Hysteria

1.5/5 Favourite track(s): Least Favourite tracks(s): Don’t Shoot Shot Gun, Hysteria, Exitable First listen?: Yes Would I revisit?: No

The production of this at the time was a complete turn off for me, and it hasn’t got better listening today. Signature Mutt Lange album. Where he had moved from a good rock producer into his full on signature hyper polished sound. The twat tried to destroy both rock and country. Here 30 yrs of rock n roll has its heart removed in this synthetic soulless bloated radio baiting turd. Think there is a direct link from this to the autotune lifeless bap of today’s pop. At least at the time as a youth it drove me to indie music. Def Leppard were never the most intellectual, but this plastic fake rock, all sound effects and synthetic sounds, with the trans-Atlantic accents, your from fookin Sheffield. Just don’t like the super hyper polish, arena cock rock sound, where it took music. I would say 2 star for the music but for what it represents and how much I hated hearing it again today - 1 Star

Def Leppard is 80s hair-metal at it's best and Hysteria is Def Leppard at the top of their game! Fun to listen to with a whirlwind of memories! Great times, great tunes!

Pour some sugar on them

Hey - not bad! I expected screaming noise, but god some good jams instead.

Never paid much attention to glam-metal, quite like it.

Campy, joyous and fun. It’s so over the top, so silly and so well made you can’t help but enjoy yourself.

there's some good riffs and hooks, catchy bits, and standout moments, but as a whole it's a bit monotonous and perhaps somewhat overproduced

Love Bites

Would have been a 5 star album at the time, probably a 4 star album 20 years ago It's not necessarily stood the test of time that well. I do like Def Leppard, i've seen them live 3 times. I much prefer Pyromania (is that in the book?) but i always liked this album. So why only 3 stars? I think the issue is that there aren't that many great, or even really good songs, on this album. Woman is an excellent opener. I do still really like the title track, Love and Affection is a decent closer. Gods of War is easily the best track on the album which i don't think i appreciated at the time. Then the bad...Pour some Sugar, which is probably the most well-known song on the album, is a terrible song. But i never liked it that much anyway so that's ok. A bigger shock was how badly Rocket and Armageddon It have aged Animal.and Love Bites which i used to really love, have also become a bit meh. It's still ok..hence the 3 stars...but it's not really the classic that the sales suggest.

It's 1987 (Hillary's Senior year of high school) and we're dancing at the roller rink as Joe Elliot implores you to pour some sugar on me, sparks are flying (4.5/5)

This album sounds exactly like its cover looks

some great songs on here

Shocked how much I liked this? What a jam!

Nice

Its probably just nostalgia talking, but I enjoyed all of this album.

I personally don't really like the rock music genre but this was a standout album and I liked it okay but much more room for improvement. A fair 3/5(rounds up to 4)

Oh heck. Thats the second Def Lep album on here in quick succession. I surprisingly liked the last one, and enjoyed this one even more. A new guilty pleasure? Still full of lots of cheesy innuendos, but some decent musicianship. Strong harmonies too, even if they were all very high pitched!

Sadly, this is classic cliche rock of a type I tend to avoid like the plague. Its got all the big hits, it had seven singles off it? I imagine the rest of this were on the B side which makes it a product of its time. A cheesy cash in, but an entertaining one in places.

This was massive in the day but listening it today its just another metal album, no worse and no better than hundreds of others.

I hate everything about this Mutt Lange atrocity, from the wet drums to the synth bass to the echo poured over everything. Maybe they should have poured sugar over the master tapes and spared us all.

me gustó bastante, y este estilo de rock tambien

Me gustó, nunca había escuchado conscientemente def leppard a pesar de su fama, pero me gustó (no lo suficiente para guardar muchas canciones, pero ta bueno)

...Def Leppard does not need to be on this list twice but it's fine.

não conhecia. não é meu estilo musical.

Classic. Didn't realize how many of their hits were on this album.

hilarious and actually pretty great in its insane, super-slick, super-shitty way.

This is sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo 80's.

My mum’s favourite album… it was such a lovely experience listening to it with her :) It’s a good rock album, maybe the most 80’s rock album to exist.

A pop metal classic. This album is like a greatest hits issue - most every song received lots of airplay. It was massive in its day, and lots of my friends loved it. I never did. I just don't like the genre much. There are good songs, of course. But it's a cake that's all icing - a little goes a long way. I'll give it 5 stars because of its historical importance and commercial success. But it isn't an album that makes its way into my collection. One note is drummer Rick Allen. After losing his arm in an accident, he was able to continue as a member of the band. That's a major achievement. He did it because technology allowed him to trigger patterns and ostinatos with his left foot. The band never knew the difference.

pas pour moi

Actually not as lame/trashy as I thought. A worthy soundtrack to my teens

I don't think I can describe how much I hate this album. That sad moment when cock rock bands took themselves seriously for a year or two. Torturous.

