches, I got the cream" to myself without any concern or conscious, and much to my brother's chagrin. I couldn't exactly explain to him why I all of a sudden thought this album was great, and I agreed fully with all of his complaints. I just liked it! For many of the same reasons he didn't to be honest. So there you have it. I would say this album is too long, because it assuredly is, but it has too be! I couldn't imagine this insane, maximilist, balls-to-the-wall, tongue-not-even-in-mouth-let-alone-cheek, a record being any shorter. What's unfathomable is how tight the songwriting and production still manages to be in spite of all this album's late-80s, obscene, excesses. I can best describe the sound of this album as if the members of Slayer performed an Eagles cover, with, yes, a twist of Michael Jackson. Which, come on! It's so cool! Four stars!
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Apr 03 2021
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2
Pop trying to be metal. I understand why it was popular in its day; tough dudes felt like they could like a "rock" band that still got ladies to shake it. Song writing is solid pop writing and production is over layered and over compressed....but I guess that became the iconic def leppard sound. "Run Riot" had interesting time changes between straight and half time, and the verse also had an interesting odd meter time signature thrown in every 4 bars or so.
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Dec 21 2021
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2
I really don't want my metal to sound acceptable to my mother. Give me more Slayer and less Bon Jovi. And NWOBHM is the single worst name for a musical movement ever, so it is a no from me.
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Feb 08 2021
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5
Great Album, each song is good and sounds like it belongs into a huge stadium show and best of playlist. Album itself could do with being 15 min shorter
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Apr 13 2022
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5
1st album I ever purchased.
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Feb 15 2021
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4
Truly a classic
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May 10 2021
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I'm really hating it and I don't think I'll finish it. This shit is cringey as hell. Some of the guitar work is good though. Hair metal was a mistake and I don't think it's OK. animal is almost not bad. it's growing on me and i want it to stop, love bites.. pour some sucks. Not good overall, maybe influenced some good music.
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Mar 21 2021
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5
I can no stress this enough...this album is one of the greats. Just a joy to listen to hits that represent an era of rock. This is why this collection of albums was written.
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Feb 22 2022
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5
Never thought I'd give Def Leppard a 5 stars...
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Mar 29 2022
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5
I knew this was Def Leppard's biggest album but I didn't realize that basically every song became a classic from Love Bites to Animal to Hysteria to Armageddon It. Lots of bangers and the epitome of hair metal
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Sep 19 2022
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5
I’m a big fan of Pyromania. Surprisingly I had never listened to this follow up album before. I didn’t realize how many of these songs I remembered from the radio until I started hearing them, so most of the album was at least somewhat familiar. I love that Def Leppard shimmer!
————————————————————————-
Random thoughts:
Interesting that “Love Bites” originated as a Country Ballad… listening to it now I can hear how that could work. I’m surprised I couldn’t find a country cover.
“God of War” shows that anti-war-hair-metal-protest music works!
Effective and interesting mixing of tempos, rhythm and melody on songs like “Don’t Shoot Shotgun.” When they start cranking it up you really feel it!
“Armageddon It” is possibly the best metal pun ever.
I haven’t listened to Hysteria in a long time and was struck by how lovely it is. A lot more going on in this song than I remembered or gave it credit for.
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With age I’ve gained greater appreciation of 80s hair metal and Hysteria is right up there with the best of them! I see a lot more of this in my future.
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Sep 27 2022
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5
I remember vividly the first time I heard the first single from this album: "Women." I got chills. Mind you, I was barely ten years old. But I'd been listening to Def Leppard (through my older sisters) since they bought the Pyromania LP in 1983. MTV really made Def Leppard for me.
And then there was such a long wait... (4 years is a long time when you're ten). The drummer lost an arm...
But the video for "Women" came on MTV... I was amazed. Rick Allen playing drums... Joe Eliot looked different. His hair was blonder. Longer.
What an album. Every song could be a hit.
I think the best one, the most underrated, is "Gods of War."
But as a whole, the album is among my favorites.
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Sep 29 2022
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5
Pretty amazing pop-hard rock magic. Definitely has it's own sound and lot of catchy tunes. Though absolutely POP, it still holds up well.
