Time to present album number six out of ten of the assignments we got. "Choosing 10 vinyl albums that greatly influenced my taste". One album per day, 10 consecutive days. No explanations, no reviews, just covers. Every day I ask someone else to do the same." Throwing the ball on some nice figure at the social media Facebook.
"Pyromania" is the third studio album by English rock band DEF LEPPARD, released on 20 January 1983 through Vertigo Records in UK and Europe and through Mercury Records in the US. The first album to feature guitarist Phil Collen who replaced founding member Pete Willis, "Pyromania" was produced by Robert John "Mutt" Lange. The album was a shift away from the band's traditional heavy metal roots toward more radio-friendly glam metal and hard rock, finding massive mainstream success.
I believe that I bought "Pyromania" during summer 1983, could have been 1984 as well, not 100% sure, it's such a long time ago. This is an album that I got recommended from one of my best friends during a summer visit at Santasaari when my friend's older cousin was over and he played this and I thought that they rocked well, nice riffs and cool tunes. Besides the marvelous appetizer "Gravad Sik", which you can read about here! Was eaten "Pyromania" got played. The album is pretty worn out, at least the copy from back then, got a few others during the years.
Today's tune "Rock! Rock! (Till You Drop)" is taken from their 1983 album, "Pyromania". An edited version was released as a single in Mexico that same year. The song was originally titled "Medicine Man" and contained different lyrics.
"Photograph" is a song performed by English hard rock band DEF LEPPARD and produced by Robert John "Mutt" Lange. It is the lead single from the band's third studio album, "Pyromania" (1983). Their lead vocalist Joe Elliott has described the song as generally about "something you can't ever get your hands on". In 2006 the song was used in promotional adverts for the DVD release of Blades of Glory. In 2009 it was named the 13th greatest hard rock song of all time by VH1. It was also listed as the No. 17 greatest song of the past 25 years by VH1.
"Photograph" was a smash hit for the Sheffield, U.K based group in 1983, helping launch the band and their "Pyromania" album into the rock stratosphere, and frontman Joe Elliott didn’t need a thousand words to get his point across.
The lyrics reveal right from the start that the singer is “Outta luck and outta love” and it doesn’t take long to figure out that his photograph collection isn't getting the job done romantically. He longs to touch the real thing, whoever she is. Alas, this mystery girl remains only a fantasy and much to his despair, he can only love her from afar.
DEF LEPPARD knows the formula for creating a good single, and this was just one of many for this talented group. Elliott and guitarist Phil Collen are both humongous fans of rock ‘n’ roll, and with mentors like the Beatles, David Bowie and MOTT THE HOOPLE, this band of believers were destined for their own stardom.
There are two slightly different versions of the music video. The uncensored version shows a knife scene at the beginning, and on the censored version of the video, it is almost the same except the knife scene is replaced with a stationary black cat among other minor bits removed. There are several appearances of a look-alike impersonating Marilyn Monroe in the video, as the song is actually about the star and lead singer Joe Elliott's declaration that he does not just "want her photograph" but that is all he has of her, and he must admire her from afar.
The music video was directed by David Mallet and was shot on 2 December 1982 (bassist Rick Savage's 22nd birthday), in Battersea, London, England. It featured the video debut of their co-lead guitarist Phil Collen. Released on 3 February 1983.
Enjoy today's tune!
Live In McNichols Sports Arena In Denver, Colorado, 1988.
Monday, time to introduce this weeks "Record Of The Week", today we will jump back to 1983, the year when "Pyromania" got released. It's the third studio album by English rock band DEF LEPPARD, released on 20 January 1983. It is the first album to feature guitarist Phil Collen and was produced by Robert John "Mutt" Lange. The album was a huge success, charting at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 and No. 18 on the UK Albums Chart and selling over ten million copies in the US, and thus being certified diamond by the RIAA.
I believe that I bought "Pyromania" during summer 1983. Then I was just a stripling, no fuzz on the chin, as I have today. With my own savings I went to the store and got my self a copy (yes I still have it, but it's pretty worn out) anyway, during that summer this record got so many spins on the record player that I know every single lyric, every single riff, I even manage to play a few of them on my acoustic guitar :)
One cool thing about this record is; I remember the time so well like it was yesterday. I got most of my friends to buy a copy and play some air guitar together. During this summer it was also the first time I got the opportunity to taste "Gravad Sik" (Pretty same as Gravlax), is a Nordic dish consisting of raw "Sik" (Coregonus lavaretus is a species of freshwater whitefish, in the family Salmonidae), cured in salt, sugar, and dill. "Gravad Sik" is usually served as an appetizer. It's one of the most delicious appetizer of fish species that I ever tasted!
Back to the record "Pyromania", an album that really have the classic sound and feeling. "Pyromania" can also be seen as a transitional one between the heavy metal sound of their first two albums and the beginning of the radio-friendly direction of later releases. The album featured heavy metal rockers such as "Rock! Rock! (Till You Drop)", "Stagefright" and "Die Hard the Hunter" as well as Top-40 hits "Photograph", "Rock of Ages" and "Foolin'".
The album was partially recorded with original guitarist Pete Willis, whose rhythm guitar tracks appear on all songs. Midway through the recording sessions, Willis was fired for excessive alcohol abuse and replaced by Phil Collen, who contributed guitar solos and other parts that had not yet been recorded by Willis. On the original LP release, Willis is visible in the background of the photograph of singer Joe Elliott, while Collen is given his own personal photo as the new full-time member of the group.
The album caused controversy with its cover artwork, which shows an animated picture of a skyscraper building with a large flame and black smoke coming out from the top floor, and a bullseye pointed at the flame. Many stores were offended by this cover and refused to sell the album.
The record contains in my world, only strong tracks, so it's very difficult to choose a song. So I choose one of the classics "Rock of Ages" to get a good video and a Spotify link, behold, "Pyromania" is not on Spotify so the link will be from the "Viva Hysteria". The tune takes its name from the hymn "Rock of Ages". It begins with a German-like nonsense phrase, "Gunter glieben glauten globen", which was later sampled in "Pretty Fly (for a White Guy)" by the OFFSPRING as well as "Call Me What You Like (If You Like Rock-N-Roll)" by Puffy AmiYumi. This was also sampled in a parody of the song, "Rape Rock of Ages," by shock rock band the MENTORS. According to the official Def Leppard FAQ,
The music video was directed by David Mallet and shot on 8 December 1982 (Guitarist Phil Collen's 25th birthday), in Battersea, London, England.
Former Def Leppard co-manager Peter Mensch appears in this video as one of the monks.
Listen to ”Def Leppard - Rock of Ages" on Spotify