Not for me, skipped.

I always thought Def Leppard was way heavier than they apparently are, like more on par with Guns n' Roses than Journey. Safe to say I got bored of this album pretty fast. It's like the energy of an AC/DC record with the appeal of a Journey record and the bravado of a Guns n' Roses record without the stuff that makes those three bands worth listening to.

Shite.

das isch ihres experimentelle züg?? hairmetal isch lustig. viel afoch refrain rüefe und paar decent riffs. aber drummer nume 1 arm i know dasch krass. ah und afoch en song women nenne isch crazy. ich ha nix vode lyrics aktiv mitgdchnitte aber mached doch mol nöd. animal isch kinda en krasse song?? chli geil d strophe chli cooli gitarre 80er und chli catchy? shit ich wär sowas vo en hair metal guy gsi ide 80er hahaha. ääh obwohl um die ziit sind depeche mode scho choo. haha wie de song ufhört und denn nomel paar täkt wiitermacht. love bites isch chli viel haha. gohts un e vampirin?? pour some sugar on me isch e parodie vo sich selber. mit de RIESE snare de HEYs wiener singt. YEEHUUH. prechorus huere guet gmacht mit los harmonies. krass guete song. irgendwie ischer komplett us plastik. modulation uf de refrain bi armaggedon it isch no cool. hahahah bi gods of war nemeds en snippet vom ronald reagan??? häää?? hysteria wär sochli de ander womer wür kene glaub. aber finden gad chli random.

hahahaha neiiiiii ich muss bi dem album immer ad isa denke, will sie iwie 2017 pour some augar in me e ziit lang soo vill glost het hahahahah weiss nöd öbi ready bin (s albumcover findi aber megaaa fun) ahh omg ja logisch ihre drummer het nur ein arm! ich weisses ehrlich gseit nöd aber ich han das album sicher scho ghört, wills mini eltere laufe lah hend okee ja de ahfang vo woman chunntmer sehr bekannt vor. ohhh jaa das gitarre geklimper hends gern gha hahaha de refrain isch extrem glam/arena metal. isch ok will ich e gwüssi (ener vagi) nostalgischi erinnerig han aber joooaa find de fokus ufd bassline na cool (mengisch verstärcht dur gitarre) aber de refrain isch seeehr dated poaaah d bridge vo rocket isch na lustig aber VILL Z LANG??? hahah fuck jz bim letschte mal refrain fühlis scho chli😭 ROCKEEET YEAAAAH ich lieb halt eifach sozialkritischi text OMG animal hani glaub recht gern gha als chind! de "moodswitch" vom pre-chorus zum refrain findi au jz no reecht cool aww jz die erst schnulze🥰 eig nüt mega speziells aber de refrain mit LOVE BITES, LOVE BLEEDS packtmi schochli hahaha weiss nöd öb das sinn macht, aber über boxe macht die art vo musig iwie meh spass als mit chopfhörer. vlt chli wegem "mitsing-faktor" vode refrains? wiso isch mier nanie ufgfalle, dass d strophe vo pour some sugar on me rchli wie we will rock you tönt?? und ja s lied selber halt megaaa catchy und richtig dumm hahaha jaa d formle isch jz langsam relativ klar, au wenn ich "armageddon it" us irgeme grund en lustige titel find ja sitem 5. song oder so würkts, wie wenn ich ständig s gliche lied würd lose leider hysteria hani na gern, han ich en softspot für die 80er glam-schnulze?? ich han gmeint die han ich genau nöd gern (obwohl ich allgemein schnulze ja schono gern han) excitable passt zum lied ich han am ahfang meh spass gha als ich denkt han (sicher au us nostalgie)! aber sehr schnell isch die eh scho bekannti formle vo glammetal/-rock denn usglutscht gsi und me het sich na müsse dur 40 minute liebeslieder müsse durrekämpfe. trotzdem es wohlwollends und nöd subjektivs 3

Je suis pas trop hard rock mais sympa quand même !

Amooo

Belter of an album. All their best songs all on one. Really enjoyed this. And definitely influential for it's time. Great album.

If glam metal from the 80s can be given its best compliment, it's auditory comfort food. And if that's the case, then Hysteria would be mac & cheese if Gordon Ramsey took a spin at it. Cheesy as all can be, but you can hear the work put into it. And they are good musicians, even one arm short (sorry). They decided to make an album of radio-friendly arena rock anthems, and damn if they weren't successful at it. I may not like it that I like this, but I can give credit where it's due.

