Pyromania Def Leppard Artist

While {|Def Leppard|} had obviously wanted to write big-sounding anthems on their previous records, {|Pyromania|} was where the band's vision coalesced and gelled into something more. More than ever before, the band's songs on {|Pyromania|} are drive... Read more

While {|Def Leppard|} had obviously wanted to write big-sounding anthems on their previous records, {|Pyromania|} was where the band's vision coalesced and gelled into something more. More than ever before, the band's songs on {|Pyromania|} are driven by catchy, shiny melodic hooks instead of heavy guitar riffs, although the latter do pop up once in a while. But it wasn't just this newly intensified focus on melody and consistent songwriting (and heavy {|MTV|} exposure) that made {|Pyromania|} a massive success -- and the catalyst for the '80s {|pop-metal|} movement. {|Robert John Mutt Lange|}'s buffed-to-a-sheen production -- polished drum and guitar sounds, multi-tracked layers of vocal harmonies, a general sanding of any and all musical rough edges, and a perfectionistic attention to detail -- set the style for much of the melodic {|hard rock|} that followed. It wasn't a raw or spontaneous sound, but the performances were still energetic and committed. {|Leppard|}'s quest for huge, transcendent {|hard rock|} perfection on {|Pyromania|} was surprisingly successful; their reach never exceeded their grasp, which makes the album an enduring (and massively influential) classic. ~ Steve Huey Less