In 1996, Def Leppard was a remnant of a long-gone musical glory
period. Once a leader of the hard rock world, with albums like
Pyromania and
Hysteria to their credit, the band had gone through more
personal turmoil than you get in an average soap opera: drummer
Rick Allen lost his left arm in a 1984 car crash, only to return
using an electronic drum kit, unimaginable delays hitting
Hysteria and
Adrenalize, the death of guitarist Steve Clark after a
history of alcohol problems, the accusations that Allen had beat
his girlfriend, blah, blah, blah. To top it all off, hard rock was
persona non grata on the radio, and it seemed like public interest
in the band was all but gone. Clearly, they had to reinvent
themselves.
Then came
Slang, an album that is not held in high regard among some
Def Leppard fans. The lead-off single “Work It Out” was a major
change from the overdub-laden tracks they had become known for, and
the vocals lacked the harmony lines that had become their
trademark. The track flopped, and the album became a footnote. Even
I cringed when I paid two bucks for an unopened tape copy at my
local used record hangout a few weeks ago.
Ah, but here’s the rub:
Slang, once you get used to the new sound (and it really
doesn’t take that long), turns out to be an incredibly good album
that didn’t deserve to be critically and commercially ignored. At
long last, Joe Elliott and crew could put behind them the ghosts of
their past.
Slang is the first full-length Def Leppard release to
feature Clark’s replacement, former Dio axeman Vivian Campbell. It
also has the freshest drum sounds since Allen’s accident – in fact,
if you didn’t know that Allen was missing an arm, you would swear
that these were all acoustic drums. Truly, the technology of these
instruments has come a long way since 1986. Elliott’s vocals sound
no different than they did on
Hysteria nine years previous (if not a little more
world-wise), and guitarist Phil Collen and bassist Rick Savage
shine as they always do.
Granted, “Work It Out” was a terrible choice for a first single
– though once you listen to the track two or three times in the
context of the whole album, it doesn’t seem that bad. But it is
hardly the strongest song on
Slang. The opening assault of “Truth?” is enough to convince
you that, despite what the doomsayers had said, Def Leppard had
lost none of their edge.
Possibly bowing a bit to the inability to market hard rock at
that time, Def Leppard to resort to the ballad often, though these
ballads blow earlier efforts like “Love Bites” out of the water.
“All I Want Is Everything” and “Breathe A Sigh” are two examples of
how a good ballad should sound: gentle, but with enough of an
edge.
If I had to decide which track should have been the leadoff
single to radio, I would have pushed for either “Turn To Dust,”
which seemed to merge Def Leppard’s past and present, or “Slang,”
which injected just a touch of rap into the lyrics to keep the
sound fresh. (Actually, “All I Want Is Everything” would have been
the ideal single, but it might have been too much Leppard ballads
for the long-time fan to take, after “Miss You In A Heartbeat” and
“Two Steps Behind”.)
The overall power of
Slang doesn’t dip often, maintaining its fresh sound even to
the ending tracks like “Where Does Love Go When It Dies,” a track
one has to wonder about the inspiration for. Only two tracks don’t
hold up among the best: “Work It Out” and “Pearl Of Euphoria”.
Still, these aren’t many slips when held up to so many strong
tracks.
The unfortunate thing about
Slang‘s commercial failure is that one has to wonder what
the future of Def Leppard is. Sure, hard rock and heavy metal is
beginning to make a comeback in the industry, but Def Leppard is a
band that continuously struggled through the hard times of their
lives and the genre. One has to wonder if the band might have
gotten tired of the struggles. For their sake, I hope they forge
on.
Slang is not a bad album at all, and is one that is eagerly
awaiting rediscovery by both long-time Leppard fans and by those
who enjoy a solid mixture of rockers and ballads. Here’s hoping
this album won’t be a “farewell” to the fans.
