Intro
Despite the six year gap between albums, not once in 2008 did I think Songs From The Sparkle Lounge would be Def Leppard’s last full length studio album. In the years that followed, however, that thought became more and more of a reality. At least until February 2014, when the band entered the studio to record a few new tunes and wound up with an album’s worth of material on the go. Over the next year & a half, they finished up those 12 and added two more for what became the Def Leppard album released on October 30, 2015.
Since the gap between albums had grown to seven years during the latter era of the band’s career, I made sure to enjoy that album release as if it was their last. Following along with the making of the album was exciting thanks to band updates provided through interviews and social media. I kept the release itself as ‘old school’ as possible by only listening to the album’s lead single, “Let’s Go,” ahead of its actual release. And rather than give into downloading or streaming, I took release day off work, drove to Best Buy, and picked up the CD to listen to on my stereo at home. Just as I had done with Euphoria in 1999 and X in 2002.
(For Slang, I got the album on cassette from JC Penney. Songs From The Sparkle Lounge, on the other hand, I bought on CD at a Meijer at midnight on release day, so that was a mix of the new & old school.).
The band had been so inspired by how they put the self-titled album together that in the year that followed its release, they really made it sound like it wouldn’t be that long of a gap between albums again. But… This is Def Leppard we’re talking about, so that ambition faded as the years went by and when asked about new music, they would only give the super generic “we’re always writing” response. Once again, it seemed like a new album wasn’t in the cards.
There was finally some light in early 2020, as the band was scheduled to convene at Joe’s place in March to start working on new music. I had high hopes that the month-long session would be as fruitful as the February 2014 session so that we could potentially see an album release in 2021 and have it be on par with the Def Leppard album quality-wise.
Then COVID-19 destroyed those plans along with everything else in the world. The world went on lockdown, the session never happened, and the tour was nixed as well. With nothing happening, there were no interviews with the band and their social media presence had dwindled. All was quiet with the band and it seemed like all we’d get out of it was some already planned archive releases plus the newly built online vault.
Before we knew it, two years had passed.
Background
With the band’s plans to gather at Joe’s to start working on new music and the stadium tour both canceled by the pandemic, Joe & Phil got on the phone to figure out what the hell to do. Within about 30 or 40 minutes, they decided to try to record new music entirely remotely, something the band had never done before. While they had done small bits of recording remotely, they’d never done a full album that way while spread across multiple time zones (and countries).
Thankfully the sessions were quite successful, as the band managed to finish an album that could have been released in the spring/summer of 2021… But with the tour postponed again, the album was left on the backburner.
Despite the ongoing pandemic, the stadium tour is finally a go here in 2022. Even more shocking was the announcement of the brand new studio album, Diamond Star Halos.
To go from virtual silence to announcing a brand new album that includes 15 songs and over an hour of new music is pretty amazing. Especially at this stage in Lep’s career. And while I do believe they would have eventually assembled a new album, it likely would not have happened in time to prevent setting a new record for length between albums without the pandemic. Instead, we have only the *second* longest gap in their career since Diamond Star Halos dropped just a few months shy of seven years after the preceding album.
The Album
Def Leppard – Diamond Star Halos
Release Date: May 27, 2022
Producer: Ronan McHugh & Def Leppard
| # | Song | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01. | Take What You Want | Savage/Elliott | 4:14 |
| 02. | Kick | Collen/Bassett | 3:42 |
| 03. | Fire It Up | Collen/Hollander | 3:19 |
| 04. | This Guitar | Collen/Vanston | 3:50 |
| 05. | SOS Emergency | Collen/Elliott | 3:25 |
| 06. | Liquid Dust | Collen | 4:01 |
| 07. | U Rok Mi | Collen | 3:33 |
| 08. | Goodbye For Good This Time | Elliott | 4:27 |
| 09. | All We Need | Collen/Elliott | 4:46 |
| 10. | Open Your Eyes | Collen/Elliott | 4:19 |
| 11. | Gimme A Kiss That Rocks | Collen/Elliott | 3:12 |
| 12. | Angels (Can’t Help You Now) | Elliott | 4:57 |
| 13. | Lifeless | Collen/Elliott | 4:19 |
| 14. | Unbreakable | Elliott | 3:46 |
| 15. | From Here To Eternity | Savage | 5:37 |
| 1:01:27 |
Lineup:
- Joe Elliott – Lead Vocals, Additional Guitars
- Phil Collen – Guitars, Backing Vocals
- Vivian Campbell – Guitars, Backing Vocals
- Rick Savage – Bass, Backing Vocals, Additional Guitars
- Rick Allen – Drums
Additional Personnel:
- Alison Krauss – Vocals on “This Guitar” & “Lifeless”
- Mike Garson – Piano on “Goodbye For Good This Time” & “Angels (Can’t Help You Now)”
The First Listen(s)
I did the ‘old school’ thing for the 2015 album since it seemed possible (probable?) that it could be the band’s last studio album at that point in time. So when the self titled album dropped on October 30, 2015, I had only heard “Let’s Go.” And I didn’t bother with streaming/downloading, instead opting to go to Best Buy to pick up the CD on the morning of the album release like I had done so many times before. Then I took it home, popped it in my barely working stereo that I had gotten for Christmas in 2000 and sat in front of it, listening intently for the very first time.
