Reviews (page 3 of 9)
Dont care
A slightly less polished Bon Jovi with more of a testosterone overdose in the lyrics.
A solid classic rock album overall, but doesn't really stand out for me. Their is a reason why only one of the songs on here is very well known. Not bad at all but not exciting for me. Top Songs: Pour Some Sugar On Me, Rocket, Hysteria
Bon, c'est un groupe fort sympathique, mais je suis pas sûr que deux albums soient vraiment nécessaires dans la liste. Enfin, je suis pas non plus mécontent d'avoir ça à écouter, parce que ces derniers temps, les albums ont eu tendance à pas être foufous... Il faut aimer le hard rock/metal des années 80 pour l'écouter, celui-là, surtout qu'il fait quand même plus d'une heure. Mais ça tombe bien, moi j'aime bien. Et si on peut largement lui reprocher d'être pas mal formaté (tout est fait pour être radio-friendly), je le trouve efficace et souvent très accrocheur, même s'il est pas aussi bien que celui que j'ai écouté auparavant. Grosso modo, je suis très partagé entre mon goût pour le metal de cette époque et ses sonorités parfois kitsch et le fait que je sais que certains savaient être dans leur temps sans forcément être formatés (l'album The Prophet, d'Omega est un excellent exemple). Je vais éviter de surnoter et mettre un 3.
Utterly soulless.
The first time I ever heard a Def Leppard song was in a movie during a scene in a strip club (the song playing was, to no one's shock, "Pour Some Sugar on Me"). I think that story encapsulates my feeling towards this album. Its too cocky (pun intended), overproduced, far too long, and I required a cold shower afterwards. If you like it, hey, good for you. But I wouldn't be caught within 10 feet of a strip club, and I wouldn't be caught listening to this album ever again.
I'm not even going to pretend to be objective about this. I was an MTV kid and I sang along to every song from number 2 to number 6 ("Rocket", "Animal", "Love Bites", "Pour Some Sugar On Me" and "Armageddon II") as well as the self-titled track, so this was going to get five stars even if the rest of the album was complete dog water. And I'm happy to say it isn't--the other songs just haven't wormed their way into my brain, but listening to them for the first time in years, they easily could have. These boys knew how to craft some brain-invading hooks with pounding drums and compellingly gritty harmonies. And there's no funnier climax to a rock song than "Do you take sugar? ONE LUMP OR TWOOOOOOOOO?" What a nostalgia trip, I loved it.
Perfect 80s metal meets pop.
Running a fine line between euphoric and making my skin crawl
2.5. I wore this cassette out in 2nd grade but it doesn't really hold up tbh. Also, kinda wild that this was considered "Hard Rock" back then.
Day817 - this had everything an album needs. guitar heavy hits and eighties power ballads not to mention the videos that kept it around for what seemed like two years. 1987 has to be in the top ten best music years ever
I can’t be doing with Def Leppard but surprisingly there were a good few tracks on here that I enjoyed. Problem was that there was no middle ground, the ones I didn’t enjoy I really didn’t like. I probably could’ve stretched to threes stars but my God do I hate Pour Some Sugar On Me. That cost it a star as soon as it started. Top Track - Armageddon It
This was far too long for a band with this number of tricks. It's a an excellent example of 80s hair rock, hits all the tropes. Felt a bit less creepy than some of the others we've had but still very much over the top and silly. Feel like it isn't tongue in cheek though. Had the big song I suppose and there are some riffs I don't mind but it's landfill hair rock.
Pour Some Sugar On Me is by far the best track here, the rest are middling, light arena rock. Didn't know they are British. Produced by Mutt Lange, ex-husband and producer for Shania Twain. Once I read that, I can hear Shania singing all of the songs here. Even Pour Some Sugar sounds a bit like That Don't Impress Me Much. Sparse, marching drums. Loads of echo, overdubbing, and the like. Are Def Leppard Shania Twain in disguise? Good album though, to be fair, Come On Over. My mum would have it on in the kitchen all the time when I was growing up. Loads of memorable tracks - the downbeat You're Still The One and From This Moment On, and the upbeat Man I Feel Like A Woman and Honey I'm Home. 2 stars.
I actually think pour some sugar on me is a really good glam stadium rock song. Encapsulates that kind of rock for me. The rest of this album was fairly bad though. Probably exactly what I expected. Hysteria was ok, but I think pour some sugar is all that is needed from this album
The lyrics are terrible, but this album is full of bangers.
Just enough pop hits to get a pass mark cause there is a bit of crap as well
Have never been able to get into Def Leppard
581/1001 2026/03/30 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌑
Simply the best in 1987 and still today.
Oh dear. Absolutely terrible. Formulaic, predictable, pish.
Meh
Would be a four if the back half were stronger but this is a lot of fun. Only really demands much because the songs go on for so long but rarely overstay their welcome individually.
Not intolerable but also not good
much better than i expected! quite samey but still generally solid enough for me to enjoy spending time with it
First two songs are ugly, then it hits the favorites. They figured it out.
One lump or two? Def and Mutt at the peak of their powers.
Love the production this album will always stir up something. But the lyrics are so cheesy on many of the tracks that I can’t bring myself to give it more.
Rating if you are looking for an 80s time machine to what the music landscape looked like in 1987: 5 stars Rating if this album came out today: 3 stars
Inevitable pull after a hot streak of good albums for about a week. It’s all style and no substance. Much like edm in the mid 2010’s, rock music at Hysteria’s time seemed saturated and played out, taken to its logical conclusion of “louder = better”. “Love Bites” almost had a nice sweet more tender moment, but it didn’t do nearly enough to redeem this thing. This album is one of the first time whwre heard a song on this list I used to listen to all the time through my parents playing it on the radio and I didn’t get a greater appreciation for it. Which is strange, because this whole project is mixed and mastered super well, but there’s nothing beneath its electronic arena rock facade. Once again a rule is proven true, this is an album my coworkers like, so naturally it’s a 2/5
One of the immortal cds my dad had in his car when I was growing up. Never to be questioned as anything other than masterpieces
I think the exposure to new music and genres through this site is the reason why I enjoyed this. That’s being said this album is probably 30 minutes too long but definitely fun and gets me amped up.
Ni slabo
I mean, guess its good for its time or genre, but as some reviewers said here, that's exactly what i don't like about rock music - arena rock, hair-rock, anthems and stuff like that. Some Kiss songs, more metal like Pantera or at least fun lyrics, like Alice Cooper (he is not that arena/anthemy tho), but this is definitely not my jam. Music is very authentic to the genre and the 80s, reminds me of 80s movie songs, like You Are The Best Around, maybe a bit of Kansas (i like Kansas more tho).
Animal Rocket Pour some sugar on me
A couple really good songs and the rest is okay. 4 stars or B-.
Hard-Rock, 1987 -> 3
I mean it’s exactly what you expect. You know what Def Leppard is about. Personally I’m only occasionally interested in this kind of music, but it’s the Platonic ideal of it so points for that
Could have been 5, but “Pour Some Sugar on Me” is just an objectively bad song.
A lot of rock hits in this one. Nice songs to sing along. And i in general like Def Leppard
Not good. Way too long
A fun an energetic album, some of the songs really hit with me Fav songs - Love Bites, Pour Some Sugar On Me 4/5
Brilliant. Apart from the crap middle bits. Songs at both ends of the album are amazing. Hysteria is a classic. Lovely production. Well played!