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Feb 08 2024
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5
I can't believe I have to gatekeep fucking Def Leppard's Hysteria. But first, yes the sound is very late 80's and peak Hair Metal. But that doesn't take away from its achievements including 7 charting singles. Not impressed? This album was so monu-fucking-mental that it produced those singles in a time period of 1 1/2 years. In today's music that's enough time for the current pop-ranked singers backed by an excel spreadsheet of writers and producers to reinvent themselves three times over.
Not enough? Fine. Let's remove a drummer's arm. This is DL's first record in the four years following the accident that claimed drummer Rick Allen's arm. He relearned how to play the drums on an electric kit designed for him for this purpose.
And finally, this album fucks. This album fucks so hard that the people giving it shitty dad-rock ratings probably don't recognize that could have been conceived to this album.
5 out of fucking 5
🤘
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Mar 02 2021
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4
Delicious strong cheese
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Aug 02 2024
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4
So Def Leppard’s debut album “On Through The Night” came out when I was in high-school in 1980, and as a rock guy, I really liked their sound – especially when compared to a lot of the new wave and punk music that was coming out at the time… It was heavy and raw, but had that AOR FM station appeal back then…
Their follow-up album “High & Dry” was also excellent, and their raw, powerful, hard-rock sound seemed to be evolving… Then came the next 2 albums where their sound developed into a way more commercial – as well as a much more polished sound – with “Hysteria” being the 2nd of those two…
Can’t blame them – as that recipe really worked for them – especially with females, and at least they did retain their hard-rock sound for the most part… Forgot just how good this album was, and how many songs made it to radio back in the day… Below are my favs in order -
“Armageddon It” - 6-stars out of 7…
“Animal” - 6-stars out of 7…
“Rocket” - 5-stars out of 7…
“Pour Some Sugar On Me” - 5-stars out of 7…
“Hysteria” - 5-stars out of 7…
“Love Bites” – 5-stars out of 7…
“Love & Affection” – 5-stars out of 7…
The vocals and harmonies are really well-done, even if the lyrics are pretty poppish, and basic – but musically it really pops – as I’m glad they were able to retain their hard-rock edge during this transition… There is pretty decent diversity throughout the album, and they definitely have an original sound for sure…
As a drummer – I was incredibly impressed with Rick’s one-armed drumming on this album after his awful car accident a few years earlier… Got to see them in 2007, and he was even more impressive live…
I do wonder if his more “electronic” sounding drum kit had something to do with kicking them into their more commercial/more produced sound – as the one element that they truly lost, was their rawness – but I doubt this album would have been as successfully from a commercial standpoint without it…
7 hit singles from this album is pretty damn impressive, and I’d probably give this a 4.25 if I could, but a healthy 4 in my book for sure – and glad I went back an listened to this one all the way through again, as it’s a great album…
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Jul 01 2021
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3
the album sounds like the soundtrack of 80s hardrock, not bad nowadays but not exceptionall either
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Jan 19 2021
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3
Might have had too much rock in my life to give this a great assessment but it didn't rock my socks off.
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Mar 10 2021
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3
Monster hooks, monster riffs, monster drum fills - the excess of the 80s are in full effect here. Whereas I tend to ding albums for sounding dated, somehow I enjoyed this album much more than expected - it's so over-the-top 1987. There's even a catch-all political track that encapsulates all of the "foreign threat" fears of the era - terrorism, civil unrest, Cold War, complete with a cameo from Ronald Reagan himself. A perfectly realized time capsule.
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Jul 09 2021
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3
80s hair metal. An expansive sound with massive choruses combined with synth elements. An easy and enjoyable listen, and very 80s. A bit samey though and difficult to remember any particular song, possibly a result of the slick production, within which the actual songs get a bit lost. 3.5/5
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Feb 13 2021
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3
It’s the standard later 80’s hair/stadium rock music. It’s fairly uneventful and sounds the same as approximately 100 other rock bands from the time. Thankfully the 80’s finally put an end to the infatuation of band members trying to look and sound overtly feminine more than actually producing interesting music. The only song on this album that stands out from the rest is Love Bites...perhaps it being the only ballad and therefore different to the rest enhances it’s appeal but I genuinely think it’s still a standalone decent effort. Anyhoo...yawn. NEXT!