None of that would be possible for me with Diamond Star Halos. For one thing, Best Buy doesn’t even sell CDs now! Not to mention that my poor stereo doesn’t play CDs any more. Poor gal still provides audio for my TV but the CD drawer doesn’t even open. She had a good run though.
Since I’d gotten my one last classic experience with a new Lep album in 2015, I accepted the modern times for this one. I listened to all three singles (“Kick,” “Take What You Want,” and “Fire It Up“) upon release and when the new album hit iTunes at 11:00 PM Central on May 26, I downloaded it and started listening right away. Being late at night with my wife and daughter sleeping upstairs, I couldn’t utilize my stereo so I settled for my earbuds while sitting on the couch in my basement with my dog & cat joining me. I had nothing else on around me as I wanted to be free of any distractions (aside from my dog wanting constant attention, which I happily obliged).
Lep album releases, being so few and far between, are good reference points for where I am in life. It was neat to be in my Lep-decorated basement in my own house for this one. Now I’m married and a father. For the sake of comparison, I lived in an apartment for the 2015 album and wasn’t yet married (but was with the same gal) or a father… And for Sparkle Lounge, I was single and living in my parents’ house! I also had different jobs for each of those and different cars for two of those. So much change in life between albums, but that’s expected with such long gaps.
Anyway, when I first listened to the 2015 self-titled album having only heard “Let’s Go” ahead of its release, I had the benefit of having “Dangerous” be the first song I’d hear for the very first time upon listening to the album. It doesn’t get any more classic Leppard than that. For Diamond Star Halos, I had put myself in a bit of a bad position by listening to the first three singles since that meant “This Guitar” would be the first song I’d be hearing for the very first time when the album dropped. I was trying to keep an open mind for that one and was intrigued by it since it dates back to the X era, but I also had major concerns about it since it had three huge strikes against it for my personal tastes: an outside writer, an outside singer, and the stylings of country music.
When the song played, I was prepared to hate it for those three reasons (especially for being even remotely country, since I fucking hate country music). Surprisingly I didn’t hate it, but it still seemed to set a bad tone for me upon that first listen for the rest of the album. It certainly picked up once I got past that and moved into the more classic Lep stylings of “SOS Emergency.” Still, starting with “This Guitar” made listening to the entire album feel like bashing a square peg into a round hole. Nothing was aligning or clicking with me like I expected.
Of course, a lot of that is down to the pressure that comes with listening to a Lep album for the first time anyway. It’s an experience unlike any other band/artist that I listen to that have the freedom of me listening to new music with little to no expectations or pressures at all. With Lep however, the expectations are always sky high, no matter how much I try to keep them in check. When reviews start dropping, negative ones have little effect while positive ones will cause a huge jump in excitement even though I know I’ll be forming my own unbiased opinion when I finally get to hear it.
Another reason I felt a little put off is that I absolutely loved the 2015 album from the very first time I listened to it, and that had also come after a seven year gap that resulted in sky high expectations. Kicking off with “Dangerous” was certainly a great way to start that experience, but so much of that album was immediate for me anyway. From the very first listen, “Dangerous,” “All Time High,” and “Wings Of An Angel” especially were instant classics for me. By the end of day one, I was able to pick out my favorites and I knew which songs were my least favorites. Seven years later, my opinion remains virtually the same.