This was my favourite album at a very young age, and then like a lot of people, moved on from it when the 90s hit, along with Gunners and Bon Jovi and anything else in that genre. Revisiting it was a joy - it holds up as an incredibly written and produced pop album. It's super dorky - Love Bites is embarrassing and melodramatic, and Pour Some Sugar on Me really only works now as a strip club anthem. But Animal, Rocket, Armageddon It and a few others are genuinely great pop songs. I don't think that's just nostalgia either. Surprised to be giving this 4 stars, but there it is.
Wasn’t a fan at the time but it is pretty slick and has held up ok.
Hair metal ballads are interminable. The classic rock radio stations have it right: stick to Pour Some Sugar on Me.
Loved it!!
Sorta forgot what a great album this is. Lots of hits but even the non-hits sound pretty solid. It definitely sounds like it's from the 80s but in a good way?
This album was everywhere when I was in middle school. It even spawned a strip club anthem. Not every song is a hit but most are.
500 stars is not enough for this album. Animal-Love Bites-Pour Some Sugar on Me-Armageddon It may be the greatest consecutive four track streak of any album ever. And then if you can hang with some less-than-epic tracks after that you got Hysteria, one of all the all time great songs, waiting for you on the back end of Side 2. Where is my hot tub time machine?
This was a very special time....when this was cool. I'm so glad the entire glam rock movement happened. And I'm always happy when something like this shows up on this list. It's often a welcome relief from music that I don't always know how to appreciate as well as it seems I'm supposed to. This is cock rock. It is clear what is happening here. And I don't mind it. With all that said, pretty much every song on this album should only be half as long as it is. And while I won't go so far as to say that glam rock power ballads should have never existed, I will just say that you do have to be in the right mood for them, and that mood doesn't come around very often for me. 3.51 stars.
This is big, dumb, '80s rock-pop. The Reagan soundbites in "Gods of War" aside, Def Leppard never had anything to say beyond rockin', lovin', and havin' good times. I know all that sounds like a dis, but it's not meant as one. Def Leppard did their thing extremely well, and it's never better than here. It's catchy, fun, and perfectly executed. As partial as I am to Pyromania's "Photograph," "Animal" may be their best song. UPDATE: No, "Photograph" still takes top honors, but "Animal" is up there.
The summer of 1987 saw me working in New York state, my first trip out of Europe. So my cassette version of Hysteria was bought in somewhere like Saratoga Springs pretty much as soon as I saw it – I'd struggled to find a copy of Pyromania in my small UK town, and High n Dry had needed a trip to London I think. No one, I confidently stated to my workmates, will have heard this at home... So, I got back to Animal riding high in the charts and everyone telling me that "that band you've been going on about are famous now". So, I was a bit of a Def Leppard fan back in the late 80s. I even saw them on the Hysteria tour (couldn't hear a bloody thing for days). But, and let's be clear about this, Pyromania is a much, much better album than this. High n Dry is too (I've never really been taken by On Through the Night which had defeated me finding it back then). Maybe it's the over-production or the slightly parody version of themselves the band had become by then. Maybe it's MTV. Maybe it lacks Pete Willis. Maybe it's just too fucking American rather than the NWOBHM stuff that I prefer from this era. Maybe it's just too poppy for me, even nearly 40 years later. I've not listened to Hysteria for years probably, and that cassette has certainly been jettisoned somewhere along the way. So it was, err, "interesting" to come back to this. And I don't really like it very much. It is over-engineered. Nowadays it would be packaged for social media I suppose, which would probably make it even worse. But it's still just not very good I'm afraid. Yeah, there were 7 singles from it. You know what, I don't fucking care. Beyond Animal which has some merits, they're mainly shite – and, for what it's worth, you can stick Pour Some Sugar on Me up your arse; it's a terrible, terrible song. I understand why the album is on the list. Yes, people should listen to it to understand what was going on. It has some historical merit and reflects a time at least. And I have some lingering fondness for it. So, how I can I give this any more than 2? In some ways it deserves 1, but the band themselves seem largely decent people who have maintained their roots and I respect that. But I can't imagine I'd ever listen to this again I'm afraid. For the record, Pyromania will probably get a 4. Quite how Hysteria has a higher overall rating on here I'm really not sure. I imagine it's down to too much air play on American rock radio.
4.5
honestly not much to say about it- its fine ig? like. normal dad core
Just annoying
3.5 Stars A lot of things songs are too long for what they are but the ones that hit unfortunately do hit.
Not a metal head and this album is definitely over produced by Mutt Lange, but still this record is perhaps one of my favorites. Like ice cream once in a while, this record hits the sweet tooth.
Repeat listen
Album No. 0180 on my list. *Sigh* Another Def Leppard album on this list. I'm always conflicted about these 1980s hair metal albums. Sometimes I like them pretty well (Bon Jovi's "Slippery When Wet" was actually the first album I've ever bought, I'll tell the story when I get to review that album), but mostly I find this overtly masculine, intense hard rock stuff with the occasional power ballad pretty annoying. And "Hysteria" is not an exception. Yeah, it's not fully bad, but it's also not something I'd want to listen to on a regular basis. It's just a little too much. Too much cliche, too much masculinity, too much hair metal. I get why this is considered an important rock album of the 80s and it certainly deserves its spot here, but I'm just not a big fan personally. I'll add "Pour Some Sugar On Me", and "Armageddon It" to my playlist. 2/5 stars.
Classic
From Apple Music’s information about this album: ‘Pyromania had infused the group’s metal anthems with an expansive pop sheen, and here they sought to channel an even wider range of influences into their sound.’ If this is them adding a range of influences to their sound then I dread to think what them playing it safe would sound like.
Absolute dogshit - like Spin̈al Tap made manifest. Hated the guitar tone, hated every middle 8, hated the guitar pick slides that were thrown in, hated the china cymbals being massively overplayed, hated the lyrics (“Skin on skin, let the love begin. Women”). Just all around awfulness.
I've never listened through a Def Leppard album before, but I thouroughly enjoyed listening to this! I was quite to surprised to discover I loved the other tacks way more than the hits! A solid Glam Rock album!
Uendelig lang, og såvidt gøy å høre på.
Ville heller hørt ALT annet. HATER denne skiva. HATER dette bandet.
Fin! Overraskende bra kvalitet og ikke så hair rock som fryktet. Gods of War er jo nydelig og trekker den opp til 4 under tvil.
Hørt på morgenen, det blir litt for bonat for meg. Etter monsterhiten Pour some sugar on me måtte jeg faktisk kaste inn håndkleet. Jeg skjønner at dette var sykt fett en gang, jeg har bare ikke lyst å høre på det.
Harry, men jammen litt fengende også. Trekker ned at plata er over en time lang.
There are some greats on here. But as a whole I think I can only give it 3 stars. Not terrible for an 80s album for sure though
It's not necessarily *that* awful, I just wanted it to end as soon as possible and never want to hear it again.
Nah, I'm sorry
I just can't with the 80's hair metal. My least favorite genre. 2/5
Cheesy 80’s rock that’s so over produced it sounds like AI. Was a monster when it came out, but only good for a bit of nostalgia now.
