It’s hard to believe that Def Leppard’s eleventh studio album Songs From The Sparkle Lounge turned 10 years old today, April 29. It’s even harder to believe that they’ve only released one full length studio album in those 10 years, but the reason for that can likely be found in the story of the Sparkle Lounge album itself.
So let’s go all the way back to July 30, 2002: the day Def Leppard’s X album was released in the US.
Following the Stateside success of 1999’s Euphoria, Def Leppard set out to make a more contemporary sounding album for the follow up. The result was 2002’s X, an album that was the most mature and pop-oriented album of the band’s career. The album’s first six tracks featured outside writers. Two of those six were solely written by outside writers, a first for the band. This was done at the suggestion of the record company (Island, which had absorbed Mercury), as recent mainstream success of other classic rock bands Aerosmith and Bon Jovi had both Leppard and their record company seeing a return to the airwaves in their grasp.
Like Euphoria, X debuted at number 11 on the Billboard 200. Two singles, “Now” and “Four Letter Word,” charted on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart (peaking at #26 and #30, respectively) with “Now” managing to sneak into the Adult Top 40 singles chart as well.
The crown jewel of X was supposed to be “Long, Long Way To Go,” which was scheduled to be the second pop single from the album. Def Leppard kicked off their US tour in December 2002 and resumed in March 2003, but the record company effectively pulled the rug out from under the band by canceling the release of the single in the US.
The track was still released in the UK to moderate success, and Leppard continued to tour heavily in support of the X album throughout 2003.
As far as I knew, it was business as usual for the band. I was lucky enough to catch them six times on the 2002-2003 X tour and expected them to get back into the studio to begin work on a followup album. They had been on a regular schedule for albums and tours, as they had released albums in 1996 (Slang), 1999 (Euphoria), and 2002 (X). In my mind, a 2005 studio album and supporting tour was the next logical step.
The band, however, went a different route. They began tinkering with covers, having even performed a couple during the X tour, and wound up going into the studio to record a collection of covers for a quick release. At one point, there was even talk about the band working on two albums concurrently, with one of them being referred to as “something a little different.” That ended up being the covers album, and in the so-called ‘short term,’ it was the only one that actually came to fruition.
Rumors of the covers album swirled before the band began hinting at a fall 2004 release of the album. In fact, popular music website MelodicRock.com even had an apparent scoop on the tracklist, as posted on March 11, 2004:
- The Rocker [Thin Lizzy]
- Heroes [David Bowie]
- Icicles [Badfinger]
- Stay With Me [Small Faces]
- I’m The Leader Of The Gang [Gary Glitter]
- Sheer Heart Attack [Queen]
- Ballroom Blitz [Sweet]
- Under The Roof Of Love [Geordie]
- Lock Up Your Daughter [Slade]
- Let’s Stick Together [Bryan Ferry]
- Slider [T. Rex]
- Hypnosis [Mud]
- It’s All Over Now [Rod Stewart]
- Thunderbuck Ram [Mott The Hoople]
Now… If you look closely, you’ll notice the first letter of each song spells out “THIS IS BULLSHIT,” and bullshit it was. Someone in the Lep camp had pranked the shit out of MelodicRock.com by leaking a false tracklist. While several of those bands wound up being featured on the covers album, only one of those songs was actually correct.
Eventually the true tracklist was revealed and the album was informally announced for release in 2005. Around this time, Def Leppard switched management companies and decided it was time to update their greatest hits collection… Despite the fact that it had only been nine years and three studio albums since the release of Vault.
First came Best Of in 2004, which was released everywhere except the US. There was a single disc version, which was just Vault plus “Long, Long Way To Go,” and a double disc version that featured many other tracks from the band’s discography plus one new song: a cover of The Kinks’ “Waterloo Sunset,” which was a preview of the upcoming covers album.
The US didn’t get their new hits collection until May 2005, when Rock Of Ages: The Definitive Collection was released. That came with a supporting tour, which was a first in many ways. It was the first major tour to happen that wasn’t supporting a new studio album, and it was the first tour that would see the band coheadlining since many shows were shared with Bryan Adams (also supporting a new hits package).
