Def Leppard and Bon Jovi

[TheGraveDigger]

How bad do some of you guys really miss albums like Bon Jovi's self titled and 7800 Degrees as well as Def Leppard's On Through The Night and High N Dry? I surely do and its rare that we get many tunes from these albums from both bands. With Bon Jovi it is not suprising to hear "Runaway" but that is it from the first two albums. As far as Def Leppard goes you very seldom get "Let It Go" or "Switch 625". I don't even count "Bringin On The Heart Break" because thats a given. I remember a few years ago Def Leppard did a tour where they played the entire first side of High N Dry, now that is fuckin cool.

I know these bands evolve into so much more and have such a wide array of music to play live but sometimes I wonder.. Where did all the balls go? I am not saying they still have to make music like this but do not disown it either. I would love to hear Bon Jovi play "Shot Through The Heart", "Get Ready", "In And Out of Love", "Tokyo Road", and "Always Run To You". Didn't Bon Jovi open for Judas Priest around this time? I would also love to hear Def Leppard play "Wasted", "Rock Brigade", "Hello America", and several others from the first two. Tell me "Hello America" would not be the perfect opening song when the band tours the US?

Who else misses some of these early classics? Also do you think if a festival like Wacken or Gods of Metal offered Bon Jovi and Def Leppard a ridiculous amount of money to play a 21 song set of just tunes from their first four albums with the focus being on rare heavier songs and they would have to save the "Livin On A Prayers" and "Pour Some Sugar On Mes" for the encore they would consider doing it or would they say sorry those days are behind us.

Would love to have some great discussion on the early days of these two bands.

 

[Magius]

I don't go to concerts by either of these bands exactly because of this reason. Their best and only material was from their early works. With their direction going more AOR not much attracts me to them anymore.

 

[speedy1383]

Definitely agree. Always thought Bon Jovi's first album was their best. I read that Jon had to tone down his voice after the first or second album or he would have lost it. That's too bad. I did like Slippery When Wet as well. Haven't really followed them after that.

It is a damn shame what has happened with Def Leppard. Loved their early album. High N Dry was one of my favorite albums. Great stuff. I hated Hysteria. Thought they gave away their hard rock edge to sell more albums. Well it worked, but it lost me as a fan.

 

[The_Q]

Def Leppard is my favorite band of all time. They are the reason I got into music. To me "Hysteria" is the best album. I can't say that in over 20 years I didn't get people telling me that "Hysteria" sucked. I think they're first three albums are classics. I didn't think "Adrenalize" was GREAT, but good. "Slang", "X", and "Yeah" were disappointments. "Euphoria" was really good! Now they have hooked back up with Mutt Lange for the new album. I have to say I am excited but a bit leery. Is it going to be a Bob Rock/ Metallica/ St. Anger disaster? I hope not. But back to your original question. In the last 5 years Def Leppard have played quite a few old songs in their set, especially in Japan and the USA. Songs like "Wasted", "Let It Go", "Billys Got A Gun" and others I would have to pull out the CD's to remember. I sure wish they would play "Me And My Wine"!

BTW: "Hysteria" is by far my favorite song ever. Def Leppard are to me as Jimmy Buffet is to Glenn and I respect everyones opinion as post "Pyromania" Def Leppard is certainly not for anyone.

 

[J-Dubya 777]

I stopped after the first 2. Saw them open for Nugent in '81, touring for On Through The Night......THAT was a killer show!

 

[Pelata]

"Slang", "X", and "Yeah" were disappointments.

Those 3 are fantastic examples of a Rock band writing/playing Pop hooks..."Slang" is a VERY underrated record in terms of how good the songs actually are...same with "X"....they weren't "classic" DL, but the songs themselves are very good and are performed very well...I love all the covers on "Yeah!" too...

 

[VenomGA]

The bands sold out to be more popular.

 

[edgeofthorns]

At one time in my life I was very loyal to these two bands. I still like their 80's catalogs, but post 80's not so much. The musical climate throughout the years have forced these bands to change up their sounds to stay relevant. I can't hold that against them, considering I'd do the same thing if my ass was on the line. Bon Jovi is to be admired for staying relevant and Leppard has done a fair job at it. I don't buy either band's current output, because it's not what I want to hear. That's why I'm here listening to bands like: Edguy, Masterplan, Jorn, Evergrey, Kamelot, CIIC, Jon Oliva's Pain, Brainstorm, etc. The way I look at it is, Bon Jovi and Def Leppard have moved on, well, so have I. The same goes for Queensryche.