I find this album much more consistant than Pyromania. Wow this album fucking slaps. I can't imagine what it must have been like when they dropped, they were fucking huge. This album dethroned Thriller by Michael Jackson. That's how big they were. And it is catchy as hell and it rocks. I love it. Feel like Peacemaker rn
Lowest common denominator hair-based shitrock of the most MOTR kind. How the actual chuff is on anyone’s list of anything that doesn’t start “The Worst…” is beyond me. I resent this album and all who scooped it out of the afterbirth of early 90s bilge rock 🤮🤮🤮
I think I just realized why I never got into hair/glam rock. I don't like musicals. Glam rock is just a musical that's "rockin' out!". Too much emoting throws it into the uncanny valley of emotion and it just feels forced or fake. This time, though, I'm gonna throw on an extra star for Pour Some Sugar On Me, cause it's just a fun song
It’s dumb and horny and the percussion is missing every other beat (sorry) but it is so very good at being exactly what it tries to be.
Def Leppard were the first band I ‘discovered’ for myself, and I loved them as a teenager. This hasn’t aged brilliantly, and is over long and very front-end loaded … but what a front end end. Daft, overblown, super shiny sort-of-hair metal, and just enjoyable.
Eh.
Dang, I always thought Def Leppard must be cool because the T-shirts were popular. This was hard to listen to and I couldn't finish it. It's arena rock but it lacks the musical ambition to deserve the sound. So polished, overly sanitized and processed, it loses any soul the recordings once had. I'm sad to be this negative but I really didn't like it. Usually singles can prop up an album, but I don't even care for "pour some sugar on me", it's a nothing sandwich with no staying power. Wholly disappointed.
This is exactly the kind of music I think of when I hear the phrase "Hair Metal", despite it not really being metal at all. I'm not a huge fan of the subgenre, but I can appreciate some of it. Everyone of a certain age is familiar with a lot of this album whether they were fans or not, but I actually think the best song on here is Rockets. It's got an interesting progression and hook. The rest of it is butt rock. I mean it's all butt rock, and it's fun, but it's nothing too deep or honestly that engaging any more. Good stuff, I just didn't grow up with it so it doesn't really hold the power over me that it does for a lot of people.
The first 6 tracks on this album is as strong an opener as I could remember. Great listen throughout.
It's hair metal - hard to hate, difficult to truly love. 3.5
Lots of fun. The songs start to run together a bit and everything starts to sound like pour some sugar. But if you wanna have a party, this isnt a bad place to start. Pass me a drink.
3.5/10
This was not for me. I know and own Pour Some Sugar On Me. I recognized Animal and Hysteria. I did not like Joe Elliot’s voice.
NWOBHM sellouts Ok so that's a bit hard. If I had a band, went across the pond, and got offered truckloads of money and girls then I'd probably sell my soul too. There's a couple of strong songs on this album, but after Animal it all gets very samey - hair, shoulder pads, reverb, and vocal harmonies. All very stateside sellout. Guys, you're from the steel city For Fuck's Sake! Have some self respect! The drum sound is poor. And I'm gonna get controversial here... When I go to gigs, I like to watch a good drummer. I don't want to see a one armed guy on a Mouse Trap Game kit. The band deserve some credit for looking after their mate - but maybe just give him a percentage and get someone else that can do a proper job. Sorry. Harsh. Not strong enough to be classed as Dad rock. Mom rock yes. Bored.
Wait this was fantastic!! I've never explored Def Leppard's discography
An extra star for my Nostalgic Youth©️ Day 38 and only two female artists
Aerosmith and Leppard on consecutive days; what did I do to deserve this?
3 out of 5, second Def Lappard album for me on this list after Pyromania. This one fell short compared to Pyromania but still entertaining.
Fav- pour some sugar on me 3/5
Hahaha this album makes me laugh. It’s so ostentatious & egregious. Very well represents where rock went after the 70’s. Pour some sugar on me is incredible
some absolute bangers. brings me straight back to my guitar hero days
I love the genre but this album sounds like shit
Deaf Leopard? More like Slippery Fish
Me aburrió bastante, sobre todo la segunda mitad, pero definitivamente podría ser peor. Varias de sus canciones me aburren durante los estribillos pero me gustan más en sus versos, como Love Bites. Mi favorito, como parece ser el de todos según las reproducciones de Spotify, Hysteria, cuyo punteo me parece muy lindo, pero diría que es mi preferido sólo por eso. En general, no está mal pero no es mi estilo y no lo escucharía de nuevo.
Its like Led Zeppelin & sb who i fogetej have a child
Def Leppard perfected wus Metal. That over-produced, Mutt Lange vibe, that horrible drum sound, the terrible singing - this was the most successful attempt yet to make something underground and brash, mainstream and accessible. As such, it was the death-knell of what the genre was. I don't mind a good power ballad. I'm a bit of a softie, having grown up during its heyday as an impressionable sensitive youth. When Love And Hate Collide is a favourite, but that's not on this album. I agree that at least one of, but probably not both, this or Pyromania should be on this list. Not because they're good or even worth hearing, it because they were so massive. Everyone knows the singles, knows they're uniquely and uniformly awful. Animal? Pour Some Sugar On Me? Among the worst disgraces pumped out in the 80s. The non-singles are non-songs. At least as bad as the hits are, they could make irritating ear worms. Even with the singles, it is bewildering to me how successful this was and remains. It's so slow, so weak, so repetitive. You could build a Def Leppard song in five minutes yourself, and nobody could tell the difference. So formulaic. It's barely heavy enough to be rock, never mind Metal. The tempo almost never changes. The songs are unnecessarily long. It's too dull to be pop, and lacks any sense of emotion, sex, intelligence, or creativity. It is a damning indictment of our species that this sold so many copies. 1 million would have been half a million too many. One of the most popular five star reviews of this album is from someone bemoaning the fact he has to gate-keep the band, and complaining without irony about today's spreadsheet and exec based music. Def Leppard were exactly that, and worse, long before today's pop stars were born. Oh yeah, the same reviewer also gave five stars to KD Lang's Shadowland. Says it all, really. Also, what the balls is that artwork!?
I'm almost 800 albums in on this thing, and this might be the album I've struggled to get through the most. My heart sank when I saw it was over an hour long. Glam metal is probably my least favorite music genre. Vapid and uninteresting.
This would never normally be on my playlist but full of bangers and surprises
Proof that like Ghostbuster streams, rock and pop should never be crossed. Great choruses but nothing to chew on. Can't see me picking this up again. That'll be 2* then.
At least Kiss wore face paint. These clowns got nothin
Not for me but was enjoyable.
No, just no. They don't even know how to spell leopard.
This may have been the first time I listened to this all the way through. Pretty ok to good. Not Quite my cup of tea though.
Has some great hits on it. That said this area of rock isn't my favourite like at all. If we consider the big genres, rock is by far my all time favourite, but this glam metal sub-genre isn't to my liking that much. It has such a specific sound. Each time I hear any song that's part of it, I'm transported back to my teenage self when I would hang out with my friends at this place in my tiny town that always played this type of music. That's a bit unusual cuz I was a teenager like 5 years ago. So, hearing this album filled my nose with a powerful cig smell and my mouth with a strong beer taste. Alright album, but it's better in smaller doses if you ask me. I'd listen to a song here and there from time to time.