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Jan 19 2021
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2
Oh boy. I listened to this album a lot in high school. Despite the memories and nostalgia associated with this album, and how much I enjoyed it at that time, it's super mediocre. Extra point for nostalgia.
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Aug 12 2021
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2
First listen, but I have long hated "Pour Some Sugar On Me," so this album had an uphill battle to fight. There is obvious craft and passion on display here, but it is not to my taste at all. The polished, squeaky-clean production and the perpetually-horny lyrics just don't jive. There is some enjoyment to be had with catchy melodies and some very nice vocal harmonies. Highlights: "Armageddon It," "Run Riot," "Hysteria," and the intro to "Gods of War".
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Dec 21 2021
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2
Hahaha it's like a piss take. I know it wouldn't be at the time, but now? Sheesh. Very much of its era. 80s movie montage.
Rockin'. Yeah.
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Dec 21 2021
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2
I wandered lonely as a cleft lip baby at a Pretty Little Miss USA competition. "Isn't she brave?", "She's a loser, Janet. An ugly little loser who's ruining the competition for everyone."
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Jun 14 2024
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2
This album reminds me of the review for Spinal Tap’s “Intravenus de Milo” album: “They are treading water in a sea of retarded sexuality and bad poetry.“
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Oct 08 2023
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1
Just awful
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Jun 25 2024
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1
Music to drink your first beer to 😎 (not too much though, it's a school night!!)
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May 21 2021
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5
This is the first album on this list that I've actually listened to more times than I can easily count. It was my go-to gym album for a while, and I've never grown tired of it. There have been a couple of other easy 5-stars for me, but this was one I could label without needing to listen to it. \m/
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Mar 10 2021
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5
peak of the genre
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Mar 04 2021
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5
Este álbum es una pasada, de 12 canciones más de un tercio son muy buenas. No sé como no lo había escuchado antes. Ves a ACDC, ves a los Guns, ves a Aerosmith...
Milenials descubren el Rock and Roll
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Jan 14 2021
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5
Love it! PSSOM it's such a classic!
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Feb 08 2021
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5
The definitive hard rock of the 80s. Fun songs for a stadium. Great guitar lines, fun melodies, I love this rock music, and always will.
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Jan 18 2021
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5
love it from my teen years
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Mar 31 2021
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5
Amazing album
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Mar 29 2021
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5
Lowkey liked it ngl :)
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May 22 2021
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5
Amazing!
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Jun 17 2021
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5
One of my favorite albums growing up. I saw them a couple of years ago and saw the hysteria tour in charleston wv which was in the round. Top notch 80s album
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Jul 05 2021
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5
Classic.
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Jun 02 2021
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5
Bit slow at the start of the second half, but a great finish
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Aug 23 2021
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5
AMAZING ALBUM
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Sep 16 2021
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5
The album that got me into music - not a bad song on it - perfect start to finish
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Sep 16 2021
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5
Perfect stadium rock album, consistently brilliant tunes
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Sep 23 2021
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5
This album fucking SLAPS.
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Sep 28 2021
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5
I came into this album with pretty low expectations, and they were very much blown away. It really feels like an album that defines an era and a genre. It's an incredibly fun listen with very memorable and catchy songs. Sometimes simple is just more fun.
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Oct 29 2021
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5
45. Hysteria - Def Leppard 12 tracks.
"Lighter" than their previous albums, this is perfect for me. What they went through during the recording process is astonishing & only serves to make it more significant. One of my favourite albums as an adult, (ignored by younger me).
5/5
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Dec 01 2021
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5
I love Def Leppard, starting back with High & Dry which should be on this list - it’s my favorite Def Leppard album. Hysteria is also good, love every song on it, but they had a bit more polish to their sound by this time. Still a 5 though!
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Dec 07 2021
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5
I was raised on 80's hair bands and I adore this album. Means a lot to me. Hot take: Pour Some Sugar On Me might be my least favorite track. Overplayed.