This was an absolute BANGER when it came out (along with Pyromania). 5 fucking stars.

One of the best albums of the late 1980's. Absolute banger here! The first 6 songs are just so well written.

I suppose I’m meant to become a heavy metal fan after all. That’s certainly not going to happen. But after listening, it turned out that what I was hearing was actually pop metal—incredibly melodic, with mainstream production. It sounds a bit like Bon Jovi. Some of the songs have hit potential. I wasn’t familiar with this kind of music before today; in fact, this style is completely foreign to me. It’s definitely not for me.

Music for montages, raw energy but kind of a one trick pony

As much as I dislike Def Leppard for popularizing hair/pop metal, I have to hand it to them for making a whole album of high quality songs. I was so ready to shit on Hysteria, but it's such a marked improvement on Pyromania. The songwriting is consistently better. It's not enough to make me a hair metal fan, but enough for me to shrug off my old grudges against Def Leppard and my disdain for the genre to say that Hysteria is actually a decent album.

Leppard have always been a fun rock n roll band. I don't own any of their albums but they made some great singles and there's a host of those on this album.

Even the unfamiliar songs sound like hits. 4.

In your face, cheesy, brash hair metal

An enjoyable classic metal album, I enjoyed the title track and Rating: 4/5 GEMV (14.10.2026)

This is Def Leppard, no doubt. Scream the singing until my hair falls out, I guess?

This Glam Metal album feels like watching an excessively elaborate 1980s stadium show on a giant screen. Everything is polished, oversized and designed to impress: huge guitar riffs, booming drums, layered vocals and choruses built for thousands of people to shout along to. The production is impressively precise, and the melodies are catchy, but the constant stream of glossy hooks, high-pitched vocals and similar mid-tempo rock anthems starts to feel a little artificial. Every song seems determined to be the next big moment, yet the sheer abundance of them makes the album feel longer than it needs to be. I can appreciate the craftsmanship and enjoy some of the catchy parts, but I never get fully swept up in the spectacle. It's an entertaining enough show, just not one I need to see again anytime soon.

Shania Twain's metal album.

A good album from DL. They found a way to be even more creative despite all things.

It’s probably good but I’m not much into house

Fuck yeah!

POUR SOME SUGAR ON ME! Both completely ridiculous and awesome at the same time - I had a great time listening to this today.

This is a load bearing wall in the 80's metal house. Fantastic stuff!

Over-produced and annoying

How can you not love this? Hysteria is such a time and place, so crisp and clear production-wise, so fun, and just so, well, Def. Granted, this came out a few months after I was born, and baby me probably listened to this a million times. Hysteria is in my bones, my blood, my mind. I mean- pour Some Sugar on Me- what else could you ask for?

It's a fine album if you like Def Leppard, but I just can't stand them. They're not for me, and that's all I've got to say about that.

AWESOME!! How many hits can one album have?! This is 80s hair metal at its one of the best. You could probably turn on any song from this album at a party and suddenly everyone knows the words.

My brother was once playing Animal in his car and I said “according to Spotify, this was one of my most played songs last year”. He said anyone who didn’t have it in their most played songs needed a slap. This album is a lot of dumb fun but it’s also a shade too long.

Favourites were Hysteria and Pour some Sugar on me

3.5

I don't geberally like hard rock, but I enjoy this album..4 stars

I'm possibly on my own island here, but I think Hysteria is a great album. I think it stands with Appetite for Destruction as one of the best 80s hair rock albums. As much as I've complained about his production on the Cars' Heartbeat City, I think Mutt Lange's production is an asset here -- the shimmery guitars and programmed drums give it a unique feel for this genre. It really leans into a pop sound in the best way possible, and despite it's very 80s sound, it holds up really well. I think the first half is all highlights, but "Rocket", "Animal", and "Love Bites" are all pretty great. I've probably heard "Pour Some Sugar on Me" too many times, but it's pretty fun. Outside of that, I've always loved the title track. Some filler on the second side brings it down a bit, but I'm still going 4.5 stars on this.

I like animals (especially badgers and otters). I like sugar (especially on my cereal. Even if it’s a cereal with sugar already on it like Sugar Puffs. The sound of sugar being poured from a bag is also quite soothing and relaxing. I don’t tend to have sugar with my coffee although that is changing because more and more recently I’ve been having one teaspoon with my filter coffee and if it’s instant coffee I might tend to have a one or two teaspoons more). I like Armageddon (or at least the movie). I also like women (especially if they give lots of love and affection and love bites). All in all this is a very good album for me. Banger anthems. Rocks hard yet very poppy. This is a Hysteri-YEAH! from me. 4 stars.