Vocals as layered as the most feathered hair of the 80s.
A few good songs
I feel like I want to get into more 80's rock
Is this a metal album or a pop album? I'm not sure it matters, because either way it's a bad one. Its riffs and solos are too flaccid and cookie cutter for it to be an exciting metal album. And its hooks are too clunky or slow for it to be a fun pop album. The biggest thing holding it back is its pacing. At over an hour long with only twelve tracks, the average song length is over five minutes. And they don't earn their length; there are no surprises here, with midtempo verses and choruses interrupted by a guitar solo before the chorus continues until the end. Songs like "Love Bites" are so empty, ballads with nothing interesting going on. "Pour Some Sugar on Me" is one of the worst rock radio staples off all time. Obnoxious vocals, uninspired lyrics - despite some catchy moments this is all of the worst things radio rock had to offer in one album.
Meh. Not awful, but not good, the hits are alright if I hear them like once a year, but the whole album is a pass.
1-2 : cool 3-4 : mid 5 : classique!! 6-7 dans la même veine, cool mais pas exceptionnel 8 : peu différent, commence à être long 9. yes, cool 10. très cool 11. nice ! 12. sympa sans plus Dans l’ensemble, c’est sympa. 3-4 sons en trop je pense (format 40min aurait été souhaitable). Rock-pop-on chante en cœur des 80’s pas trop trop fan mais ça passe. 2.5+/5
Not bad by any stretch, just not my cup of tea. Got some bangers though
Slickly produced and of its day a huge album not really my thing but I give credit where its due
I acknowledge that this is legendary, titanic, chart-topping, baby-making butt rock. It is butt rock nonetheless.
Just glam slop. FOR AN HOUR. Nobody deserves to listen to the most annoying subgenre of music for that amount of time in one sitting.
Crack that to max volume and it don't miss.
This is an amazing record
I wanted to like this more than I did. I have nothing against Def Leppard, but this production was SO glossy, and SO overwrought, it just sounds like a muddy mess. It's good, not great. 5/10
Imagine this: You can't see it bu there is a crash somewhere ahead, some prick was probably looking at his phone at the wrong time and now the police are there and the whole road is blocked and you're stuck in your old honda for an hour and two minutes (that feel like five hours at least) and the only thing your radio will play is the local rock station. You are in purgatory but you're wondering whether it's actually hell.
Light 2,5
What has nine arms and is actually a bit better than you would expect, given its contemporaries?
Classic 80s rock which unfortunately I am not a fan of. I say unfortunately not because I regret my taste but because this was an hour long album.
Cool, in a certain kind of way
I thought this lot were meant to be cool and hardcore. This is lame dad rock
I keep trying to go into this kind of shit with an open mind, ignoring what I instinctively hate about it, and trying to hear what it's doing on its own terms. And sometimes I think I get close to hearing it, and how it might sound to someone who likes it, but then it's drowned out by the sound of my brain cells atrophying.
what has 7 arms and sucks? DEF LEOPARD! i think i heard that joke in 5th grade and i remember being shocked at how clever and absolutely savage it was. now, whenever one of my high school kids wears a def leopard tee shirt (weird, right?), i tell them the joke; but it always lands flat because they’re just wearing a cool shirt and have no idea who the band is. lame.
They were on the radio all the time growing up. I consider them neutral but not my cup of tea.
This is pretty good album, I prefer Pyromania myself.
This one might not have been my thing, or maybe I just wasn't in the right mood when I listened to it
Hair metal is low on my list of genres. This album is no exception, in fact the cheesy over production makes it worse. There are some admittedly some great guitar riffs mixed in here, but even these seem overly dramatic. Music this cheesy really shouldn’t take itself this seriously. My opinion on this one is very likely clouded by the kids in high school who the Def Leppard logo on their tennis shoes, which was decidedly not my crowd. It gets an extra star because it objectively not unlistenable, just very much not for me.
I'm not a big hair metal fan but this album is really good and I can't help but lightly bang my head and smile
I've just never been a Def Leppard fan...just not great to me.
Maybe hair metal was a mistake
Before listening to this I hated Def Leppard. After listening to this I hate them even more.
Pour Some Sugar On Me was my Sr. Prom song in 2002 - haha. This band does not suck. Decent record.
I already knew several songs on this album and possible have listened to the full album once or twice before. It starts off strong, and has some very big hits, the best of which is Pour Some Sugar On Me. This album has some killer guitar work, and the guitar tone is perfect. However, I feel the album is a little uneven in song quality and a bit too unvaried in terms of sound. I would listen again, but honestly I'd prefer to just listen to a few songs instead of the whole album.
I had to sit on this for a few days as I was both busy and wanted to eliminate the rare case with me of nostalgia bias. But, after this review I can fairly say that while the genre of hair band rock/ metal was never my main thing, this album IS really exceptional! It is a real hit machine and it makes sense all these years later why it got "overplayed" on the radio. it is THAT good and added bonus, it is not particularly "dated." It was actually really fun to re-hear after decades. I am not a super fan, like I said, of the genre, but this is honestly quality stuff.
Getting close to giving up on this. An endless stream of well known and uninteresting or just bad, like this, albums.
I like this Pop-Rock music. A little bit like KISS or Foreigner.
This album is technically not very good but Def Leppard was one of my favourite bands around 4 years ago so this is very nostalgic for me. The first 6 songs are actually insane and the title track of course is great. Nothing but hits on here.
No. 101 Good eighties rock album highlighting guitars and drums.
Fully expected to hate this album, but found it really enjoyable. I guess they just know to make music in Sheffield.
Has 9 arms, sucks
It’s a cliche hair band metal rock album. It’s okay.
Really terrible music.
62 minutes of guitar noise and screaming. I clearly still haven't recovered from my sister playing this nonstop in 1987.
This is so cheesy it's kinda great. Biggest disappointment is Armageddon isn't about their drummer losing his arm. That would've been hilarious.
This is awful. Dreadful AOR....very suitable for the US market of the time. Good production though.
Generic, cheesy, cliched, outdated, stale, irrelevant dad rock.
Starts with a power ballad, never improves. Of course, I knew every song so part of my problem is the ubiquity of this album. One more year to Appetite!
Not great, honestly. Kind of overrated?
A fun album and lots of great songs for the first half of the album. Lots of energy but could have been half the length of album.
I see the appeal, but I didn’t care for it
i listened to and liked this as a child. here's what nice thing i have to say: this is probably one of the best albums of a terrible genre in a terrible time in music. this music is not good. I apologize to my youth self.
I appreciate that they have a unique “sound” but after a while all the tracks start to “sound” the same, which is the “sound” of flipping through the channels on cable tv in the 90s.
This one is a harder one for me. It's a great example of pop metal that was insanely popular and the songs are just downright catchy. But, for actual metal fans, this was nowhere near as good as pyromania - just produced (over produced) to a completely different level to appeal to the masses
Good for music that my dad likes
Neitakk
Meh
Fun.