Early on, the covers album was again mentioned for release in the fall, only to be pushed back yet again. Yours truly got his hands on it in August 2005 through an internet leak, but the album itself, Yeah!, wasn’t released until May 2006.
The stop-gap, quick covers album that was started in late 2003 or early 2004 had now been delayed by two years, and touring was becoming the primary focus of the band. Surely the new management and sudden increase in nostalgia-driven package tours played a huge part in this, as the band was happy to go along with touring in support of the back catalog or a collection of covers. But I also think that part of why the band was enticed to go along with it was how they had gotten burned with the X album.
Perhaps if X and its original plan for singles had been fully supported and more successful, they would have kept their focus on recording and releasing new music more regularly. Instead, they were cast aside by their label and seemingly figured “why put in so much work for something that won’t be supported?”
And thus, the perfect storm had hit. They weren’t motivated to write or record new Def Leppard music, and the touring market no longer needed a band to release a new album as an excuse to tour. Now, nostalgia ruled and package tours meant big, easy money.
Making matters worse, side projects began to form and become less on the side when it came to writing and recording. Phil Collen, for example, formed Man Raze and released a three song single in 2005 with a full length album to follow.
It wasn’t until the 2006 Yeah! tour that Def Leppard finally started to speak of new original music again. By that point it had been four years since their last original material, the longest gap since Hysteria to Adrenalize, and they had yet to even begin working. With a tour in full swing, they decided to do something a little different: write and record on the road.
At each stop on the 2006 tour, the crew would find a backstage room, set up basic gear, and decorate the room with various lights. It became known as the Sparkle Lounge, and the band would use this room to tinker with new material, that way they could get the bulk of an album done on the road, finish it up, release it, and then continue touring.
I was not a fan of the coheadlining tour in 2005, but only one of the three shows I saw that year was a coheadlining show with Bryan Adams. The other two were proper headline shows for Def Leppard, as the year was a mix of the two. 2006, however, was full on coheadlining with Journey (a band I hated then and hate them even more now). Lep was limited to 15 songs per night, and the sets themselves were the worst they had ever played to that point. For the casual fan, it was all-killer, as it was strictly the singles with only a couple of new covers thrown in. The first two shows I saw differed by only a single song compared to what I saw the band play in 2005, with one different song added and THREE other songs removed. It was a far cry from the setlists the band was playing on the 2002-2003 X tour, which regularly saw the band performing 22 or 23 songs per night while including all the hits, a handful of new songs, and some deep cuts for good measure while touching on nearly every album they’d released to that point.
The lackluster 2006 tour made the 2007 feel very bittersweet… On one hand, the 2007 tour was amazing in that Def Leppard extended their set just a little while shaking things up in terms of the songs played and the order in which they were played. A few deep cuts returned, including the amazing “Mirror, Mirror (Look Into My Eyes),” played live for the first time since 1984. But yet another tour (in support of literally nothing) only further delayed work on the new album.
Def Leppard wouldn’t finish and release the new album until early 2008, resulting in the longest gap in original new material in their entire career. At least, to that point anyway. Nearly six years had passed since X was released, and so much had changed… The music business especially, since touring was now the focus. But also for me.
In 2002, I was finishing up my freshman year of high school when “Now” was released as the first single from X. I took driver’s education in summer school to expedite getting my driver’s license, and had a countdown of how many days until X was released in my notebook. I started my very first job at McDonald’s just 11 days before X came out.
In 2008, I was a college dropout and had just quit McDonald’s, having moved to a new job at a credit union following a breakup with my girlfriend of two years. Early 2008 was a dark time, as a childhood friend passed away. As did an actor I had followed for the better part of two years since The Dark Knight was in production for release in the summer of 2008. Following my breakup, I had to move back into my parents’ house and get my life back together.
Despite how much it sucked having to wait six years to hear new Def Leppard music, they couldn’t have picked a better time to release it. I needed them in early 2008, and they delivered.
They announced the album, titled Songs From The Sparkle Lounge, in the spring of 2008. The album wouldn’t be out until April 29 in the US, but that didn’t stop them from kicking off a tour weeks before the album dropped. I had tickets to see them in Grand Rapids, MI on April 18, and the show would feature REO Speedwagon and Styx as openers.