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Dec 23 2021
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5
Way better than I was expecting. Recognised several songs from movies. Had a really fun vibe.
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Jan 09 2022
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5
9/10. This had a lot of nostalgic songs for me, and was overall a really fun album.
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Jan 09 2022
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5
I'm very critical of the glam / hair metal movement due to the overcommercialization and generic nature of the songs. I would get so bored scrolling through the Billboard of the 80s and early 90s and hearing formulaic trash. This makes it all the more exciting when you have a quality band that deserves its fame and notoriety, and you start to understand how the genre became so big.
Hysteria is Def Leppard's best effort (Pyromania in an assured second), and it stands alongside Van Halen's 1984 and GnR's Appetite as the genre's best albums that predominate rock radio. The production and vocal delivery are top of the notch. It's loud and impressive, never too busy, but still explosive in nature to get me moving. No bad songs, but certainly several weaker tracks. Despite that, the entire side is absolutely perfect. Banger after banger, which is especially impressive considering that goes on for a half hour. Even the mandatory glam metal ballad here "Love Bites" (or is it "Hysteria"?) is incredible. Honestly, the only improvement I could think of is cutting off 2 or 3 songs near the end, which isn't even to justify me not giving it a perfect score.
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Feb 02 2022
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5
This was my lawn mowing cassette as a kid earning that neighbourhood coin. When I saw it on the list, I thought ‘Good, but not amazing’. Wasn’t even gonna listen - I know them all by heart - but then I listened to it. 5 stars. Bravo.
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Mar 07 2022
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5
Literally one of my favourite classic rock albums of all time. Will never get tired of Def Leppard 😍. So so so good!
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Mar 16 2022
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5
Listened to on 3/15/22 4.5/5
Favorite song: pour some sugar on me, animal, love and affection
Absolute classic with so many hits - could do without the weird intros for a few songs but also impossible to not bop your head along and want to play air guitar
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Mar 16 2022
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5
Such a good album. If only for Animal which is a masterpiece.
Most if my knowledge of Def Leppard (and this album) comes from the Classic Album episode about it where they walk through the making, Rick Allen and his drumming, and how they thought they messed up the order they put out the singles on this one. Really fascinating stuff and I’m definitely going to be watching that again after hearing the album through (Classic Albums I have found is free on TubiTV)
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Mar 23 2022
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5
4.5
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Apr 04 2022
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5
Absolute banger
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Apr 08 2022
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5
Tune after Tune after Tune after Tune.....
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May 02 2022
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5
Hi- Women, Rocket, Love Bites, Pour Some Sugar On Me, Armageddon It, Hysteria
Lo- Gods of War
Peak hair metal, fantastically constructed, perfectly executed, excellent in every way. The only reason I didn't enjoy Gods of War is that it really doesn't jive well with the energy of the rest of the album, but even still it isn't a bad track, it's just the rest of the album is so strong.
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May 12 2022
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5
Tuve hace muchos años mi época de escuchar Def Leppard y les agarré mucho gusto.
Entiendo que en su momento los fans que los conocieron haciendo metal en sus dos primeros discos los hayan odiado un poco cuando lanzaron Hysteria y quizá hasta abandonado por otras bandas, pero visto en retrospectiva este disco es una genialidada: Tomas una banda que hace cosas pesadas y pules el sonido para que alcance a mucho más público, les arreglas un poquito el look para que le gusten a las mujeres, y PUM tienes un disco que rompe records de ventas.
Y la neta es que es muy buen disco. No hay rato aburrido porque hasta las baladas pedorras están muy bien hechas y tienen momentos chidos.
Mis favoritas creo que son Hysteria, Pour Some Sugar On Me y Animal.
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May 24 2022
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5
This gets 5 stars because of so many great memories associated with when this album came out. They released 7(!) singles: all of which got a ton of radio airplay. But I do have to say that the layered harmonies, and the heavy production, haven't aged very well.
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Jun 03 2022
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5
Brilliant
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Aug 23 2022
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5
Quintessential 80s metal. It follows "the formula" of all the metal bands - rock, rock, ballad, more rock, then an almost wistful love song. I mean, it works even if it is trite and a bit dated. Hilarious looking back on it that so many people took it seriously when it's so clearly a pastiche.