With DSH after the first listen, I couldn’t pick anything out as a favorite. Aside from the singles, the songs all ran together as if I was too overwhelmed to absorb any of it. When the album finished playing that first time, I sat there in silence trying to understand how I was feeling as I’d never felt that way after listening to a Lep album for the first time. The closest experience would probably be when X came out in 2002. Upon that first listen (when “Now” being followed by “Unbelievable” set a similarly bad tone for the rest of the album), I was a bit disappointed at how poppy most of the album was. Even so, I had instant favorites and I was excited about the album and grew to love it with each listen. 20 years later, I appreciate it much more than I did back then, especially in the wake of what has followed (hence me referring to it as “the last true Def Leppard album” in my album ranking).
After giving myself a minute to contemplate DSH, I decided to give it another listen even though it was after midnight, I was exhausted from the work week and playing a softball game at 9:15 PM (in my mid 30’s!), and planned on getting up early to hit Target for a CD (and maybe LP) before work. I hoped that maybe I had finally gone too far with expectations ahead of the release and had all the panic of Leslie Knope on a first date… Which meant I could relax and have a normal experience for the second date. (Sorry if that’s an obscure reference.)
Because of the late hour, I skipped right to “This Guitar” for my second listen. And it actually improved upon my second spin. As did each subsequent track. In fact, I was enjoying the hell out of the album on that second listen. It was surprising but relieving to feel that way. The pressures of that first spin were gone and now I was able to just take in each new song as it played. I still didn’t have anything jump out at me as an instant favorite like I did with Def Leppard, but I was at least enjoying Diamond Star Halos.
Normally I take Def Leppard release days off work. Since the album dropped on the Friday before a holiday weekend and my team is already shorthanded, I wasn’t able to do that this time around. But I still got up early and went to Target before work hoping to snag a CD to check out the first set of bonus tracks. My local store had put the sticker for the album on the shelf earlier in the week so I knew it was coming… But when I arrived, it wasn’t there and the employees had no idea if they had anything in stock yet. Between having to work and not being able to get the CD, it’s a good thing I had listened the night before rather than try to go old school again. Especially since they didn’t actually get the CD and put it out until May 28.
I listened to DSH three more times throughout the work day and two more times in the evening. And over and over again over the course of the holiday weekend and throughout the week that followed. Favorites and least favorites became apparent, though my opinion on this album as a whole is still evolving. Some of my own expectations were wildly subverted. At some point during that first weekend, I was over the moon with it. Then at the beginning of the next week, some of the shine started to fade a bit. Then it started to rebound. The star ratings on my phone have been changing every couple of days as I struggle to figure out exactly how I feel about certain tracks. So rather than do the normal track by track with star ratings as I’ve done for other recent reviews, I’ll tackle this one in the vinyl format since it really does flow as four sides of the same album.
Side By Side
SIDE A – Take What You Want / Kick / Fire It Up / This Guitar
“Take What You Want” was an instant classic. It’s everything I want from Def Leppard. A heavy riff, a great melody, Joe putting some energy into his vocals, a bridge good enough to be a chorus, and guitar solos from both Vivian and Phil. It doesn’t feel too short or unfinished in any way. As the opening song for the album, I had high expectations and it more than delivered. It’s damn near perfect. The reaction to this song has been nothing but positive and I hope the band takes note for future new albums.
“Kick” was merely ‘ok’ to me as the first single. It grew on me over time and for awhile I struggled to rate it in my phone’s library, teetering between three & four stars. It’s certainly catchy, if not a bit too derivative. But I love the production on it and it has become quite a bit more enjoyable within the context of the album.
“Fire It Up” was a mixed bag for me when it was released. I wasn’t crazy about the ‘fire it up’ bits, I loved the verses (strange as they are) thanks to how Joe sings it over that beautiful mix of drums & guitars, but I was really underwhelmed by the bridge and especially the chorus. And from the very first listen, I really didn’t like the middle ‘high high higher’ bit. I still don’t. With more listens, the bridge grew on me a little. Not so much the first part, but the “let me see ya light, spark the dynamite, here we go.” I love that part. I like the riff and the solo. The verses of this song are almost exactly what I was expecting, but the bridge & chorus are not. I was hoping for more energy and something a little less… Plain, I guess. With a title like “Fire It Up,” I was expecting a bit more of a rip-roaring rocker (perhaps Thousand Foot Krutch is to blame). This track has pieces of a song I would love mixed with pieces of a song I don’t like quite as much.
