The 500 - #464 - Def Leppard - Hysteria

I was inspired by a podcast called The 500 hosted by comedian Josh Adam Meyers. His goal, and mine, is to explore Rolling Stone's 2012 edition of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. 

My plan (amended). 

• 1 or 2 records per week & at least 2 complete listens.
• A quick blog post for each, highlighting the important details and a quick background story.
• No rating scale - just an effort to expand my appreciation.

Album # 464

Album Title: Hysteria
Artist: Def Leppard
Released: August, 1987
My age at release: 22
How familiar am I with it: Very Familiar
Song I am putting on my Spotify Mix: Pour Some Sugar on Me - selected by my friend Steve (Lumpy)
Great Lyric: (It's not that kind of record)

When I was in high school, about 1984, I was dating a girl named Maria. That summer her cousins from New Jersey visited. The oldest was a 12 year-old. He was a short, squat kid built like a fire hydrant with an alarmingly deep voice. He sounded like a grandfather with a two-pack-a-day habit and I found this gravelly voice, coupled with a thick New Jersey accent, fascinating. Consequently, I eagerly engaged him in conversation.

At one point, at a backyard BBQ, he ambled up to me and aggressively queried ...
"You like The Flippah?"
Confused, I sought clarification. "The Flipper?" I asked.
"No...Tha Flippah, Thufflippa" he repeated with angry, old man consternation. "The band...Thugh Flippa"
Then it struck me... "Are you saying Def Leppard", I guessed.
"Yea", he said excitedly, "Duh Flippah...you like them?"

As you might imagine, I have now adopted that inflection whenever the band's name comes up. Just last year I was excited to learn that Tha Flippah was to be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and last month Tha Flippah performed in my town.

To answer that young man's question more completely, I liked Def Leppard a lot in high school. Their album Pyromania was blasted in the cafeteria and at countless parties when I was in Grade 11. However, it was an earlier album, High 'n' Dry, that blew me away. I distinctly remember getting a ride home from a party with my pal Terry (still a close friend today.) He had a blue AMC Gremlin with an incredible sound system and he cranked the instrumental Switch 625 as we weaved through subdivision streets. 

A picture of the actual car (Thanks Terry)

I still fire up that song when I need some headphone-infused-cardio-inspiration on the elliptical at the gym.

This album exploded on the music scene in the late summer of 1987. In a recent post about Bruce Springsteen's Tunnel of Love record (released October, 1987) I mentioned getting a job delivering pizza. This album was the soundtrack to many of those delivery trips. 

My friends and I liked it -- but didn't love it. The production was slick and like nothing we had ever heard. We were also fascinated by drummer Rick Allen's ability to play after losing an arm in an automobile accident a few years earlier. It seems that, during his recovery he had developed custom pedals that he could play with his feet to compensate for the missing limb.

After listening to Hysteria again this week -- it hasn't aged well. The production I once called "slick" now seems over-produced and heavy-handed. There is certainly a feeling of nostalgia listening to a few of the songs but I'd rather go back to that High 'n' Dry record -- when they still had a straight-up, less-produced 70s rock sound.