From Planet Rock.
Def Leppard are planning to issue a rare recording of an early concert in 1980 as part of a new “celebratory release.”
Planet Rock’s very own Joe Elliott said the previously unheard live performance was recorded at Oxford’s The Apollo (now the New Theatre Oxford) on 26th April 1980, just a month after the release of their debut album ‘On Through The Night’.
When it sees the light of day as an accompaniment to ‘On Through The Night’, which turns 40 next year, it will be Def Leppard’s first live album to feature guitarist Pete Willis, who was replaced by Phil Collen in 1982.
Alongside Willis and Elliott, the Def Leppard line-up at the Oxford concert also featured drummer Rick Allen, bassist Rick Savage and late-great guitarist Steve Clark.
Revealing the plans for the live release, Joe Elliott told Trunk Nation: “We thought about this about a year and a half ago. And there’s gonna be a celebratory release.
“I don’t know how much of this I can say right now. I might be breaking protocol. But I will say this much: there’s a companion piece to ‘On Through The Night’, there’s a brand-new, just-mixed live performance from the Oxford Theatre from 1980, which has never been heard ever.”
Explaining that it will be a true reflection of the show “warts and all”, Joe continued: “It is what it is. It’s us live in 1980. We were discussing off-mic about lip-syncing or overdubbing … You can’t expect a 59-year-old me to go in and clean up a 20-year-old vocal. You know what I mean? So, it is what it is.
“But I tell you this much: the band… As I said in the liner notes, when you peer through the curtain of uncertainty that my voice was back in those days, there is a fantastic band onstage. And the two-armed Rick Allen with Sav was some rhythm section to come, considering he was 16 years old and Sav was 17, I think — maybe 18. And Pete and Steve were 17 and 18 years old. It was some band.”
According to setlist.fm, the band played the following songs at the show:
When the Walls Came Tumbling Down
It Could Be You
Rock Brigade
Satellite
Medicine Man
Let It Go
Answer to the Master
Sorrow Is a Woman
Good Morning Freedom
It Don’t Matter
Lady Strange
Overture
Rocks Off
Encore:
Hello America
Wasted
Def Leppard in 2018 © Press
Speaking to Planet Rock at Download Festival in June, Def Leppard guitarist Phil Collen said the band commenced work on their new album in 2018.
“We started it last year, actually. We started recording it last year on tour,” Phil told Paul Anthony.
“Like on the Tesla album (2019’s ‘Shock’, which Phil produced and co-wrote) we’d be in room like this (a portacabin) doing guitars… we’ve actually started the new Def Leppard album in a similar way, we’ve got the odd track on the go and that’s it really, it’s just how far you go.”
Reflecting on how the recording process differs to 2015’s self-titled ‘Def Leppard’, Collen added: “The last album we actually went in to do one or two songs and within a week we had 12 songs and it was like, it shocked us ‘this is an album already’ and it ended up more than that.
“Yeah, that came together really quickly and we didn’t even plan that. So, I think (this album) is going to be a different thing, there’s a bunch of songs already on the go.”
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- Def Leppard - Love Bites - Box Set - UK - vinyl box set - £50.00, $64.50, €58.50 (New Item) (arrived 29-Apr-2020 15:33)on May 26, 2020 at 2:46 pm
DEF LEPPARD Love Bites (1988 UK limited edition box set containing the 12" vinyl single in its own picture sleeve which also features a live version of Billy's Got A Gun and The Orgasmic Mix of Excitable plus the final four 12" sections of the'Hysteria' sleeve prints, housed in an individually numbered outer picture box LEPXB5)
- Def Leppard - Armageddon It - Box Pack - UK - vinyl box set - £40.00, $51.60, €46.80 (New Item) (arrived 29-Apr-2020 15:29)on May 26, 2020 at 2:46 pm
DEF LEPPARD Armageddon It (1988 UK limited edition 3-track 12" single box set featuring The Neclear Mix, also including Ring Of Fire and Armageddon It [The Atomic Mix]. Comes in an individually numbered envelope-style picture box with a fold-out poster, individual band photographs & enamel badge. This example remains in a fantastic condition, the outer envelope sleeve displays minimal wear with all contents 'near as new', one of the best examples we have seen in years LEPXB4)
- Def Leppard - Hysteria + Sew-On Patch - Sealed - UK - 7" vinyl - £25.00, $32.25, €29.25 (New Item) (arrived 21-Apr-2020 17:39)on May 26, 2020 at 2:46 pm
DEF LEPPARD Hysteria (1987 original UK limited edition 7" vinyl single, also including a re-written and re-recorded version of Ride Into The Sun which originally appeared on their first EP. Picture sleeve with band photos on the reverse, completewith bonus sew-on 'Hysteria' patch - ideal for your denim jacket! This example is from a warehouse find and remains FACTORY SEALED, essentially new old stock. The corners of the paper picture sleeve have folded in sligthly where the shrinkwrap has shrunk over the past 33 years! But it's astonishing to find still sealed after all this time! LEPS3)
- Def Leppard - On Through The Night - Blue Vinyl - Sealed - UK - vinyl LP - £29.99, $38.69, €35.09 (New Item) (arrived 20-Apr-2020 10:07)on May 26, 2020 at 2:46 pm
DEF LEPPARD On Through The Night (2020 UK limited edtion 'Fortieth Anniversary' on-line exclusive 11-track LP pressed on Blue Vinyl. The band’s debut album and one of the first in the NWOBHM movement, was released in 1980 and immediately put the rock world on notice. The band were destined for big things with the album charting at number 15 in the UK and 51 in the US. Produced by Tom Allom, it featured many of the band’s live favourites and someupdated versions of early singles. The album achieved platinum status in 1989, including Wasted, Rock Brigade and Hello America. The vinyl is UNPLAYED housed in the picture sleeve which remains sealed within its shrinkwrap)
- Def Leppard - Def Leppard - RSD 16 - Sealed - UK - picture disc LP - £60.00, $77.40, €70.20 (New Item) (arrived 15-Apr-2020 13:30)on May 26, 2020 at 2:46 pm
DEF LEPPARD Def Leppard (2016 UK limited edition 14-track double Picture Disc LP issued exclusively for Record Store Day, including the singles Let's Go and Dangerous. Both discs are housed in a sealed die-cut matching card picture sleeve)
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