Both “Kick” and “Fire It Up” improved for me within the context of the album though, so I enjoy both more when listening to the album all the way through. Had “Kick” not come along late in the game and then become the first single, does that mean “Fire It Up” would have been the first single? If so, yikes. That makes me more appreciative of “Kick,” as I think “Fire It Up” would have set a bad tone for me (and others) for the album. Either way, by the time this one had settled in, I was a bit over Phil’s work with outside writers. Which only increased my hesitation toward the next track.
“This Guitar.” The first of four songs I had concerns about coming into the album. For the intro and first verse, those concerns were at the forefront. It cannot be understated how much I dislike country music. I dislike it on the same level as, say, Journey. I didn’t like when Tim McGraw was featured on “Nine Lives” and as soon as I got my hands on the McGraw-less version of that song, it has been all that I’ve listened to. But… Much to my surprise, I didn’t have that much disdain for “This Guitar” when it started. In fact, some of my dread was relieved within the first 10 seconds of the song with Alison’s “oooh.” I had even less concern when the second chorus hit and the music picked up. At that point it took on more of an acoustic Lep ballad style and it had become clear that Alison’s vocals, both when shared with Joe and when just adding flare to the gaps, actually added to the song. Which is exactly why “Nine Lives” with Tim McGraw didn’t work. He added nothing to the song. Not a single thing. He traded lines with Joe and removing him doesn’t change or detract from the song itself. In fact, his presence makes it worse. Alison’s vocals on “This Guitar,” however, really add to the song. It sounds much fuller and more beautiful with her vocals on it. Phil plays a great solo on this one and I love how personal the song feels for him.
I’ve subsequently gotten my hands on the Japanese release of this album, so I’ve now had some time to soak in the Joe-only version of “This Guitar.” Obviously we get a much clearer listen of his vocal and the band’s backing vocals shine through more. I don’t think the song suffers from removing Alison, but there is a clear difference between the versions and it does sound a little less orchestral when it comes to the vocals and even some of the music. It maybe sounds ever-so-slightly less country without her too. The slide guitar keeps it in that realm, but the rest of it takes on more of a “Let Me Be The One” feel to it. My personal tastes when it comes to Lep are to hear Joe sing lead and that’s it. The one exception is “We Belong,” though there are times that I prefer to listen to the version with him singing lead all the way through rather than listen to the full band album version. In the long run, I think I will prefer the Joe only version of “This Guitar” simply due to my tastes, but it may also come down to what mood I’m in and which version I want to hear.
SIDE B – SOS Emergency / Liquid Dust / U Rok Mi / Goodbye For Good This Time
“SOS Emergency” immediately sounded like a blend of some Manraze stuff and some of the latter day prototypical Lep songs like “Hallucinate” or “Dangerous.” My first couple of listens had me put off a bit though, as the mix on the backing vocals made it impossible for me to make out a single thing they were even saying. It was distracting but eventually that went away and I started to enjoy the song more. I love the intro and verses, but I’m a bit back and forth on the chorus. Sometimes I love it, sometimes I feel it could be better. Still, it’s a highly enjoyable song since it is much closer to classic Lep than the three songs that preceded it. This song was badly needed here and gets better with every listen.
Similarly, “Liquid Dust” immediately reminded me of Manraze too… Specifically “Edge Of The World,” which is what came to mind when guessing what each song sounded like when the track list was revealed. That’s one of my favorite Manraze songs and it’s one I really wish would have been reserved for Lep, and “Liquid Dust” only confirms that feeling. My expectations were high for this one due to the early comparisons to Slang and “Turn To Dust,” and I see where those came from. I’m a sucker for rock songs that incorporate middle eastern melodies and instrumentation (see also Aerosmith’s “Taste Of India” and Slash’s “Spirit Love“). So I still really enjoy this song even if it didn’t quite live up to those early comparisons. And while it does have similarities to “Edge Of The World,” that song is ultimately better than “Liquid Dust.”
Hearing about Phil playing a ukulele on the album, along with the nonsensical title, brought on some concerns about “U Rok Mi.” But I was keeping an open mind after seeing reviews, especially by some forum members, praise the rock element of the song. Thankfully they were right, as the rock portion of this is damn good and has some of the best backing vocal production on the album. It’s a complete contrast to the buried mess I heard on “SOS Emergency” upon those initial listens. This one will fall into a similar category as “Battle Of My Own” for me, in that it’s that Zeppelin-esque rocker that’s a little out there but really good. The chorus isn’t groundbreaking by any means but as a throwaway rocker mixed with artsy-fartsy instrumentation, it’s a really enjoyable song.