News of the new album broke via USA Today, which had also revealed that the lead single, “Nine Lives,” would feature country star Tim McGraw sharing vocal duties. It was mind-blowing at the time, having a hard rock band write and record a song with a country singer. That stemmed from a 2006 show in Los Angeles that saw McGraw join Def Leppard on stage to perform “Pour Some Sugar On Me.” The age-old “we should work together sometime” ACTUALLY HAPPENED, and in a way it was disappointing to me. I fucking hated country music and now it was directly involved with the first new Def Leppard song I would be hearing in six years.
The first time I heard the song was after one of my last days at work at McDonald’s, as I had come home and discovered that a fan recorded “Nine Lives” being played on a radio station in New Zealand. I anxiously listened to the poor quality recording and was quite surprised at how much Tim McGraw blended into the song. At times, mainly due to the file quality, I couldn’t tell which lines he was singing and which lines Joe Elliott was singing. The song itself was more of a return to form for Def Leppard, as it was a lead single much in the style of “Photograph” or “Promises.” Layered guitars, one of the best bridges they’d written in years, and a catchy chorus. I still wasn’t thrilled about McGraw’s inclusion, but I was happy that the rock was back.
The band wasn’t done with surprises though, as they announced the would be appearing on national radio program Rockline to premiere new songs from the album. They had been on Rockline many times before, but never ahead of an album release playing new material for the first time.
It created quite an exciting and unique time for the fans, as many of us were able to hear these songs for the first time simultaneously. The online forum was on fire with fans posting reactions in real-time, myself included.
The broadcast featured seven songs being played in full (six for the first time ever), with snippets of the other four being previewed.
- Nine Lives
Only The Good Die Young [Snippet] - C’mon C’mon
Come Undone [Snippet] - Tomorrow
- Cruise Control
Gotta Let It Go [Snippet] - Hallucinate
- Go
Love [Snippet] - Bad Actress
Upon the first listen, I wasn’t a big fan of “C’mon C’mon,” but was completely blown away by “Go.” My jaw dropped when that song kicked off and got going, as it was my favorite song the band had released since the duo of “Paper Sun” and “Day After Day” on the Euphoria album.
I ripped the tracks to a CD and listened to them endlessly, which had the side effect of me getting those ROCKLINE!!! watermarks stuck in my head as part of the songs themselves. The disc stayed in my CD player for the five weeks leading up to the album’s release.
For the first time ever, I ventured out to pick up the CD at midnight. I wound up at a 24 hour Mejier store and had to ask someone in the front of the store to dig it out for me. The lady was quite amused that a 21 year old guy was in the store at midnight for a Def Leppard album that was coming out that day. At first, she was unsure if she could even do it. But once she confirmed that it was to be released on April 29 and it was minutes past midnight, she handed me the CD.
I paid and ran out to my truck to pop it in the CD player, finally removing the CD-R of the Rockline recordings. The opening notes of “Go” tore through my high-end stereo and I was in heaven hearing the song in all its glory.
I took a drive through town as I listened to the album, which would also feature hearing four of the songs in full for the very first time.
The album remained on repeat, as I couldn’t get enough of it after six years of not hearing brand new Def Leppard music. I loved the album and got to know it very quickly, both due to repeat listens and its short running time of just 39 minutes and 12 seconds. Not surprisingly, Songs From The Sparkle Lounge took the 2008 Album Of The Year Award.
As luck would have it, my concert scheduled for April 18 was postponed due to both Joe and Phil getting sick. It was rescheduled for August 15 and the opener was changed to Billy Idol, which was a double victory. Not only was he way better than REO & Styx, but that also meant Def Leppard would play a longer show.
That’s exactly what happened, and the August 15, 2008 show in Grand Rapids was my 21st time seeing Def Leppard live.
I had plans to hang out outside the venue after the show in hopes of meeting some of the band and getting some autographs, but the tables turned and I ended up being sick. The illness got worse as the show went on and by the end, I could barely get back to my hotel room. Later, I found out that fans did indeed get to meet a few of the guys after the show.
