Def Leppard and the album ‘Hysteria’

The Def Leppard album Hysteria was released on Monday, August 3rd, 1987. My 12-year-old self was a big fan of this album, which featured musicians Joe Elliott of Sheffield, Yorkshire, England, Rick Savage of Sheffield, Yorkshire, England, Rick Allen of Sheffield, Yorkshire, England, Phil Collen of Hackney, London, Middlesex, England, and Steve Clark of Hillsborough, South Yorkshire, England.

(The cover art for the 1987 Def Leppard album Hysteria is shown here).

Women charted 80th in the United States. Per Songfacts as sourced here, the band knew that “women don’t like songs called “Women,” especially when they’re prurient tales of male desire set in biblical times. When they released this song, Def Leppard knew that it would gin up their core audience but would have little appeal to the female fans who had made them superstars.”

(Women was the second overall single but first released in the United States for Hysteria. The song was released as Hysteria‘s first single in Canada, Australia, and Japan).

Rocket charted 12th in the United States and 15th in the United Kingdom. Playing on the notion of rocking the song while using the title rocket, the band lyrically references music by The Rolling Stones, Elton John, The Beatles, David Bowie, Paul McCartney, Chuck Berry and Queen.

(Rocket was the last single from the Def Leppard album Hysteria, with a release in January 1989).

Animal charted sixth in the United States and 19th in the United Kingdom. The recording of the song “took three years to complete,” as referenced here. Besides the accident to drummer Rick Allen, the move to change producer from Jim Steinman to Robert John ‘Mutt’ Lange made a big difference with this song.

(Animal was the first single released internationally to support Hysteria, becoming Def Leppard‘s first Top 10 hit in the United Kingdom).

Love Bites introduces the notion that singer Joe Elliott wanted to emotionally invest in physical intimacy with a lady. That the song approaches this in a ballad format really helped the band resonate with ladies.

(Love Bites was a number-one single on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States. It became a top-10 hit in Canada, Ireland, and New Zealand. The track peaked at number 11 on the UK Singles Chart for the United Kingdom).

Pour Some Sugar on Me charted second in the United States and 18th in the United Kingdom. The song became an anthem of sorts for the band, with influences as indicated here including The Archies and T. Rex. Illusions to physical intimacy from this song, metaphorically, are quite clear.

(Pour Some Sugar on Me reached number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States on July 23rd, 1988. The song ranked number 2 on VH1‘s 100 Greatest Songs of the 80s in 2006).

Armageddon It charted third in the United States and 20th in the United Kingdom. The song plays with words similarly to the song Rocket from earlier in the album, with the lyrics “Are you getting it?” being answered with “Armageddon it”. As referenced here, the large influence of the change of producers was felt with this song. “Lange took over for Jim Steinman, whose sessions were scrapped in 1985. With Lange, they created songs with a rock bombast and commercial appeal, and this one also played great in stadiums.”

(Armageddon It was released in 1988, going to No. 3 in the United States. It also reached the top 10 in Canada and New Zealand and the top 2 in Ireland and the United Kingdom).

Gods of War “is as close to a protest song as you’re going to hear from Def Leppard,” as noted here. The song didn’t receive much critical or commercial love, though the ask to avoid getting into wars is noted.

Don’t Shoot Shotgun returns more strongly to the world of the platform of love, or at least intimacy, with a protest of sorts into jumping too quickly into a physical expression of love.

(From left, Joe Elliott, Rick Savage, Rick Allen, Phil Collen, and Steve Clark. This was Def Leppard‘s line-up for the 1987 album Hysteria).

Run Riot feels like an early in the setlist song intended for concerts in support of the Hysteria album. Lyrically, the song itself invites an investment in the glamorous perspective of rock-n-roll where hedonism has it costs but still feels worth it.

Hysteria returns to the ballad style with a song that charted tenth in the United States and 26th in the United Kingdom. As indicated here by guitarist Phil Collen, “The song really is about finding spiritual enlightenment[.] Not many people know that because it sounds like just getting hysterical, but it’s actually about that. It’s about finding this deeper thing, whether you believe it or not.”

(The tenth track on Def Leppard‘s 1987 album Hysteria was the song Hysteria, the fourth single for the album. The single was released in November of 1987).

Excitable offers a clear invitation for returning energy to the band in a concert. The song itself can be interpreted when listening to the album itself in a more intimacy-based context, with the exploration of what you feel outpacing what you think.

