Friday, 22nd January 2016
Pic by Chele Drappel
Def Leppard guitarist Vivian Campbell was recently interviewed by Little Rock radio and commented on the new album and 2016 tour.
Vivian talked about the 2016 tour, the Hysteria On The High Seas cruise, Last In Line, working with his illness, the new studio album, getting better as a band and his musical tastes.
This echoes comments from Phil earlier this month when he suggested Tesla will still be with the band this summer when they release a new single he has written and helped to produce.
Joe also recently said the tour would last until October of this year.
Listen to the full 10 minute interview below.
Visit the Tour News section. For more news on future tour plans.
Jeff Allen/The Point 94.1 - Vivian Campbell Interview Quotes
2016 Touring
"Yeah it's a busy year. Actually a busy couple of years for us because we have the new album. You know this is the first new studio album we've done since 2008. So we're long, long overdue and as a result of that. It's inspired us to undertake not just a big US tour but a world tour."
"We started the US tour on June 28th I think or something like that. It was mid June and as you mentioned we've added some extended dates in January and February."
The New Def Leppard Album
"Yeah. We're really, really pleased with this record. Like I mentioned it's the first studio album we've done since 2008. So by way of small compensation we made it a very thorough album. We put 14 tracks on there and it's a diverse record. Although even though it goes into a lot of different musical styles it all still sounds like Def Leppard. Which is why we just took the easy route and decided to just call it that. It features a lot of songs that do sound like Def Leppard. Like Let's Go the first track is you know it's very. It's Sugar 2.0 basically you know it's very much of the ilk. Dangerous is another very classic Def Leppard sounding record."
Blind Faith
"There's musical areas there that we've never - musical territories that we've never ventured into before like the album closing track is a song called Blind Faith. And it's a psychedelic song. We've never done anything like that before but again it still sounds like Def Leppard because of the collective group vocal thing."
We Belong
"And speaking of vocals there's a song on the record called We Belong that Joe wrote. It's a beautiful song and for the first time ever it features all five of us as a lead singer. We take turns singing lines in the verses. Which is a first for us. You know because we're known for our strong vocals which is a collective group background vocal thing. But this is the first time where we've taken turns to step up to the mic. So that was nice and that's a first."
US Summer Tour
"Well 2016 will be a bust year for Leppard also. I mean we do these dates in January and February and the cruise and whatnot. And then there'll be a couple of months where Def Leppard is quiet. March, April, May. And that's when I'll be taking to the road with Last In Line and releasing the Last In Line record and doing some American shows and some European shows with them."
"But then next summer will see Def Leppard back on the road again. Possibly even a continuation of this tour. I mean it's been super successful with Styx and Tesla. They've been a joy to work with as always and like I said it's been a successful package. So you mentioned Journey. You know that was 2006 the last time we played with them. That was also a super successful tour and we'd certainly love to work with Neil Schon and the guys again if they were ever up for it. But we will be busy with Def Leppard summer 2016 definitely."
Related News - Phil Collen Produced Tesla Single Coming This Summer
Related News - Rick Allen Talks About The Def Leppard US Summer Tour
Related News - Phil Collen On Def Leppard's 2016 Touring Plans
Related News - Def Leppard's 2016 North American Tour To End In October
- Interview Source - soundcloud.com
- Def Leppard - Jeff Allen 2016 Show Page
- Def Leppard - Radio 2016
- Def Leppard - 2016 Tour News
- Previous News - 14th January 2016