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Aug 25 2022
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5
Way better than I could've thought. Especially on headphones. Insane guitar parts. Great song structure. Incredible production.
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Sep 19 2022
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5
Copied to cassette from a friend's CD, this one spent a lot of time in my walkman in college. Pour Some Sugar and Armageddon It were constantly on MTV but the rest of the album is just as solid. I love especially all the songs with one-word titles: Women, Rocket, Animal, Hysteria, Excitable. This is some really great 80s hard rock.
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Sep 29 2022
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5
Just your average album that makes you rethink what you want to expect from music.
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Oct 04 2022
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5
It's still in regular rotation around here. A great collection of songs. Harmonies and a sound unlike anything before.
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Oct 12 2022
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5
My first Def Leppard album, and a STELLAR introduction. "Pour Some Sugar On Me" is a classic, but my top tracks would probably be "Rocket," "Women," "Love Bites," "Run Riot," "Excitable," and "Armageddon It".
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Dec 09 2022
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5
Good
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Dec 19 2022
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5
First CD I ever had, bought with my own money when I was 13. 35 years later, it still holds up. And yes, I still have the CD I bought then. :)
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Dec 21 2022
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5
It seems like it has been ages since I’ve listened to an album that I already know very well. Well today is that day! I has admittedly been a while, but 19 year old me was a big fan of Def Leppard. I remember being very disappointed seeing them live and them not being very good.
Songs I already knew: all of them to some degree
Favourites: Pour Some Sugar On Me, Armageddon It, Hysteria
What can I say? I just really love this era of music. Whether it is pop or rock, the snare drum is unusually loud, the vocals are a little strange, and yet it still manages to sound fantastic. This is certainly an album where every song is somewhat similar to the others, but it’s a style that is very suited to my taste. Therefore, although this can be sometimes frustrating with other albums, it didn’t bother me in the slightest this time. Overall, I enjoyed this album a lot, from that strangely loud snare, to the thumping bass, to the face-melting guitar solos, to the high screeching singing. This is my jam.
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Jan 10 2023
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5
Nei som eg koste meg med detta
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Jan 18 2023
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5
A slow builder but ground breaking at the same time.
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Jan 20 2023
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5
This has been one of the biggest surprises for me on the list so far. Listening to this, I was overwhelmed by a wave of eighties nostalgia, enjoying the combination of hard rock and pop, of which I am usually not a fan. But I think it was especially the songwriting that won me over so emphatically. Today has been a good day.
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Jan 20 2023
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5
After 35+ years, this album still sounds as great as ever, and for sure it is DL's best album.
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Jan 24 2023
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5
I love drums
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Jan 26 2023
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5
When one sells their soul for rock and roll, one usually doesn't expect to part with a limb to do so. Death maybe but to lose an arm and somehow live to tell the tale? Unfathomable. Even more unfathomable is to have enough faith in the potential of your band that you press on, remain in the band and do your duty with one arm. Hysterical. Serious matters aside, if there was an honest answer to the question of what is the most excessive rock album of the 80s, it would have to be this. Def Leppard just grabs your by the sides of your face and takes you on a hour long thrill ride that, towards its end, you wish would go on and on and on. Front loading an album with hit after hit is nothing new but it is utterly apparent here. Every song sounds like it could have been a world-conquerer (some of which were), which was probably the point. It is hard to envision the 80s and Def Leppard's trajectory if this didn't come to fruition. Three years of stop/starting, hardworking craft went into this and it shows and it was probably worth losing an arm over. Pour some sugar on someone in the name of love... for this album.
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Feb 27 2023
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5
It took a long time to like in the 80s. I wasn't into heavy rock ....and again I am surprised how much I enjoy it now.... considering I have only heard this during the 1980s, from a cassette player on and only Renault distorted speakers... It's really quite good. 3 years to record, with a one armed drummer (that's not why) this was a huge hit ...
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Feb 27 2023
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5
Pop glam metal perfection. Every song a banger. This was their return after almost certain doom after a bus wreck. The stakes were high and it surpassed all expectations a juggernaut of 80's everything.