Safety scissors rock
Ah, Def Leppard’s Hysteria, the album of choice for depressed, middle-aged white women in the suburbs when they’ve had a few too many drinks, and long for the carefree days of 1988, when they were teenaged mean girls. I’m being a bit hyperbolic with that statement, but not by much. I listened to tons of classic rock when I was in high school and college, and you better believe my copy of Def Leppard’s greatest hits album got plenty of time in the CD player in my car. But after hearing “Pour Some Sugar On Me” no less than 5,000 times in public, I got worn out on Def Leppard, and I hadn’t listened to them in quite a while, until I reviewed Pyromania about a year and a half ago. I was really surprised that I had a great time listening to Pyromania, and despite Def Leppard’s music not really being my jam these days, I think I’m going to enjoy Hysteria today too. Is Hysteria over-produced? Yes. Is Hysteria too long? Yes. Are some of the individual songs on Hysteria too long? Yes. Are the vocals muddled by the blaring guitars and booming drums? Yes. Did any of those things dampen my enjoyment of this album? Nope. Hysteria was a blast to listen to, even the overplayed “Pour Some Sugar On Me.” Def Leppard and Mutt Lange set out to create an album packed with singles that could crush on rock radio, and they achieved that goal. I’m not saying that every song is of the same caliber; some songs on this album were just good, but the best songs on the album absolutely crushed. The way the guitars and drums are arranged on this album is fantastic. Yes, it’s overproduced, but the result is a sound that’s as meticulous as it is intense, and my eardrums loved it. It’s a shame that Joe Elliott’s vocals get drowned out, because I think he’s got a great voice for arena rock. But Steve Clark and Phil Collen’s guitars absolutely shred, and recent amputee Rick Allen smashes the drums with just one arm. Man, what a fun sound this album is. Rick Allen’s accident could have derailed these guys completely, but they managed to put out their biggest album in the wake of his accident. For my money, “Animal” is the best song on the album. The vocals are great, and the guitar riffs are outstanding. The two short caesuras are fantastically placed, and they just make me all the more disappointed when the real ending comes along. The bass playing on this album wasn’t very noticeable to me, with the exception of “Love Bites,” another of the strongest songs on the album. The guitars don’t have that shimmer like they do on the rest of the album, but it’s a nice variation. The thing that makes this song stand out to me though is the contrast of intensity between the chorus and the verse. That contrast creates such a great ebb and flow that makes “Love Bites” stand out. As much as I want to hate “Pour Some Sugar On Me,” it still hits like a freight train. I love that little guitar strumming that kicks in on the second verse. It’s such a little detail, but to me, it just adds so much to the overall sound of the song. But the star of the show here is the drumming. I don’t know what the meter of it is, but it feels irregular for some reason, and it almost makes the song feel unbalanced in a way, but I think it’s really effective. “Armageddon It” is another one of my favorite songs on the album. I love the shimmering, acoustic sounding guitar under the main guitar riff. The guitar solo is fantastic too, and I love that it’s both guitar riffs playing, and I really enjoy how one of those riffs continues into the bridge. I wasn’t familiar with “Gods of War” before today, but I thought it was awesome. The intro was excellent, and the lyrics critical of U.S. military intervention were great. This song had more great guitar work too, especially before the vocals kicked in. I also loved the little bleeps from the Fairlight CMI underneath all the guitars. I wasn’t familiar with “Run Riot” either, but it had a great energy, and the way the song builds to its chorus is fantastic. My second favorite song on the album is easily “Hysteria.” I love its slowed down pace, and the guitar tone on the verse is great. I love the desperation of the lyrics, and Joe Elliott’s vocals here are the best on the album, with the backing vocals adding so much to the sound as well. Overall, Hysteria is an excellent rock record that manages to turn what could be flaws into strengths. Mutt Lange shows off his production skills once again, and Def Leppard show off why they’re one of the biggest arena rock bands of the eighties. Listening to Hysteria was a perfect fit for my last album of 1987.
Ugh, no thank you
No standouts
Let’s rock
Corny og overproduceret, frygtelig anstrengende sanger, ugudeligt lang. Meget generøs 2'er fordi jeg godt kan lide Animal og synes et par af numrene egentlig er meget sjove
Lige lovlig meget hår i det metal.
Pretty nice and contains a couple of all-timers. I thought that hos voice would become a problem, but it was just super fitting to the whole sound. ⁴
It's not bad but nothing special to me
LITE ROCK HELL YEAH!!! Pour some sugar on me är så nostalgiskt från GH tiderna back in the days. Women, Rocket, vilka bangers alltså. Det här är right up my alley när det kommer till rockmusik. Roligt på Gods of war när den bytte tonart typ 50 gånger också haha. Excitable, vilket intro HAHAH, ARE YOU EXCITABLE x10, riktigt driv i den också 7/10
Unrelenting dogshit. Morrissey is more subversive and Belle and Sebastian rock harder than this
Never been a big fan of this band, but had never listened to anything beyond the radio hits. Still not a fan.
So many hits. So many key changes. One lump or two? I'll take three: 1. "I want. I need. I lust." 2. "I've got to feel it in my blood, woah oh!" 3. "It's such a magical mysteria."
Definitely over produced with iffy backing vocals and questionable lyrics. But nearly 40 years after its release, this album is still a great listen start to finish.
i mean like its a good album pues, pero like i wouldnt listen to it again, pero no me quejaria si lo pusiesen pues, como que preferiria otrto.
Meh
so fun
I’ve known the name Def Leppard forever but the only song I know is Pour Some Sugar On Me which is extremely cheesy but fine. Pretty much sums up this album it was inoffensive but I forgot about it as soon as it finished. Playlist track: Excitable
Not really a fan of that stereotypical 80s rock sound in this way. 5/10
Not as good as the other one. But hard to say, I think this is an album depending on its environment; I think listening on a Walkman in the 80s in the Summer time would change my opinion.
I'm a Def Leppard fan, one of the first albums I bought (my parents bought for me but I got to pick it) was a Def Leppard album. THAT album is superior to this. I dont know that anyone needs to hear a Def Leppard album before they die but if they did its Pyromania. While Pyromania is clearly very polished rock aiming for the charts this is a damn set of antique silver its so polished for the charts in comparison. That being said it is a perfect reflection of its time and its 7 hit singles speaks to how successful this record is/was.
What an album. Never my style of music ... or maybe it is since there's nothing not to love on this disc
Lively and entertaining
I have had a lifelong hatred for Def Leppard. I remember listening to this album when it came out, thinking is was cheesy and repetitive. It still is, but this time around, these hair "metal" weirdos had me enjoying the dense, layered production, catchy riffs and hooks, and just the music in general. There is a fine line to be drawn between "this band has a style" and "this band only has one song." I think Def Leppard comes down on the wrong side of that line, but I'll still be adding this album (and only this album) to my personal collection. I never thought I'd say any of this. Teenaged me screams from within at middle-aged me. 🤷 ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Did not finish. As much as I do think Def Leppard is one of the better glam rock bands, they're still a glam rock band and so much of this subgenre sounds exactly the same. I get the vibe and I think if you were having a party or pregaming to go out this kind of music can hit, but it's sorely outdated and monstrously overproduced. Even with skipping through the big songs I already knew, I couldn't get through over an hour's worth of Def Leppard.
Was surprised to see how many radio hits came from this album. This album is ridiculously horny, like holy hell.