The Songs From The Sparkle Lounge tour ran from 2008-2009 and saw the band perform six songs from the album live: “Go,” “Nine Lives,” “C’mon C’mon,” “Love,” “Hallucinate,” and “Bad Actress.” It was more than they had played from X (only four), but half of the songs played were extremely rare to see with two of them (“Hallucinate” and “Love”) only being performed at a show or two each. “Go” was introduced to the set shortly before my show in August, only to fall back out just before it was my turn to see them. It returned a few times in Australia and perhaps Japan, but sadly was not done after that. Only “Nine Lives” and “C’mon C’mon” made it into the 2009 portion of the tour, and only “C’mon C’mon” has been performed since (a time or two in 2011 and 2013).
The wait for new Def Leppard music wasn’t quite as bad as it was before the release of Songs From The Sparkle Lounge, as a live album drawn from the 2008-2009 tour also featured three brand new songs and was released in 2011. After that, however, things seemed grim as the band had said many things pointing to them abandoning the album format all together.
Thankfully that wasn’t the case as Def Leppard released a full length new studio album in 2015, more than eight years after Songs From The Sparkle Lounge. Touring had remained the focus, as they had been on the road in 2011 and 2012 before doing the legendary Viva! Hysteria residency in Las Vegas in 2013. Regular touring resumed in 2014 and 2015 and continued in 2016 and 2017 in support of the latest album.
As mentioned, April 29, 2018 marks ten years since Songs From The Sparkle Lounge was released in the United States.
So how does the album hold up?
Obviously, ten years is plenty of time for the rose-colored glasses through which I (and many others) saw the album through in 2008 to fade. Back then, we were so starved for brand new Def Leppard material that we may have reacted more favorably to a new album than if they were still regularly releasing them.
That’s not to say Sparkle Lounge didn’t deserve the praise it was given, because it did. In many ways, it was a return to form after a long absence and a more pop-oriented predecessor.
Ten years later, though, Sparkle Lounge has its faults, and they are glaring in some ways.
I’ve already hinted at one of the ways, which is that it is a very short album. It’s the shortest in the band’s entire discography, as it doesn’t even crack 40 minutes. There was a four year gap between Pyromania and Hysteria, and the result was 63 minutes of new music. The six year gap between X and Songs From The Sparkle Lounge resulted in only 39 minutes and 12 seconds of new music.
The album still features 11 songs, so why the short running time? That would be another fault of the album: the songwriting. To be clear, there are no bad songs on this album. But there is a lack of variety, as the structures are very similar across the board, save the oddball ballad “Love.” There are no typical ballads, no epics. Just a bunch of straightforward rock songs. Unlike the X album, which saw all five band members share writing credits on nearly every song, Sparkle Lounge is predominately made up of solo compositions. Only two of the album’s 11 songs were written by more than one band member. One of those just happens to be the best song on the album. Coincidence? I think not.
And then there is my biggest criticism of the album: the production. A band like Def Leppard has a certain standard that you expect after so many years, as they really set the bar for production on rock albums. The obvious peak was Hysteria, but even the more stripped back Slang had a crystal clear, beautiful mix to it. Sparkle Lounge just sounds flat and almost muddy at times. There are no dynamics to the recording, which is perhaps a victim of the ever-raging Loudness War.
Once again, I have to step back and examine why a band like Def Leppard, who has always released albums with pristine production and a wide variety in their songwriting, would suddenly release an album of little variety and flat production. And once again, I go back to their overall lack of motivation to record new music.
I’m not saying they didn’t work hard on the album, as I know that Def Leppard works hard at everything they do. But perhaps they didn’t work as hard as they had in the past. Nothing screams ‘contractually obligated’ like their first album of basic structured songs that are poorly produced clocking in at less than 40 minutes. Def Leppard had to make this album, and the result was an album that was recorded during and in between tours over a two year time span but still sounded rushed and unfinished.
Songs From The Sparkle Lounge was Def Leppard’s final studio album on their original record contract.
