Nashville, TN - Media Reviews

Fans 'Rock! Rock!' with Def Leppard By Thomas Goldsmith

Head-banging reached new heights in the hands of Def Leppard last night.

For the uninitiated, the very name of the English rock band may conjure up images of the crassest of metal mongers, but the group showed 9.500 Municipal Auditorium fans that there's more to the Def style than simplistic guitar-bashing and leahter-lunged screeching.

To be sure, lead singer Joe Elliott and his merry mates established their heavy metal credentials early and often with tunes such as 'Rock! Rock! (Till You Drop)' and 'Stagefright', the latter taken from the seven-million selling 'Pyromania' LP to start the show.

But they also spent considerable time and energy on more complex, harmonically advanced numbers such as 'Hysteria', 'Too Late For Love', 'Foolin'' and 'Gods Of War'.

For these are the guys credited with starting the contradictory named melodic-metal style.

At their best, both on record and at last night's concert, the group combines the raw crunch of metal with poppish melodies, unusual chord changes and a wide dynamic range.

The band's material was notably reinforced last night by a steady musicianship, laser bright staging and the showmanship of Elliott, whose singing is often astounding, if not always appealing.

He has an amazing range, and lots of volume; when he gets away from his metal screech, he begins to sound like a man instead of an unhappy child.

By The Tennessean 1988.

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