Def Leppard

 Today in 1996 Def Leppard released the single Breathe a Sigh

Sheffield, Yorkshire, England NWOBHM (early), Hard Rock (later)

Status:Active

Years active:1977 (as Atomic Mass), 1977-present

In 1980, just before the impact of the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal (NWOBHM) was truly felt, an unknown band by the name of Def Leppard released its debut album. On Through The Night has an accessible, undeniably British sound, yet was still had a rough metal style, unlike most of their future works, with tracks such as "Rock Brigade" and "Rocks Off" getting some good radio play. It's truly a great album, and is recommended even to those who aren't fans of the later DL albums. By the time of their next album, High And Dry, they had shifted producers and started developing the commercialized, pop-metal sound that would become their trademark for years to come. The rest of the eighties was owned by Def Leppard, with albums such as Pyromania and Hysteria proving massively successful while at the same time drawing the ire from "real" metal fans who found their work far too polished and poppy. Though they have had more of their share of ups and downs (drummer Rick Allen losing his arm in a car accident, the loss of Steve Clark), they have stayed the course, continuing to tour and release albums with that classic DL sound (1996's Slang an exception to this, an attempt to toughen and broaden their sound that wasn't well received).

Bludgeon Riffola

Rick "Sav" Savage Bass

Joe Elliott Vocals

Rick Allen Drums

Phil Collen Guitars

Vivian Campbell Guitars

1. Breathe a Sigh 04:06   

2. Rock! Rock! (Till You Drop) (live) 03:08   

3. Deliver Me (live) 02:47   

4. Slang (live) 02:26    

  12:27

Tracks 2 & 3: recorded on August 31st, 1996 at The Shoreline Amphitheatre, Mountainview, CA.

Track 4: recorded on September 15, 1996 at The Molson Centre, Montreal, CAN.