Is there any artistic substance here? Any expression of genuine emotion or human experience? To me it sounds like the culmination of a business plan. Which makes sense, because it's a Mutt Lange production. After Back in Black his M.O. seems to have been finding acts who had chops - performative talent - but no musical sensibility or vision. (Listen to Def Leppard's first album (or Shania Twain's first) and tell me if you hear anything exciting, or promising there.) Then he would make these rice-cakes-drenched-in-simple-syrup and sell them by the millions. (He was also a colossal hypocrite; espousing in his personal life a sanctimonious anti-materialist spiritualism (read: cult leader vibe) while producing the most materialistic, non-spiritual drivel and passing it off as art.) These songs are so unabashedly-dopey-pop they could be Bay City Rollers covers. One hook repeated ad nauseam through a sonic wall of glitz and shimmer. The performances are as boring as the songs. Lange's style of production seems designed to iron all authenticity and individuality out of his musicians - to use them as mere patches on a Synth. (Run Riot hints that the band could actually be modestly interesting and/or exciting. Too bad it stands alone.) But I guess he gets the last laugh. He set out to make radio hits and make radio hits he did. Sheeple of the late 80s binged on these cynical-sounding sugar-coated shit-patties; Which is depressing. On the positive side, I think Def Leppard is a GREAT band name. It puts these lads in a category with Spin Doctors and (Michael McDonald era) Doobie Brothers: horrible bands with fantastic names.
Nee, diese Art von Stadionhardrock ist überhaupt nichts für mich. Da sind schon gute Riffs und Melodien dabei, aber das Album ist mir viel zu lang und ich bin echt kein Fan der Texte und des allgemeinen Sounds. Teilweise erinnern mich die Vocals etwas an AFI zu "Decemberunderground"-Zeiten, bei Rocket vor allem. Muss ich nicht noch einmal hören.
I mean - most of this is an all out party. Can’t be denied.
The hottest of hot garbage.
Great fun very nice. Bit of a slow start considering they are singles, but then half the album is singles.
Poppy metal music, as what a lot of 80s artists did (3.5-4)
is it a classic? yes. is it too long? also yes.
Yuck. Some of the dumbest lyrics around (Woman - really?) and formulaic cock rock. A chore to get through.
I loved it! It was full of energy 14/1/26
Fiquei hard rock das ideias Bom demais
This is when they jumped the shark in my opinion. Doesn’t help that some of these songs I have heard a million times
I’ve heard this 100,000 times…doesn’t hold up over time..cool in the 80’s but doesn’t hold up
My intro to DL. Packed full of hits but as I learned from the ‘purists’ a bit too polished and lacking the rawness of Pyromania. Always will be a time and place album for me
Makes me think of old movies and feel nostalgic for an older time I wasn't alive for. Overall generic fucking dogshit garbage that I wanted to turn off halfway through the first song. A full hour is ridiculous.
I’m saying 2 but I liked it more than I thought I would. The guitar tone was incredible. Legit loved it. Also way fewer guitar solos than I’d expect on a record like this. I think I counted only 1! The snare was waaaaayyyyyy too boomy/roomy. I know that was the sound of the day, but it sounded sorta clowny there.
I destroyed this cassette tape from overplaying back in 5th grade. It’s really not good. Thank the grunge gods for ending this era and saving me. Even still, when these jams come on you will find me solo arm air drumming the whole way through.
Starts high, ends high—but ya girl prefers a build ✅✅ Hysteria
Oof I thought I liked Def Leppard until I listened to an hour of Def Leppard.
metal with the energy of Celine Dion. objectively speaking, on a technical level, this is musical diarrhea.
I don’t mind this, but I wouldn’t seek it out to listen to.
esq me aburro
it's fine. musically it's fun. but I'm sick of listening to lyrics that sound like they were written by guys who've never had a meaningful non-sexual interaction with a woman
It's like a dumbed down synth pop version of Van Halen. It has some good parts. The singer has bad technique. He has more power, but he doesn't use it. Sounds like a funny voice. Favorite song: Animal.
I mean, it's fun, but it also well and truly overstays its welcome.
this was my moms music when she was in high school so it holds a special place in my heart favorite tracks: women animal
As a passionate hater of all things hard rock–related, I’m finding it difficult not to have fun with this. Seeing that Hysteria clocks in at 60+ minutes, I initially considered skipping it altogether. Glad I didn’t give in to that impulse, because I found myself having a genuinely good time - and even laughing out loud on more than one occasion. One thing that puzzles me, though, is this: how can you spend three (!) years recording an album and then completely forget to amp up your lyrics, which tend to read like the diary excerpts of a horny fourteen-year-old with access to a multi-million-dollar studio? Still, if you normally couldn’t give a damn about glam or hard rock and then, one fine day, wake up feeling that your record collection could tolerate a single album from this divisive genre, make it this one (aside from maybe Appetite for Destruction). And I’m probably about to completely overrrate this thing…
You haven't lived until you were a 10-year old on roller skates gliding around the rink to Pour Some Sugar on Me. This is my youth!
This album would be good if Joe Elliott would shut the fuck up for 10 seconds.
I'm torn. On the one hand, it's the epitome of vapid hair metal at the tail end of the 80's. On the other hand, my inner 12/50 year old really vibe with it.
I have to agree with Robby, Def Leppard Sucks! If someone told me they made this album specifically to annoy me I would believe them. I hate the singer, I hate group chanted vocals, I hate when rock music is overproduced. This album has all those things! On top of that, every song is three minutes too long, making for a bloated turd of an album. Dear god I hope this is the only album by these dorks on this list.
Really cheesy and over-produced. Hard to believe that the band came out of the gritty, steely, grey Sheffield terraced houses - feels like this was born straight out of a sleazy LA studio. This is an album you either adore or despise. I'm definitely the latter. Best Tracks: - Run Riot - Hysteria Worst Tracks: - Don't Shoot Shot Gun - Pour Some Sugar On Me Rating: 2/10
I was familiar with the name of the band, but I couldn't have named an album or song. It was a band I always told myself I should listen to, but never got around to it. Until now. I found the music so uninteresting that I didn't even get annoyed by it. Irrelevant. 3/5
38/1089 4.6833* We have 7 bona fide bangers on this album, of which at least 2 of those bangers are full cheese...but tolerable cheese. A total classic and more impressively, comes off a transformationanal Pyromania with a drummer who lost his arm and guitarist who lost his life. This was an album designed to be a hit-maker where every note and every tone is considered before laying it down. It might not have the feel and groove of a van halen but it's still a classic. Pssom has been overplayed and not my favorite but can deny mass appeal. Hits...hysteria,women,animal,pssom, Armageddon, rocket, love bites. Cheese....pssom,Armageddon.
not a big fan of glam rock/hair metal, especially not in this era couple of decent songs but nothing outstanding
Alright, Def Leppard. You win this round.
Holy glaze I can’t feel anything rlly good from this 5/10 2025/12/30
This is way, way better than I expected. Cheesy, yes, but also epic and pretty damn fun.
Apparently they set out to make Oops! All Hits and you can definitely hear it. Diving hard into the pop side makes this more enjoyable in 2025 than I expected.
