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 - Pyromania - Half Speed Mastered - Sealed - UK - vinyl LP - £29.99, $37.49, €35.09 (New Item) (arrived 23-Apr-2024 18:11)on April 26, 2024 at 3:10 pm
DEF LEPPARD Pyromania (40th Anniversary 2024 UK/EU limited edition 10-track audiophile vinyl LP Half Speed Mastered at Abbey Road Studios and cut by Miles Showell for superior audio quality. Featuring the singles Photograph, TooLate For Love and the classic Rock Of Ages. Picture sleeve with spine-wrap Abbey Road series obi, factory sealed. Recommended)
- Def Leppard - Pour Some Sugar On Me - UK - 12" vinyl - £15.00, $18.75, €17.55 (New Item) (arrived 20-Mar-2024 10:39)on April 26, 2024 at 3:10 pm
DEF LEPPARD Pour Some Sugar On Me (Original 1987 UK 3-track 12" vinyl single, also including Extended Version and I Wanna Be Your Hero, full colour picture sleeve by Satori. The sleeve shows a little edgewear and light marks, whilst the vinyl displays a few light hairlines but looks barely played LEPX2)
- Def Leppard - On Through The Night - Spaceship - EX - UK - vinyl LP - £30.00, $37.50, €35.10 (New Item) (arrived 24-Jan-2024 12:03)on April 26, 2024 at 3:10 pm
DEF LEPPARD On Through The Night (1980 UK first issue 11-track 'spaceship' label LP, the groups debut album and one of the first in the NWOBHM movement, including Wasted, Rock Brigade and Hello America, glossy picture sleeve with lyric inner.The sleeve has light wear mostly to the edges, the vinyl remains excellent with just a few light surface marks. An ideal play copy)
- Def Leppard - Photograph - UK - 12" vinyl - £20.00, $25.00, €23.40 (New Item) (arrived 25-Jan-2024 11:36)on April 26, 2024 at 3:10 pm
DEF LEPPARD Photograph (1983 UK 3-track 12" vinyl single, also including Bringin' On The Heartbreak plus Mirror, Mirror [Look Into My Eyes]. The picture sleeve has a little shelfwear to the edges with a small patch of residual sticker wear and the vinyl shows a few signs of play but appears in excellent condition VERX5)
- Def Leppard - Adrenalize - Sealed - UK - vinyl LP - £19.99, $24.99, €23.39 (New Item) (arrived 01-Feb-2024 12:09)on April 26, 2024 at 3:10 pm
DEF LEPPARD Adrenalize (2022 UK/EU limited edition 10-track black vinyl LP, their fifth studio album originally released in 1992 and featuring the anthemic hit single Let's Get Rocked. Picture sleeve replicating the original 'eyeball' cover artwork, factory sealed. Recommended)
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