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…