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Mar 01 2023
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5
This would have my vote for best album of all time. Back in the day we listened to this a LOT. I had one friend who claimed that he wore out the CD and had to buy a new one, that's the only time I've ever heard of that happening. I'm not sure it's even possible, but he played it enough that it might have happened.
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Mar 03 2023
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5
BANGER ALERT
My first ever memory of music comes from a time of adolescence that involves a trip to the Kalahari Waterpark at the Wisconsin Dells. Vault: Def Leppard’s Greatest Hits (1980-1995) was the only album available in the car during the round trip so that shit was drilled into my brain. 50% of this album belonged on the vault, so in a way Def Leppard has been with me since the beginning.
In this body of work, Def Leppard explores the complex emotions that accompany intimate relationships with songs spanning from themes of lust to themes of love over undeniably catchy grooves. Although these concepts are nothing new, Joe Elliot’s high falsetto combined with the pioneered structure of hair metal changed the scope of hard rock. While many of the songs featured are brazenly horny, we cannot forget to acknowledge “Love Bites”, a cautionary tale whose lyrics ring too true about the tribulations of heartbreak - or “Hysteria”, an honest portrayal of those who are lovesick in the most early stages. There was definitely a few times I cried to “Love Bites” in my middle school years. Profound and accurate art.
It would be remiss to not acknowledge the innovation of production in this album. Def Leppard stands alone in the 80’s for bands that adapted to the sound of B I G. The heavily reverberated guitar and drums with stacked vocals give this project a sound that’s larger than life. Def Leppard provides the qualities of an arena show in the convenience of a studio album. Although it’s a production technique not seen very much else throughout music in that time period, it is the backbone of modern country music production.
P.S. the drummer did this whole album and continued the rest of his career with only one arm. How many other bands do you know who employ limbless drummers? I would rate this 4.5 if possible.
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Mar 03 2023
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5
Banger after banger after banger. Plain and simple. The only drawback on the whole album is that they put Love Bites forth, so you’re left longing for another power ballad. Although that’s quickly remedied with Pour Some Sugar On Me. The best part of the album as a whole is the ease in which you can jam along to it. Never heard these songs? Doesn’t matter. Anyone can enjoy these bangers. A beautifully crafted musical masterpiece that realistically deserves a 4.25/5 but I’ll round up to 5 because it was that much better than yesterday’s album.
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Mar 03 2023
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5
Such a fun album to listen filled to the brim with bangers. Something you can truly appreciate after listening to an album that may not be great. The vibe I get from this album is like when you go to the bar and you’re in the perfect balance of chilling with the boys and being drunk. Just a great fun album.
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Mar 03 2023
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5
This album really makes you think that good things come to those who wait. This album would probably still be good but not as good if Def Leppard was rushed by producers to make it, however they had 4 years in between albums due to their drummer losing his arm. Imagine writing an album about sex and then 2/3 of the way through dropping an anti-cold war banger. Based af. I firmly regret giving Something Else by The Kinks a 5 as it is nowhere near the tier of this album. Now this time these cats (Leppard haha get it) were cooking with propane.
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Mar 03 2023
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5
Surprised by how many songs I knew on the album. good album all the way through.
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Mar 04 2023
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5
Oh fuck yeah, Friday is starting off with a BANG! This album is a tour de force of glossy 80's stadium rock. I have so much affection for it, because I loved Def Leppard growing up. Their songs are fun and so sing-a-long-able (even though a lot of the time I struggled to decipher what was actually being said through the screeching and echoey vocals.) Case in point: Love Bites. All my life I have sung that one part as "it can't be love if you're throwing him out" and just learned today that it is actually "it can't be love if you throw it about" LOL. I still think my misheard lyrics work better here. Listening with lyrics on in Spotify is illuminating so many more misheard lyrics for me! Omg.
Overall though, facts are facts. The drummer had one fucking arm and they made an album with 7 singles on it!!!! That is a stunning accomplishment and not many artists have done it. Def Leppard rules!
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Mar 10 2023
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5
Actually a very decent rock album!
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