London, England - Media Reviews
Def Leppard @ Lyceum By Dante Bonutto
One way or another, Def Leppard have taken a good deal of stick recently.
The first EP, released on their own Bludgeon Riffola label, earned them wide acclaim and a prominent position in heavy metal's new wave.
Since signing to Phonogram' however, it's been a different story.
So far, the new deal has produced only two singles and an album and yet already they're being accused of selling out to the American market.
On Sunday evening, however, in a packed Lyceum, Def Leppard did a lot to answer their critics and prove that the "business" has not dulled their youthful hard edge.
First on the bill, though, were the Tygers Of Pan Tang who delivered a good, if somewhat predictable set.
Faced with the usual support band problems of little space and weak volume they battled away well and, apart from an excessive use of phasing by guitarist and Frank Marino lookalike Bob Weir, I've no real complaints.
The audience liked them too and insisted they return for a tearaway version of ZZ Top's 'Tush'.
"See you on the Scorpions tour", were vocalist Jeff Cox's final words and I would say that's more than likely.
Next up were Magnum, sufficiently big these days to warrant their own backdrop (a silver gauntlet on a black background, if you're interested).
Their major claim to fame, though, is their quite appalling stage apparel and I'm pleased to report that, in this department, there's been no improvement whatsover.
When I tell you that their costumes were a subtle blend of The Glitter Bnd, Judas Priest and Oxfam I think you'll know what I mean.
But don't get me wrong. Just because this band don't look the part doesn't mean that they can't cut it musically.
In fact, Magnum turned in a really fine performance, not quite on a par with US pomp merchants Styx or Kansas, but good nonetheless.
And so to Def Leppard.
A handful of teenagers with plenty to say and a good many watts to help them say it.
Lights dim, dry ice billows and the taped intro to 'When The Walls Came Tumblin' Down' kicks off the set.
I've always found this opening ridiculously pompous but in the atmosphere of a live event it works rather well.
Then it's into the song proper with vocalist, Joe Elliott, well in control and all the right noises coming from behind.
'It Could Be You' is next up but it's only with the third number, a pounding 'Rock Brigade', that things really start to move.
I know the band wanted this as their last single and it's a pity Phonogram didn't listen 'cos it's by far their most commercial number and infinitely superior to 'Hello America'.
From here on, though, it's a real metal tour-de-force with all the songs on the album given the treatment they deserve.
There's also three new numbers to be savoured, each well up to scratch. but with 'Medicine Man' particularly outstanding.
It's still the early stuff that scores most heavily, though: 'Overture', with the duelling guitars of Steve Clark and Pete Willis sounding very Lizzy-esque, and, of course: '(Getcha) Rocks Off' which remains their most dynamic composition to date.
Two encores, 'Hello America' and the persistently demanded 'Wasted' and they're off, a very impressive performance indeed.
There are really two distant sides to Def Leppard.
The recorded side, which tends to be rather smooth and subdued, and the live side which is raw, rough edged and exciting.
The choice is yours but I know which I prefer.
By Record Mirror 1980.
Headbangers & Invisible Guitars By David Fricke
One critic called them the Deep Purple Formation Dancers.
But the accepted term in England for heavy metal fans is headbangers and the leather and denimed horde 2,000 strong gathered in the Lyceum - a former dance hall ornately decorated with pudgy little cherubs on the ceiling and a velvety red color scheme - give the words a very real meaning.
As headlining band Def Leppard hit the stage with the first nerve-shattering powerchord of 'When The Walls Came Tumblin' Down', the first row of HM fanatics make for the stage and practically band their heads against the floorboards, shaking their wolly uncombed gourds in time to the music.
This chorus line of hard-Rockettes gives the signal for most of the predominantly make audience to trot out their imaginary guitars - a preciously hip few whip out carefully cut-out cardboard axes and riff out in a violent physical mime of their heroes on stage.
There's even one young kid just the far side of puberty who looks like a pudgier Jimmy Osmond but flails the air where his guitar should be with the same bloodletting enthusiasm as the six-ffot geezer next to him in the AC/DC t-shirt.
In a heavy metal crowd, anybody can be the star.
In the England of 1980, not only is that HM crowd getting bigger, but more of the fans are becoming stars in their own right.
Critic Geoff Barton of U.K. music weekly Sounds declared last year 'the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal' and the increased press coverage, airplay, and sales in England - not to mention a proliferation of new young bands - bear him out.
So far, the commercial evidence includes Judas Priest scoring a Top Ten hit with 'Livin; After Midnight', Def Leppard's On Through The Night going Top Twenty and albums by Saxon, Magnum , and Iron Maiden blustering their way onto the charts.
What differentiates this revival-of-sorts (Pete Willis of Def Leppard insists the music never went away) from the Purple=Zeppelin-Sabbath Golden Age of Gonzo seven eyars ago is, of course, age.
Groups like Def Leppard, Diamond Head, and Aerosmith-style rockers Girl are barely older than their hardiest fans.
But they have also taken a few cues from the punk/new wave movement, often foregoing the once-obligatory long guitar and drum solos in favor of tight, gut-punching rock and roll.
More importantly, they've adopted punk=s DIY philosophy and turned out increasing numbers of independently produced singles and EPs of which the Def Leppard EP "Getcha Rocks Off", Sledgehammer's eponymous single, and the raw Nugentia of the curiously-named Tygers Of Pan tang's 'Don't Touch Me There' are among the best.
In London, the temple in which the headbangers and invisible guitarists gather to indulge i their sacrament of sounds is the Heavy Metal Soundhouse, a pub in the Kingsbury area where D.J./HM evangelist Neal Kay spins the heaviest metal sides including demos by new bands four nights a week.
The bizarre ballet of bobbing heads and savage air-guitar strumming there has become a subject of derision among snooty new wave-oriented critics and, true, it can reach a certain height of absurdity, Rob Halford of Judas Priest remembers recently judging an 'invisible band' contest at the Soundhouse where three of the 'bands' mimed to Judas Priest songs.
But Def Leppard's Joe Elliott - who claims "we're not a true heavy metal band because there's a lot of melody in out set" - jumps to the headbangers' defence.
"All the mods and punks are slagging 'em off. But the mods dance a certain way on stage and so do the crowd. The Punks use to pogo because the bands use to pogo. And rock bands get kids who pretend to play guitars because, let's face it, that's what they come to see."
By Circus 1980.
Media Review Quote By Allan Jones
"There was a genuine feeling that Def Leppard were attempting to revive and update a flagging genre," "When The Walls Came Tumbling Down" may lunge awkwardly in the direction of of the apocalypse, but it's played with the force of, say, the Clash's "Safe European Home".
By Melody Maker 1980.
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