Coming into the album, my primary concern was Alison Krauss and the two possibly countrified songs. Less of a concern was Mike Garson featuring on piano on two songs. I did have a concern that they would sound too Down ‘n’ Outz-ish, but as a fellow fan of Bowie’s Aladdin Sane album, I was excited at the thought of Garson playing on a Lep album. Our first taste came via “Goodbye For Good This Time,” and it was quickly apparent this was in fact a small leap from songs found on DNO’s This Is How We Roll. Garson’s work on this track is beautiful, Joe’s vocal is fantastic, and the lyrics are darker than I expected. The backing vocals are huge and the strings definitely add to the song. But… This is still my least favorite song on the album. It builds, sure, but not to what I wanted to hear from it. Perhaps if the band had done this together in a studio and turned it into a guitar song, I would have liked it more as a Lep song. I do like it, but it’s somewhat skippable for me and perhaps should have been left for Down ‘n’ Outz.
SIDE C – All We Need / Open Your Eyes / Gimme A Kiss That Rocks / Angels (Can’t Help You Now)
It probably doesn’t help “Goodbye For Good This Time’s” case that it precedes my favorite three song run on the entire album. I just want to get through that song and get straight into “All We Need,” another one of the most classic sounding Lep songs on the album. The U2 comparisons are apt but once it gets past the intro, it reminds me of some classic Lep singles from the old days. That chorus is so damn good and I love how the backing vocals join in with Joe on the final run. Despite the ‘light-ness’ of the song, we still get some heavier rhythm guitar under the guitar solo. Both the verses, guitar solo, and outro run longer than expected, which is one of several examples on this album where they weren’t rushing to finish a song in three minutes (I’m looking at you, Sparkle Lounge), instead allowing it to properly breathe and flow. Amazing song.
I was quite excited to hear “Open Your Eyes” thanks to its comparisons to the Slang era and it does not disappoint. For once, Joe’s lower vocal suits the song and the lyrics are pretty damn cool. The chorus backing vocals sound a bit weird to me, but that’s ok as it fits with the song. I love pretty much every darker, heavier song the band has ever done so it’s no surprise that this one ranks high for me. I love the atmospherics in the middle of the song, though another guitar solo would not have hurt it. Joe offsets the lower vocals of the verses with much higher vocals in the final chorus, pushing the song to another level before we get a proper guitar solo for the outro… Which is really my only complaint with the song. Since it runs over 4:00, it doesn’t feel rushed, but I definitely could have gone for a mid-song solo and especially an extended outro solo beyond what we got. They could have let the outro run on this song for another two minutes and I would have loved every second of it.
“Gimme A Kiss That Rocks” is just plain old, stupid fun. And it completes the trifecta of the mid-tempo commercial rocker, the dark heavy rocker, and now the fast-paced riff driven rocker. The lyrics are dumb but fitting for this type of song and I love everything about it musically. Could do without that kiss at the end though!
Having knocked out three different types of rockers, the only way to close out this side of the album is with a ballad. After “Goodbye For Good This Time” being bit of a letdown for me, I was skeptical going into this one. Thankfully it takes on a little more of a traditional approach with the guitars to start things off. Joe delivers another great vocal, as he always does on these types of songs. I was still a bit ‘meh’ on the song as it went into the second part of the verse and was still refrained, but it was clearly building up. I could only hope that it would actually build to the level that I had hoped for on “Goodbye For Good This Time” (only for it to never come). Thankfully this time, it did. That massive chorus kicked the door down and filled my earholes with an archetypal orchestra of Leppard backing vocals. The drums remain as we get another great solo from Phil and then another huge chorus to finish this one off. This song was everything that I wanted to hear from “Goodbye For Good This Time” and is easily my favorite of the two songs to feature Mike Garson. The way the song meanders to the finale is so damn good that this feels like possibly one of the most epic ballads Lep has ever done. Could this have been a Down ‘n’ Outz song? Absolutely. But this time, there are enough Leppard elements to make it work. And I love it.