A solid rock album. Nothing groundbreaking. I only knew Pour Some Sugar On Me so this album did not have the memories aspect. That’s why it gets 3/5.
i love def leopard, this isn’t my fav album by them but it’s close. i had lot of fun listening to this, it’s not something i would usually listen to. great album
Album 1001 of 1089 Hysteria - Def Leppard (1987) Rating : 3.5 / 5 This is one of those albums where it’s hard to really knock it, but just as hard to get excited about it. The songs are enjoyable, the hooks are there, the musicianship shows up when needed, and the vocals and production are exactly what they’re supposed to be. It’s polished, professional, and undeniably well made. That said, it never really goes over the top for me. Everything stays in that same comfortable, radio-friendly lane the whole way through. Nothing offends the ear, nothing really surprises you, and nothing made me stop what I was doing and think, now that’s something. It’s pleasing - just not gripping. The best way I can describe my reaction is the Clark Griswold Grand Canyon moment: I’m going to listen. I listened. It’s over. What’s next? There’s nothing wrong with the experience, but there’s also nothing that lingers once it’s done. I get why this album was massive and why so many people love it. For me, though, it lands firmly in the category of a strong “meh” - solid, competent, and easy to listen to, but not one I’ll feel compelled to revisit anytime soon.
Das ist doch ein KI-Fake. So klingt doch keine Rockband aus Fleisch und Blut.
I think there's a really dated sound that a lot of like the arena rock stuff from the 80s has, like Journey and these guys and stuff like that. And it's charming, it reminds me of my childhood, but it also kinda grates on you after a while. It's not bad perse, but its not exactly good any more either. Favorites: Rocket, Pour Some Sugar On Me, Excitable
80s metal. Pretty epic, hair metal. Tamer than one would think and aggressively 80 in a cool way. Very melodic. Fun classic rock.
Still a fun album packed with banger (seven singles!!!) although it don't hooks me the same way like then.
Hell yeah I think this would be a 5 star album if it ended with "Hysteria," but it doesn't, so 4 stars.
Great album. One banger after another. I remember getting this when it first came out so some nostalgia bias for sure but I love this album.
awesome. good old classic hair metal. great album!
Timeless rock hymns with beautiful guitars, okay singing and a cool, one-handed, powerful drummer.
Recognised quite a lot of these, not bad but not where I'm at these days. Good to see Sheffield bands the list though!
Gta vice city vibes. Snoepje
This is basically the perfect hair metal album. Every song is a banger, most of the songs have an epic vocal intro/harmony, and the drums are loud. Is it the best music you’ll ever hear? Not even close. But in terms of hair metal, this is some of the best you’ll find. Even if we want to forget the 80s exist for the most part, the genre was huge at the time and deserves representation on this list. While the songs are way overplayed on the radio even now, you can’t deny the influence and the music is still fun.
Great album all the way through. Every song is a bop.
This was honestly great :D I wasn't expecting to like this Hair Metal thing that much haha
Amazing album! Perfect ‘80s glam metal/hard rock. One of the best hard rock vocals ever. My cup of tea!
2 added to my favorites. Would listen again if asked to.
This style gets so boring for me.
Horrible
Very good rock!!
Animal Love Bites Pour Some Sugar on Me Hysteria
Favorite Track: Pour Some Sugar On Me
Perfect example.of what 80s power metal can be. Raw and stupid in one moment, powerful and moving the next. Some bangers on here. 237.
We listened to this non stop in junior schools as 12 year olds. My judgement will definitely be distorted with nostalgia. Its mostly VERY cheesy hair rock ...but so many memories associated with this album that I am going to rate it way higher than it probably deserves. i still remember half the songs lyrics. It does deteriorate significantly as the album progresses though. realistically it is a 2.5, but I will give it a 3
Highly polished big dumb rock. Some memorable melodies: the chorus of Animal, the pre-chorus of Love Bites (I don’t want to touch you too much baby…)
"Animal" is alright. Mostly meh here for me, I'm in the 3 category. I remember the video for "Pour Some Sugar On Me" though.
They released the first 6 songs as singles. Women, Rocket, Animal, Love Bites, Pour Some Sugar On Me, and Armageddon It. And then the title track later in the album. 7 singles off this album, pretty much all of them huge hits. And all of them trash. There's about 30 seconds of one of the deep cuts that's interesting. This is a terrible, no-good album. 1 star.
I'm never quite sure if Def Leppard is glam metal, rock, or pop. I guess that's what leads to a lot of their appeal, they are accessible to people in multiple genres. This album in particular has a lot of mainstream appeal due to the sheer radio-friendly and approachable songs on it.
I like the plasticky production on this. That side of it feels like a step up from Pyromania but I'll never be convinced by Joe Elliott's vocals. They work best here when they are smothered with the enjoyably over produced harmonies. Why is it so long?
Que temazo por some sugar on me che
literal garbage - corny, generic, way too long
80s. I like the song before pour some sugar on me.
Tätä levyä on tullut kuunneltua jo heti tuoreeltaan kasarilla ja tää on edelleen silkkaa timanttia ja osaan levyn ulkoa etu- ja takaperin...
Never loved this album as much as I should have.
Hard rock is a misnomer
These guys have a one armed drummer! I gave this a real listen. I didn’t hate it. I can see how these guys could be enjoyable. I mean it sounds fun the whole way through and I know the hits. In the end this hair metal rock just is not my jam. It all feels a little surface level.
This still fucking rocks. 75% of it is pure enjoyment. Even with the filler it is a 5 for me.
I’m more of a Poison guy, but this is still some solid 80’s music 🤘🏻🤘🏻
The seven (!!!) singles still hold up....but the rest seems like filler. Chop off 15 minutes and this would probably be five stars.
i think this might be top 5 worst genres ever conceived
C - C - C Classic R - R - R - Raaaaawwwwk!
Classic. What a great album.
I dont get nostalgia from this which I feel like is a requirement for enjoyment
Been a long while since I listened to this album in its entirety and it still holds up. Pour Some Sugar On Me is an all time classic, but so many other bangers on here too. Just non stop good songs. I should listen to this album more.
It's a fun album, hair metal usually is fun! Goes on a little too long though. Funny that it sounds so big and American, but they're actually from Sheffield, all 'eh up', flat caps, whippets, that sort of thing.
What a time the hair metal era was. This album specifically might be where things peaked in that regard too. Every track sounds like it was written with the sole intention of charting as a single (seven total here, in fact). Just power ballads that shred left and right. And you know what? It's enjoyable, dammit. I can acknowledge that these lyrics are cheesy, the production is a tad over-polished, and the album as a whole is fairly bloated. However, I was obsessed with this era of rock when I was younger and I guess the nostalgia still seeps through from time to time when it comes to music. It's better to just loosen your guidelines here and judge this as a pop metal record, rather than purely metal/rock.
While the songs sounded similar, I enjoyed every single one. I can't really explain it, but I did recognize 'Pour Some Sugar on Me'
The Good: We get to be hysterical! The Bad: We also have to be def… They Ugly: The spots on this leppard… I have a connection on LinkedIn who was a record executive back in the hay-days of records and he can do nothing but sing the praises for this album, which he worked on. In his opinion, the greatest rock album. I wouldn’t want to go that far… however, I’ve been playing this album 4 times already in a 24 hour period, not because it is the greatest music ever, but more because it is the kind of music which allows an older fart such as myself to grin while I think back to when this album came out and girls were hysterical about the boys in the band, while the boys wished they were in the band… Just like with the other DL album on this list, Pyromania, this album is stained in cheese, but such fun cheese that I believe I am doing all a disservice if I don’t rate this album at least a 4* As far as ‘80s rock albums go, it is technically speaking a 5*… but I was into Prince in the ‘80s… so there...