In 2018, it is what is is. And now we’ve seen that Def Leppard can still make an album up to their normal standards, outside the pressures of a record contract forcing them to make an album. 2015’s Def Leppard was made solely because the band finally had the motivation to go back into the studio. What was a plan of recording three songs resulted 12 songs being started, with four more added to the mix as the sessions continued. 14 songs were finished over three sessions spread over a year and the result was an album that was once again beautifully produced, with crystal clear sound and no two songs sounded alike. The album was nearly 55 minutes long and was widely praised by fans and critics alike. Def Leppard was back.
If anything, the release of the Def Leppard album exposed the flaws of Songs From The Sparkle Lounge even more. It confirmed my suspicions of how and why the album sounded like it did. It was good, but it was forced.
That’s not to say it didn’t still produce some gems… Looking back on a track by track basis, I still enjoy this album all the way through and a couple of songs remain among my favorites the band has ever released.
01. GO
From the first time I heard this song, it was my favorite on the album. Ten years later, that hasn’t changed. At one point it sat within my top 10 Def Leppard songs of all time. It has faded a bit as my favorites have shifted, but it remains in the top 20 and is still one of the best songs to come out of the second half of the band’s career. From the opening guitar riff to the catchy and eventually heavy verses to the guitar duel borrowed from the extended live version of “Rocket,” it’s a top of the line Def Leppard track. The only complaint one may have is that it could have been longer, a criticism that rings true for several songs on the album.
02. NINE LIVES
This is a classic style Def Leppard lead single, though the gimmick of Tim McGraw hurts the song more than it helps. Clearly it was an attempt to attach a big name to the song for the sake of gaining exposure and crossing over, but I can’t help but wonder exactly how that was supposed to work out. Putting Tim McGraw on a Def Leppard track wasn’t going to help its chances, it would only hurt it. Rock radio wasn’t going to play a song with Tim McGraw, country radio wasn’t going to play a song with Def Leppard, and pop radio wasn’t going to play a song with loud guitars. As great of a song as it is, it had nowhere to go for exposure after the novelty factor wore off. After I got my hands on the Japanese version of the Songs From The Sparkle Lounge album, I burned a copy that replaced the McGraw version of “Nine Lives” with the Def Leppard-only version and haven’t gone back since. That version and the live version on Mirror Ball are the definitive versions for me, as there is no joy to be had from a Def Leppard track that has any outsider singing co-lead vocals on it, especially Tim McGraw. Aside from that… It’s classic Def Leppard, from the opening riff, the layered guitars on the verses, the excellent bridge, the catchy chorus, and the prototypical Phil Collen guitar solo.
03. C’MON C’MON
Def Leppard goes Gary Glitter on Sav’s blatant tribute to the 1970’s Glam Rock scene. The element of paying tribute to that era carried over from the Yeah! album, as the beat is straight from “Rock And Roll Part 2” with lyrics that make little sense. As a studio song, I wasn’t much of a fan when I heard it the first time on Rockline and it didn’t grow on me much after that either. It wasn’t until the song was performed live that it really came together. More lifelike vocals, crunchier guitars, real drums, and a sped up pace pushed this song from just OK to great in a live setting. I enjoyed the hell out of it when I saw it live in 2008-2009 and very much prefer the 2011 Mirror Ball live version. 2018 saw the release of the Live At Abbey Road Studios EP, recorded in 2008, with a live-in-the-studio version of this song that once again blows away the album version.
04. LOVE
The only real ballad-like song on the album was once again written by Sav, and once again it’s another blatant tribute… This time, however, it’s to his favorite band, Queen. A huge crescendo kicks things off before an acoustic guitar fades in with a soft vocal from Joe. The structure of this song is different from anything Leppard had ever recorded, but the big instrumental section is a clear Queen knockoff right down to the funky “let me go” vocal. I still enjoy the song, though it would have been better as an epic that went on for six or seven minutes. Despite the Queen influence, Phil’s solo is more in tune with the style of the late, great Mick Ronson. Jamming out that instrumental section and giving lengthy solos to both Phil and Viv would have made this track far more interesting.
05. TOMORROW
Leppard borrows the “hoo hoos” from Bono on Phil’s tribute to the final months of his father’s life. It’s a great song and another highlight of the album, as the guitars are loud and plentiful and the lyrical content is simultaneously sad and optimistic. This is a song that is right at home with its structure and length, but I think a more energetic vocal from Joe would have benefited the song. He stops short of going for the high notes that would have pushed this song into being a classic.