The Hysteria album ends with a ballad adjacent song named Love and Affection. Lyrically, the album ends with the offer of a one-night stand of experiencing intimacy where the singer invites the company for the night to give in to the invitation. This song thematically fits with the album, though the offering of so many lyrics without a true bridge back to a chorus strikes me as a bit weak for the finish.

Matt – Wednesday, August 3, 2022

Meat Loaf and the album ‘Bat Out of Hell’

It saddened me to learn yesterday of the passing of musician and actor Marvin Lee Aday, better known by his stage name Meat Loaf. It was 1977 that the debut album for Meat Loaf, Bat Out of Hell, was released. We look today into the music of the 45-year-old album. Check out our review of the David Fincher movie Fight Club (1999), which starred Meat Loaf in a supporting role.

(This is the cover art for the album Bat Out of Hell by performer Meat Loaf).

The album Bat Out of Hell opens with a song title Bat Out of Hell, a loud and proud cacophony of sound that hits you with a declaration of rootedness of hard rock and arena rock in the pop/rock fusion that is Meat Loaf‘s signature sound. The album declares a performance physicality that also matches the style of Meat Loaf, with a focus on youthful relationships and discovery in love.

(You Took the Words Right Out of My Mouth (Hot Summer Night) backs up the album opener as a power ballad for the album Bat Out of Hell).

You Took the Words Right Out of My Mouth (Hot Summer Night) as a power ballad picks up from the album opener with spoken words by Marcia McClain and songwriter Jim Steinman. The unique quality of this song’s introduction stands out for me as much as the catchy quality of the tune itself, which discusses how youthful passion can interfere with declaring love.

(From left, Jim Steinman and Meat Loaf (Marvin Lee Aday). Steinman wrote all the songs for the album Bat Out of Hell).

The third song for Bat Out of Hell is Heaven Can Wait, a legitimate ballad focusing on piano and singing. While focusing on the experience of true love, the composition itself is less up-tempo than the rest of the album. The song deserves more recognition, in my estimation, for offering a quality statement of feeling in a manner appropriate for the message.

(Meat Loaf (Marvin Lee Aday) is the lead male singer for all the songs on his album Bat Out of Hell).

As the song that follows Heaven Can Wait, All Revved Up with No Place to Go offers a horn-based tempo somewhere between the song that precedes it and You Took the Words Right Out of My Mouth (Hot Summer Night). The song is a clear expression of teenage loneliness with a desire to act upon the nudge offered by the feelings presented by Mother Nature.

(Two Out of Three Ain’t Bad opens the second side of the Bat Out of Hell album by Meat Loaf).

Two Out of Three Ain’t Bad serves as the opening track of the second side of the Bat Out of Hell album as originally released on vinyl. The song serves as a ballad about the elusive nature of love, getting into the notions of want and need while falling short on the goal of true love.

(From left, Karla DeVito and Meat Loaf (Marvin Lee Aday) perform the song Paradise by the Dashboard Light).

Paradise by the Dashboard Light is a song in three major parts sung for the album by Ellen Foley and Meat Loaf. Karla DeVito performed the song on tour with Meat Loaf. ‘Paradise’ as the opening movement of the song is the notion of sex in a car for a teenage boy trying to convince a girl to have sex, with ‘Let Me Sleep on It’ representing a negotiation for love in exchange for paradise, and finally ‘Praying for the End of Time’ representing the kids honor as he stays in a relationship with the woman after receiving paradise, yet finds that he has not accomplished love. Former New York Yankees shortstop Phil Rizzuto narrated the baseball sequence in the song.

(Paradise by the Dashboard Light serves as a long single where the mixture of having sex in a car ends badly).

For Crying Out Loud is the final of seven songs envisioned for the original album, with arrangement support for much of the music offered by Todd Rundgren. The piano play for the first three-minutes of the song is fantastic, with what I presume includes Rundgren‘s fingerprints present. The song lyrically offering the note of metaphorical “out loud crying” coupled with lyrics that suggest Meat Loaf’s love for a lady coming from her verbal expressiveness also work.

(From left, Meat Loaf (Marvin Lee Aday) and Todd Rundgren performing on stage in support of Meat Loaf music).

There you have my look into what is an album that stands well within the rock & roll canon of youthful feelings of love. I am saddened at the passing of Marvin Lee Aday; yet I appreciate the music he left behind with Bat Out of Hell as Meat Loaf.

Matt – Saturday, January 22, 2022