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Def Leppard Tour History Fan Archive.
Phil Collen On New Studio Album Style/Songwriting- Audio

Wednesday, 18th June 2014





Phil Collen Sheffield 2008.
Pic by dltourhistory

Def Leppard guitarist Phil Collen has been interviewed by Chris Epting and talked about the 2015 studio album recording sessions.

In the 18 minute interview Phil talked about the Summer Tour 2014, the 2015 studio album recording sessions, Delta Deep album/touring and new Manraze music. Listen to it via the link below.

Phil talked in depth about the recent sessions including the news that Rick Allen contributed a song for the record.

Visit the Album News section. For more news on new music (based on band member quotes) dating back to January 2011.

Music Backstage - Phil Collen Interview Quotes

2015 Studio Album

"We thought we'd get four. We thought if we were lucky we'd get four songs and you know release them as an EP or try and get it on a film soundtrack or something. So you know the fact that we didn't stop and everyone was coming even Rick Allen you know who doesn't usually do that came in with a couple of great ideas and you know we're doing one of the songs that he started - that he brought in so that's really cool. That's a different dynamic. We got on so amazingly just in the studio it was just flowing it was very kind of open minded and the songs reflect that. There's no real barriers it kind of reminds me of a Manraze album a little bit and the fact that you know it doesn't sound like a Manraze album but the approach. The fact that we haven't got any one label or an A&R guy or something going you should be doing this. It's like the first album we've done that we absolutely wanted to do. We're doing this and all of this works so it was very open minded and fun and different say than the Slang album. There was still slightly an agenda. A sound. We wanted that one to be kind of a bit more raw and everything you know after Adrenalize and stuff like that. We kind of had to fit into a box but this one doesn't at all. You know it's just whatever we wanna do so it's kind of very liberating."

"It's like a band's first album plus we haven't recorded new material - we done three songs on Mirrorball - but we haven't done a real album for years. You know it's a bit like when Zeppelin - all these bands had their first few albums and a lot of the great material is on the first few albums because you have a collection that's been sitting there for years and all of a sudden you put that into practice. That's kind of what happened here we had a while to think about it and everyone was just coming up with non stop flowing with all these great ideas. The other thing that was really cool. The industry is diminishing it's actually disappearing as we speak you know it's less and less important to do an album. So there was absolutely no pressure to do an album we actually thought we was just gonna do an EP or a few songs. So that also psychologically it just broke down any kind of barriers that were there so it was like wow I've got another idea and I've got this idea and it just it went on from that. It was very I dunno it was very artistic and it flowed and like I said it was liberating. It was just a different thing we didn't have to do this but we felt like we wanted to. It was like don't stop the inspirational flow we just went with it."

"I honestly think stylistically this is the most diverse album we've ever done. Which is kinda weird being 30 years - 30 whatever years into the band. Obviously you know Hysteria was very creative because it kind of defied all the things that - you know Rock things, you can't be rock if you're too pop and you can't really look this way if you're a rock band and if you're a metal band which we were neither. We were what we were so that was really cool and it kind of is a little bit like that but in a different way in a very different way. We have all this vast experience and knowledge you know based on making all those records and touring and doing all this stuff. I think any time you make new music you get a bit more experience it should take you a little bit further so that's a very exciting part of it as well."

"What's interesting on this Def Leppard record is the lines between say what I would write for a Manraze - normally I'd go well this is definitely a Manraze song."






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