Gunter glieben glauchen globen. I was gonna use Matthew Good as June’s BotM, but then I picked up Def Leppard’s Rock of Ages: The Definitive Collection, and just wow. I’ve been listening to Leppard for (mind the quasi-pun) ages now, and they’re even one of the three bands lucky enough to grace my sidebar as a link. Of all things, I didn’t expect to be surprised by this album. It goes without saying that the CD (dual-CD set, actually) is one of those “greatest hits” dealies, and boy, does it ever deliver. But I’ll get to that later.
I’m all about the classics of rock ‘n’ roll – you know, AC/DC, Poison, Queen, Loverboy, Tesla, the list goes on – and Def Leppard falls squarely into that category, so obviously, they get some sort of recognition when I’m asked to recite what bands I like. They’ve been rocking out since 1980, and are still going pretty strong today, having released their last original album in 2002, and two “best of” compilations (though they’re essentially the same) within the last two years. They’re even still going all out with their live shows, having been in Winnipeg sometime in late 2003(maybe early 2004), and returning this August. I missed the last show, but I’m pretty pumped about it this time, so I’m expecting to be there. Especially if they’re busting out some of the tracks from Rock of Ages‘ second disc. I’ll explain why in a minute.
Having released nine original albums and three greatest hits compilations, Def Leppard’s got a pretty prolific career under their belt. I only own three of this rocker’s dozen, those being their first release On Through The Night, the first hits CD Vault, and if you hadn’t guessed, Rock of Ages: The Definitive Collection. Sadly, Vault is the same as Rock of Ages‘ first disc, even lacking a couple tracks, so it’s ended up being more of a collector’s item since I no longer have practical use for it.
So enough with the looking at each CD and picking out the good song bit. Today, I’m just gonna be talking about, you guessed it, Rock of Ages. It’s got pretty much every thing you need to get a good taste of Def Leppard, featuring 25 face-melting tracks over two discs. You’ve got your classics, your lesser-knowns, and even a couple oddballs. The first disc is the one most people would be able to pick out as Def Leppard, being the host to all their really big hits like “Photograph”, “Animal”, When Love & Hate Collide”, and “Rock of Ages”. It’s also picked up a couple of tracks that weren’t featured on Vault; “Heaven Is” and “Switch 625”, both songs I’d never heard before. I’d have to say that my favourite songs from this disc are long standing favourites “Rocket” and “Let’s Get Rocked”. The former because it’s hardcore and makes reference to other great bands such as the Beatles, Queen, and David Bowie. The latter, because it’s just a great song.
Now the first disc was pretty standard stuff, but the second blew me out fo the water. A lot of songs here I’d never heard of, some I had, but never thought they were that big. But they’re all awesome. A couple, like “Women” and “Rock Rock (Till You Drop)” I saw coming, because I’d heard of them before, (and to be honest, I only knew popular Leppard songs for a long time), and there are a couple from On Through The Night, “High ‘N’ Dry (Saturday Night)” and my favourite Def Leppard song ever, “Rock Brigade”. There are also some more poppy songs like “Promises” and “No Matter What”, which are pretty good, but couldn’t possibly hope to match up to power ballads “Stand Up (Kick Love Into Motion)” and “Now”. The one song that really stands out from the rest however is one that they named an album after, the kickass rap-rock-pop-maracas hybrid “Slang”. I could not explain exactly how this song manages to cross so many genres and still sound so good.
Not to say that buying the other albums would be a waste, but if you want to experience a little bit of everything Def Leppard’s offered until now, Rock of Ages is the way to go. I would also suggest Hysteria and X if you’re in the market. Or just download a couple of the songs I mentioned in the preceding paragraph. That’s why I like Def Leppard so much. That and their dummer, Rick Allen, is my hero. Somehow, he’s managed to be a fully competent drummer for this huge band, and he’s only got one arm. How you could not look up to a guy like that is way beyond me.