As for the two alternate versions of the Garson tracks… Neither do much of anything for me. The Avant-Garde mix of “Goodbye For Good This Time” is exactly what I expected it to be. Though it gets a little off-putting when the piano seemingly goes out of rhythm with the song. I get that it’s Garson’s style or whatever but when it sounds out of sync it’s a little jarring. When I saw the other version of “Angels” was noted as a ‘stripped’ version, I had hopes for it cutting back on the piano/strings so it could take on more of an acoustic/bass/drums type version… And I still had hopes for that as the song built to the chorus. But unfortunately that wasn’t the case. Once again it’s mainly piano/strings. I miss the days when we got proper, extra songs as bonus tracks rather than just these piano & strings things we’ve gotten on almost every album since 2008.
SIDE D – Lifeless / Unbreakable / From Here To Eternity
Since I’d been concerned about Alison Krauss’s vocals and the country nature of “This Guitar,” it’s only natural that those concerns carried over to “Lifeless” as well. But this song was actually quite immediate for me thanks to that chorus. Plus once you get past the intro part, it’s much more of a traditional sounding Lep song than “This Guitar.” This one could seamlessly slide right onto the X album. Once again, Alison’s vocals enhance the song by filling in some gaps and perfectly blending with Joe’s lead during the second verse. I really like that he handled the first verse alone and then she joined in for the second on this one, as it pushed the song to another level once the second verse kicked in. This is actually once of the first songs that I had stuck in my head and actually knew the words to the chorus, as it’s that damn catchy and easy. Vivian’s solo on this one is awesome, which is no surprise as his usually are, and it was refreshing at this point having heard Phil on the majority of the songs.
The Joe only version of “Lifeless” once again loses a tiny bit of its country flare without Alison’s vocals. It’s interesting though, because Alison is more prevalent on “This Guitar” but I think her absence has more of an effect on “Lifeless.” Especially once it gets to the end of the first chorus and her “ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh” isn’t there. Still, the standard Lep backing vocals still carry the song and it sounds even more like something that would have been on the X album without Alison’s vocals. It still works without her and I love both versions. Pure ear candy either way.
And it’s here that my expectations had been fully subverted, as I had been more concerned about the Krauss tracks than the Garson tracks coming in… And yet it was the Krauss tracks that I enjoyed more. Once again, I do think that I’ll be listening to the Leppard-only versions more in the long run just due to my preference of hearing Joe and Joe only sing lead on Def Leppard songs. But the Krauss versions do offer a different, pleasant listening experience so I will return to them from time to time even if I shift them off the normal album on my phone or the CD copy in my car. These two songs succeed in every way that the McGraw version of “Nine Lives” failed.
When the guitar intro to “Unbreakable” started, I thought we were in for another darker rocker… But then it morphed into a verse that mixes AC/DC with Garbage. Two of my favorite bands blended together by my favorite band. What an odd and unexpected twist. Upon my first few listens, I did think the song may have benefited from being a full on rocker through the verses… But then I went back and read Phil’s track by track on iTunes and found they apparently tried that and it didn’t work: “We initially tried it like a rock thing—it almost sounded like AC/DC—but it wasn’t working.” I do still like how it gets beefed up for the chorus and then has even heavier guitars under the awesome solo by Vivian. And once again I’m happy they allowed the solo to go on more than four bars, as this is another song that would have been a full 90 seconds shorter had it been on the Sparkle Lounge album. The song itself would not have been out of place on that album, it just wouldn’t have been as good. Or sounded as good.
When guessing what each new song sounded like when the tracklist was revealed back in March, this is what I guessed about “From Here To Eternity”:
Pessimistically “Blind Faith” meets “Kings Of The World,” optimistically “Scar.”
Turns out, “From Here To Eternity” is “Blind Faith” meets “Kings Of The World.” And I fucking LOVE IT. Rather than focus on piano like “Love” and “Kings Of The World,” this one adds a touch of “Kiss The Day,” putting guitars at the forefront and it is way better for it. The chorus, expectedly, goes into Queen territory but not to the same obscene level as “Love” and especially KOTW. Then when that verse kicks in… My goodness. The melody on the verse is so, so, so good, especially with the guitar riff & tone underneath, and the escalating bridge makes the song even better. And none of that would be possible without Joe’s amazing vocals on this song. He goes from dark and ominous to soaring higher and higher without skipping a beat, which perfectly builds to that massive chorus. The song continues into epic territory thanks to yet another excellent solo from Viv and then a vocal break before we get into that final chorus. And once again my only complaint would be that the song fades out rather than staying loud, giving more time for an extended solo, and then having a proper ending (which can be heard on the track, they just chose to fade it out for some reason). While sharing many traits of “Love” and “Kings Of The World,” this song takes the good elements from those and makes it work as a proper rock song. This song works in every way the other two didn’t.