Hair metal is really not a genre of rock I'm into, and this did little to change my opinion on it. Some interesting bits of music scattered around, but I found it really hard to distinguish most of the songs from one another
It was fine.
I sort of love Def Leppard, and this album is where the "sort of" comes in. It's an album showcasing a band who've grown inexorably, and moved beyond the hard rockin' brilliance of their debut via an increasingly astute pop sensibility across two perfectly balanced albums. After an extended hiatus (fair play, Rick!) and a laundry list of creative/production delays, Def Leppard put together an album which should have been too ambitious to work. Huge production, huge costs and sales, huge shows - this album is the absolute peak of '80s polished rock. Thank fuck they just about released it before Appetite For Destruction got big! Musically speaking, it's a cool album. Tight and snappy, with enough excursions into heaviness to keep me satisfied. Not every song is a banger though, and you can feel the studio excess really coming through when their production choices fall flat. It's dated - sometimes that's brilliant, sometimes it brings everything right down. Favourite tracks: Rocket, Animal, Love Bites, Gods Of War (best Leppard song?), Hysteria
I enjoyed Pyromania a decent bit but this one didn't click. I think it's a bit too over-the-top for my liking. It's just a bit of harmless fun, nothing too serious. Rating: 2.5
My last album was In Utero by Nirvana and I noted how grunge blew the 80s hair bands off the charts in the early 90s. Def Leppard was one of those bands. That being said, I love this album from start to finish. Saw them in 1987 with Europe as the opener. Side note, Europe opened AND closed with the song Final Countdown - interesting choice. They are great in concert. It’s a tight and well over-produced album for sure. Because of that, it appealed to the masses and was a monster of an album that produced single after single. One of my all time favorite cheesy songs is from this album, Hysteria. I always thought it odd they chose such a mellower song as the title of the album. They fancied themselves as rock artists so you would think they would have chosen a harder edged song to name the album. A great album I will still listen to from start to finish - much for nostalgia purposes, but isn’t that in part what music is about?
Big dumb fun, but my appreciation ends there. Metal albums released in 1987 that deserve to be on this list more than this one: Nightfall - Candlemass Scream Bloody Gore - Death Keeper of the Seven Keys: Part I - Helloween Killing Technology - Voivod Pain of Mind - Neurosis Abigail - King Diamond Crossover - DRI Among the Living - Anthrax Not to mention the countless recordings of bands that didn't make it because they lacked the funds, reach or otherwise means to become successful in the corporate rock age.
Thoroughly meh. You can tell an enormous amount of effort has been poured into the album but for what end? Hysteria is all dull hair-metal, forgettably bland lyrics and underwhelming riffs - perhaps the title is ironic. Full of sound and fury, signifying nothing. fav tracks: Run Riot
4.7
Get out
Good album. Mostly enjoyed it for the nostalgia.
"The drummer from Def Leppard's only got one arm!" - thank you, Blood Hound Gang! Mullets- mullets everywhere! But seriously, I have never jammed an album of Def Leopard's before. haha- butt rock! Glad I listened, but can't say I enjoyed it.
The peak of butt-rock/hair metal. Not really my style but well done.
80’s Rock at its best.
A lot of particularly great tracks on this one, and they could never make me hate arena rock. Some of the garbled samples weren’t my favorite thing to listen to, though.
No taki ulubiony zespół wszystkich ojców, ale jak wiemy, ja mam trochę gust starego człowieka. Pour some sugar on me na zawsze w moim serduszku i chociaż reszta utworów jest dość podobna i gdzieś znika w tle to sam ten jeden hit wyciąga tę płytę na 6.5/10 równane w górę.
Def Leppard perfects the commercial pop strain of heavy metal, and with that, all joy of what the genre should be is gone. The only Hysteria here is in lamenting the death or a genre.
Was familiar with the singles of this album but had never listened all the way through (was more of a Pyromania kid). Actually, was more than familiar with the singles - they were omnipresent in 1987. At 8 years old I had a fake guitar (couple of pieces of wood nailed together) with which I mimed 'Love Bites' over and over- weird song choice, but it was on a mixtape I think either me or someone else dubbed from the radio. 'Pour Some Sugar On Me' of course was the biggest hit and a legit crazy good song, even if it, at times, sounds like Mother Goose gone insane. The production is the thing here, though. Mutt Lange (husband of Shania Twain, and call me crazy but there are several tracks on this album that could be Shania songs) produced the hell out of this. It's borderline avant-garde at points, somehow sounding still futuristic despite its dated qualities. The album starts with one of the more mediocre songs on the album, 'Women', followed by 'Rocket' which struck me as willfully obtuse. Finally, 'Animal' begins a string of undeniable bangers and the album really takes off. Couple of filler songs late in the tracklist and it should have ended at 'Hysteria'. Sonically, it's not too much to call this a masterpiece but the album as a whole doesn't quite live up to the talent behind the boards.
Previously rated: #592 - Pyromania (5/5) **************************** Album #967 I had this one on cassette in my early teens. I listened to it a fair amount back then, and I still hear some of these songs on the radio today. Some others, I can't remember, so it's been a while. They packed a lot into this single-length album, including some longer versions of the many singles they released from it. It is pop-metal, much lighter stuff than their previous albums. The guitar solo in Armageddon It exemplifies this pretty well. Still, I found myself bopping and singing along to a lot of the album. After the album was over, I played a few of their earlier, better songs like Bringing on the Heartache, Too Late for Love, and Comin' Under Fire. Gods of War is probably the standout deep-cut here, a poppy catchy chorus anti-war song.
You know what? Usually this genre blends together for me pretty badly, but somehow Def Leppard managed to penetrate through that. I ended up liking about half the songs here (and the rest are okay). I think I'd chalk it up to their delivery of certain lines, sometimes that alone piques my interest in a song!
This sound is just really dull to me. I considered giving it a 3 because I was enjoying some of the riffs and everything, but it all just went on too monotonously for too long for me to award it more than a 2.
Def Leppard suffers from the problem a lot of music of the 80s has: a lot of it sounds extremely similar! For some, that might not deter them from rocking out, and I respect that. This album is full of absolute classics and a lot of mush that sounded like every other generic 80s rock song. I tried to put myself in the context of the time period. Crazy haired, glammed out rockstars putting on a wild show. This kind of music defined the 80s, for better or worse, and I think seeing a Def Leppard concert at their peak would’ve probably blown my mind. I’ll be nice and round my 3.5 up to a 4.
Wasn't expecting to be liking glam rock today. Especially not for over an hour. This kinda rooooocks though 🎸 Standouts: Animal • Love Bites • Pour Some Sugar On Me • Gods Of War
This is certainly one of the albums of all time. While I have no doubt it would blast my face off in the live setting, it's very long and samey. I honestly got very tired by the end of it because no song on here is distinguishable from any other. Definitely a time capsule.
Sucks monkey junk