06. CRUISE CONTROL
Vivian Campbell contributed what can be referred to as the ‘mini-epic’ of the album, as the song kicks off with a unique bassline and restrained guitars. The lyrics are among the darkest of any Leppard song, as they tell the story of a suicide bombing from the bomber’s point of view. Vivian plays a great solo and Joe gives a masterful vocal performance that perfectly suits the song, which once again could only be improved by making it longer and fleshing it out more. Even so, this is the second best song on the album in my opinion and it remains among my favorites of all time to this day.
07. HALLUCINATE
My views on “Hallucinate” are a bit on the conflicting side. On one hand, this song has many elements of classic Def Leppard songs like “Photograph” and “Promises.” It kicks off with a similar style riff, has a similar verse, and overall similar structure. But the song feels forced, as if Phil was on break from working on Man Raze stuff and said to himself “Ok, now I have to write a Def Leppard song,” and this is the result. It’s very enjoyable and once again features a really good bridge and some great guitar work. But this one again suffers from Joe not pushing himself vocally. He stays in the mid-range instead of reaching high, which robs the song of much of its natural energy. It’s a solid track, but it could have been better.
08. ONLY THE GOOD DIE YOUNG
Vivian Campbell contributed this semi-tribute to Steve Clark (among other young musicians that have passed away). It’s more uniquely Viv’s style than the other two songs he contributed and at times has a bit of a Beatles feel to it. Joe delivers a solid vocal, though he opts for a falsetto in places I would have liked him to have gone to more of a scream.
09. BAD ACTRESS
This was another early favorite, going all the way back to its debut on Rockline, purely due to the energy and the guitars. As with “Go,” I was just happy to be getting a fast rock song coming off X six years earlier. The lyrics are dumb as can be and don’t hold up all that well ten years later, but the guitar work certainly does. It was awesome to get not one but two songs that featured dueling guitar solos on one album. Once again I find myself thinking Joe’s vocal wasn’t what it could have been, as a higher vocal would have given the song even more energy. At one time, the song ranked within my top 30 Def Leppard songs. Over time, it has fallen out of that list but it’s still one of my favorites on this album.
10. COME UNDONE
Of the four songs that weren’t broadcast in full during Rockline, this one was my favorite when I finally heard it in full. That remains true to this day as I think it’s one of the most underrated songs on the album. It’s yet another song that is chock full of guitars and features one of the better vocals from Joe, as it’s really the only time he pushes his range on the entire album. The bridges and chorus are catchy as hell and it even features one of Leppard’s signature pre-solo vocal breaks. This one has only gotten better with age.
11. GOTTA LET IT GO
Originally called “Give It Away” when the tracklist was revealed, this one frequently draws comparisons to a single by an inferior contemporary band from the 80’s that I won’t do the service of naming. Vivian wrote this track that features one of the best bits on the album, as the phrasing and delivery of the second bridge is classic Def Leppard in every sense. As the closer of the album, it does its job but yet again I find myself wishing the song had been allowed to breathe. The solo section just screams to be longer, as it would have been a great time to really jam and again have both Phil and Vivian contribute solos.
As you can see, the running theme is missed opportunity. Songs that could have been longer weren’t, vocals that could have been higher weren’t, and the production that could have been better wasn’t. It took Def Leppard over two years to finish less than 40 minutes of new music and it came out sounding unfinished and not up to their standard.
But… Their record contract was fulfilled and they became free agents, able to do whatever they wanted after that. Which ended up being a shitload of touring with even less focus on new music, as only 17 new songs have been released in the ten years since Sparkle Lounge. On the flip side, we are extremely fortunate to still be getting any new music from Def Leppard, as they could have abandoned it all together to focus on touring, or even worse, called it a day entirely.
I don’t enjoy Sparkle Lounge quite as much as I did in 2008, but I still enjoy it every time I turn it on. It’s a fast listen and playing the version without Tim McGraw is a must. There is plenty to love, including some standout songs and plenty of guitars. The album is a product of its time and circumstance, but for personal reasons I’ll always remember this album fondly despite its flaws.
TurnToDust86 