I have to hand it to Sav for bookending the album with two awesome but stylistically different rockers.
Production
Def Leppard has been the gold standard for production on their albums, and only two of them have ever missed the mark: 1980’s On Through The Night and 2008’s Songs From The Sparkle Lounge. All others have been great and thankfully Diamond Star Halos continues that trend. I had some concerns about it early on since it was recorded entirely remotely, meaning most work was done via laptop rather than in a traditional studio. But you can hardly tell as this album sounds quite amazing. I would say that it is a step down from 2015’s Def Leppard perhaps, but not by much.
The primary issues to my ears center around the vocals. The backing vocals get buried in the mix sometimes, most noticeably on the chorus of “SOS Emergency.” The first few times I listened to that song, I couldn’t make out what the hell the backing vocals were singing and it was a bit distracting. On the other hand, we do get some lead vocals buried in the mix as well. That tends to happen when Joe is singing in a higher register, as mixing them lower seemingly helps hide any flaws in his voice. So he can sound a bit buried on songs like “Take What You Want” and “Unbreakable.”
Musically, however, this album sounds amazing. “Kick” sounds huge, the verses on “Fire It Up” are crunchy yet clear, and this album could have the best bass sound in the band’s entire discography.
Ultimately, if the band didn’t flat out say this album was recorded remotely, you likely wouldn’t even notice.
Presentation
The presentation of Diamond Star Halos is pretty damn awesome. It has beautiful, intricate artwork that comes in two varieties… Your standard black & white version and a colorized version.
What you get depends on which version you buy…
As there are three different CD versions:
- Standard CD (15 tracks, black & white artwork, jewel case)
- Deluxe CD (17 tracks, color artwork, digipak)
- Japanese CD (17 tracks, black & white artwork, jewel case, obi strip)
As for vinyl, it gets even crazier…
- Standard black 2LP
- Clear 2LP
- Red & Yellow Translucent 2LP w/ lithograph
- Black 2LP w/ metallic lithograph
- Picture disc
- Standard black 2LP w/ autographed lithograph
And of course, the album is on cassette as well.
For me, I ended up with these:
- Digital (iTunes)
- Standard CD
- Standard CD w/ signed insert
- Cassette
- Japanese SHM-CD (w/ colorized cover sticker)
- Deluxe CD (+2 extra copies, one w/ hype sticker)
- Black 2LP w/ autographed lithograph
- Red & Yellow Translucent 2LP w/ lithograph
The artwork and exterior presentation is fantastic, but the inside of the booklet is a little lacking. Thankfully we get lyrics for all of the songs, but there is little else. Considering the band wasn’t even together until February of this year, it makes sense that there aren’t a bunch of new photos inside the CD booklet though.
Final Thoughts
Interviews with the band, especially Joe and Phil, leading up to the release of Diamond Star Halos have regularly seen the album hailed as ‘the best thing they’ve ever done’ (Phil) or a ‘career-defining’ album (Joe). While I can’t necessarily agree with Phil’s hyperbole, I can agree that it’s a blessing to have Def Leppard releasing an album this good at this stage of their career. Or releasing an album at all! This album will not define their career as a whole, but it is a statement for this period of their career.
DSH wasn’t as instant as Def Leppard was for me in 2015, but thankfully the album has been a grower and I’m enjoying the hell out of it each and every day. Time will tell if I end up enjoying it more than DL or not. I do tend to enjoy DSH more if I omit two songs (“This Guitar” and “Goodbye For Good This Time”), turning it into a very solid 13 track album that plays like it has little to no filler. Having said that, I still do enjoy listening to “This Guitar” on occasion and I’m glad both songs were included. I’ll take all we can get at this point.
In 2015, I enjoyed every day leading up to and including the release of the Def Leppard album as if it would be the band’s last. That made Diamond Star Halos feel like a bonus. An epilogue, of sorts. Yet I don’t feel like this will be the band’s final album. For one thing, we already know they have four songs left over from the sessions and they’ll likely continue to write. With their new remote recording process all figured out, there’s good reason to hope that they not only will release another album (or more!), but that they won’t take seven more years to do so.
And hopefully Vivian gets some writing credits next time around too.
TurnToDust86 