~Brian~

 

[Purveyor Of Evil]

I used to love all of this stuff back in the 80's, but my tastes changed once I got into power, death, and black metal. Now, all of that music from the 80's is just fluffy, silly nonsense to me. Just my opinion because I know there are plenty of people here who still like that stuff and I won't slag them for that.

 

[The Invisible Guest]

I used to love all of this stuff back in the 80's, but my tastes changed once I got into power, death, and black metal. Now, all of that music from the 80's is just fluffy, silly nonsense to me. Just my opinion because I know there are plenty of people here who still like that stuff and I won't slag them for that.

I know where you are coming from .. I too liked all that mtv metal, grunge, hard rock stuff at one point in time. I find most of that stuff now to be unlistenable. The Poison, Bon Jovi, and Def Leppard types are things I am never in the mood to listen to any longer. I feel the same about grunge as well. That stuff did not stand the test of time with me at all.

Britt

 

[Pelata]

The bands sold out to be more popular.

I disagree. They planned to be & wanted to be popular from the very beginning.

 

[Daybreaker]

Well, on the last tour that Def Leppard did with Styx and Foreigner they did play Let It Go, Another Hit And run, Mirror Mirror, and a half acoustic Bringin' on the Heartbreak. I say half acoustic cos when the solo kicked in so did Phill Collin's guitar.


I peed a little when I heard those songs.

 

[The_Q]

[ame]http://youtube.com/watch?v=IWXSYCByBvU&feature=related[/ame]

 

[DAVID6]

I cant count how many times I have seen Def Leppard play and have enjoyed all the shows even though I grow less and lees open to anything past Hysteria. Once in a blue moon I will dust off Adrenalise and it doesnt get too clean before its back on the shelf. As posted earlier, Slang and X were better then given credit for but dont get off the shelf very much. Euphoria to me was an abortion. I downloaded 'Promises' and traded the CD in at a local music store for whatever they would give me and I havent looked back yet since. The covers CD I didnt give one listen to after hearing samples on line and never even thought of buying it. I will give credit where credit is due and each time I have seen them they play a fair balance of material from each of the CD's for whatever era you like even though I would like more from High & Dry played.

Never saw Bon Jovi play live but would like to atleast once. I do enjoy most of their catalog strangely except 7800 F. For some reason I did not like that album. I would like to see alot of Keep the Faith played as that was probably my fav from them.

I had never seen REO Speedwagon play live until a couple of years ago. In the show the singer said to the crowd that he understands that most of his fans love the High Fidelity album more then some of the others so they would not only play the favorites but would play the High Fidelity album in its entirety and in album track order since that was what people want to hear. I didnt see many disappointed people after the show.

I saw Foreigner again last year and Mick Jones still has it and never lost the ability to send you home satisfied. After seeing Kelly Hansen sing the Foreigner catalog.......Lou Who.... Stuck to the basics and basically played the greatest hits CD.

With some of the 80's bands not quite having that same umph in their newer music and mostly trying to make something that is over radio friendly, That is why I now mostly listen to Brainstorm, C II C, Doro, Silent Force, Iced Earth, Mercenary, Lennon, etc....

 

[7thSaviour]

DL:
Pyromania 11/10
Hysteria 10.5/10

Bon Jovi:
SWW 10/10
NJ 11/10

 

[Big Al 2112]

I loved the show I went to on the X tour when they were opening with side 1 from High N Dry! That was just beautiful. Then the last time I saw them they played Mirror Mirror which is one of my favorites by them. I think they played Another Hit and Run also. I love H n D, Pyro, Hysteria, and Adren. I must say that I have enjoyed every concert I have seen from them.

I will also agree with DAVID6 that the new Foreigner singer was fantastic.

 

[LunaTEKKE]

I remember a few years ago Def Leppard did a tour where they played the entire first side of High N Dry, now that is fuckin cool.

Oh, HELL...I wish I'd known about this!

I saw Def Leppard when they were touring in support of Hysteria. When they did “Bringin’ on the Heartbreak”, Joe Elliott stopped singing right before the bridge to allow an audience participation moment. About half the crowd was singing along...and the other half was looking extremely confused!

The drum solo from Rick Allen on that tour is one of my all-time favorite concert highlights – what a kick ass comeback story.

 

[TheWhisper]

Def Leppard - High N Dry is one of the best hard rock albums EVER...and certainly no fluff there!

 

[Diamond45]

High and Dry and On Through the Night are my two favs from Def Leppard. Pyromania got them on the map here in the US (with the massive video play on MTV). Hysteria is also a good one, but it sounded too commercial.

After that, I sort of lost track of them.

 

[Metaldrumz]

Dont forget FIREHOUSE. Another band that lost balls.