3.2/5

There's a reason they're in the rock and roll hall of fame.

The sound/production of this album is obvious extremely dated, but these hooks are eternal. Holy smokes.

“Pour some sugar on me” is a great song and this is a great Hair Metal record, but there’s just not enough variety here to keep me coming back and wanting to listen to it again and again.

It's okay for what it is, but as a 90s kid 80s music sounds pretty dated.

Sugar-coated pop-metal slop. The songs are waaaaay overproduced and have not aged well.

A favorite to listen to while playing cards or cooking a meal.

Met vlagen vermakelijk, instrumenten zijn goed

I thought I'd hate this much more, it's solid hair metal

69

First, I just want to say, Def Leppard is probably the dumbest band name ever. I was 11 when the singles from this came out and I loved them. Got the cd and probably only listened to those singles over and over because I don’t recall ever hearing a lot of these songs. The production is what you’d expect from late 80’s radio friendly “metal”. Not sure I’ll revisit this again but the nostalgia hit me hard when Animal started so four stars it gets.

База в своем жанре, которая всегда проходила мимо меня. Хитов на альбоме прям много, и они реально классно звучат, но я их начал слушать не так давно, то есть какой-то эмоциональной связи с группой у меня нет. Просто добротный софт-рок. Отдельный респект за то, что не бросили своего барабанщика в беде, но минус вайб за кринжовую обложку, которая вообще не подходит такому звучанию. Остальные песни прошли как-то незаметно, но хиты прям мощные.

Боже, нормисная безвкусная скукота. Анна Асти звучит интереснее.

Ммм глем

вообще никогда не понимал весь этот волосатый рок 80х, до сих пор не понимаю - 3, чисто ибо тут я хотя бы 3-4 песни знаю

Hysteria by Def Leppard was okay, but I didn't really connect with it

Tan ruidoso y monotono que no me transmitió absolutamente nada 3/10

Somehow lacking in hits, but it gets extra points for being an irreverent, unironic celebration of maximalist, overproduced rock ... with the most wall-of-sound angelic background choir vocals you can imagine.

bad and wrong

Don't get hysterical.

This album sounds like it’s the musical version of stadium hard rock for dummies. The catchy ”yea yea yeah” and ”whoo whoo whoa” hooks are so obvious that no-one can miss those. Never really liked this stuff when it couldn’t be avoided because it played everywhere, but i do understand it’s place on this list.

Hysterical 80s sounds the I have heard quite a bit thanks to my bigger bro. Not really a fan.

At first this was a solid 2, but then Love Bites got my karaoke heart beating, and I noticed I was singing along loudly here in my home office (luckily). So, it's a 3.

#487 / 1089 Heard before? ✅ Revisit? ❌ I don't care what happened to who, I'm here reviewing music and this one is one of those shits they did after totally abandoning NWOBHM, went full on pop and really started optimizing for radio play, MTV and money. This is also the year of thrash metal, beginning of death metal and black metal proper, when all metal was still going up the heavy and fast scale. Essential releases from Celtic Frost, Napalm Death, Voivod, Sodom, Suicidal Tendencies, Candlemass, Death, Bathory, Anthrax, Exodus, King Diamond, Kreator and fucking Mayhem came out this year. If one album should be rated with the past in mind, this diarrhea of an piece of shit would be it. When ALL metal went harder, faster and aggro-er, these cunts went towards yesterdays news to glam and pop. Talk about selling out! It's the ultraprocessed and overproduced cousin of the empty calorie junkfood. Almost gave it 2/5 but recounting it's sins reminded me that it does not need nor deserve forgiveness. 1/5 just by listening to bits of few tracks.

Not my kind of music, but some undeniably great music.

these are Spinal Tap songs but Spinal Tap sounds better

This has all the trappings of something that rocks, and it kind of rocks.

This is an acceptable hair metal album. It's got quite a few hits but nothing that really resonates with me personally. If nothing else, I've always enjoyed Def Leppard's dope album covers. They really encapsulate the spirit of rock & roll/metal at the time and this one is no exception. Pure badass-ery. Favorite track: Love Bites

Prefer earlier Def Leppard but you can’t deny the hit power of this record, 7 singles! It’s a little long at over an hour in run time. Hate “Armageddon It” but love the title track

4 - BAD

Ik weet niet of ik dit beter vind dan het ouevre van Frank Gallan.