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def leppard / Breathe A Sigh Number One On UK Rock Chart

on this day - 30th November 1996

On this day in Def Leppard history the 'Breathe A Sigh' single entered the UK charts.
Including peaking at Number One on the Rock Chart.

Def Leppard 1996.

"This song took ages and about seven different versions."


Def Leppard 1996.

This section looks at the 'Breathe A Sigh' UK single release. The fourth single to be taken from the 'Slang' album in 1996.


"The hardest song to record."

Def Leppard's classic single Breathe A Sigh reached Number 43 on this day in 1996 in the UK.

The fourth and final UK single to be released from the Slang album.

It had been released on 18th November during their UK 'Slang' tour.

It entered the charts at Number 43 on 30th November 1996 which was also its peak position.

This was also its only week on the chart. The first UK single since 'Too Late For Love' in 1983 not to have a promo video made for it.

The follow up to 'All I Want Is Everything' which had peaked at Number 38 in late September.

A song written by Phil Collen.


Def Leppard 1996.


Prodigy were at Number One on this day with their single 'Breathe'.

Other rock artists and band friends on the Top 100 chart this week were Queen (17) and Bryan Adams (31).

Bryan Adams song 'Star' was co-written/produced by Mutt Lange and also co-written by Michael Kamen who arranged the strings on the 1993 version of 'Two Steps Behind'.

As with the other three singles from the album it better on the UK Rock Singles chart by entering at Number 1 on the same day.

Read more about the song.

Breathe A Sigh 1996.

UK Singles Chart - 30th November 1996

  • 01 - Prodigy - Breathe
  • 02 - Fugees - No Woman, No Cry
  • 03 - Mark Owen - Child
  • 04 - Warren G feat. Adina Howard - What's Love Got To Do With It
  • 05 - Toni Braxton - Un-Break My Heart
  • 43 - Def Leppard - Breathe A Sigh - (Peak Position)

UK Top Five Rock Singles - 30th November 1996

  • 01 - Def Leppard - Breathe A Sigh - (New Entry)
  • 02 - Smashing Pumpkins - Thirty Three
  • 03 - Screaming Trees - Sworn And Broken
  • 04 - Presidents Of The USA - Mach 5
  • 05 - Metallica - Hero Of The Day

Breathe A Sigh 1996.

Breathe A Sigh - Song Description By Phil Collen 1996

"In sharp contrast to All I Want Is Everything, this song took ages and about seven different versions until we were happy with it. This ranged from a piano version to a reggae thing."

"My original demo tried to sound like Mariah Carey does gospel with a country twang, and I didn't think it would be right for us."

"But after all the different versions and being very close to bailing on this song, we tried it one more time. This time we based it around a pop, hip-hop drum feel and Sav's cool bass line."

"We then added sustained electric guitars and a classic Def Leppard multi-tracked backing vocal type of thing kind of inspired by Boys II Men."

"It was getting there but was made better by the help of Brad Buxer's percussion programming. Then we were ready for the lead vocal."

"The original inspiration for the vocal phrasing was Aretha Franklin so we went that rout. Stuck a jazz guitar in the intro and Voila! The hardest song to record, but the biggest achievement!!!"





Breathe A Sigh 1996.

Inner Sleeve Band Message - CD1/CD2

"Tracks 2, 3 & 4 were recorded live direct to DAT during our 1996 tour to support "Slang"."

"No remixing was done to the original tracks, but we liked the sound & vibe, and thought you'd like a little taste of what's to come on our upcoming European tour."

"See ya' on the road!."


Def Leppard 1996.



Def Leppard 1996. Def Leppard 1996

Joe Elliott - 1996 Band Biography Album Quotes

"The thing we're trying to achieve with this record," says Joe, "is that you didn't put it on and say, 'This is a great production,' which is what people judged Hysteria and maybe Adrenalize on."

"That was a big thing for us, we wanted people to hear the group rather than hear the production of the record."

"It's amazing, because we got that sound in a house," laughs Joe. "There was no fancy studio, it was just recorded on a little cheap desk in a house in Marbella."

"It was like going to Summer School," recalls Joe. "It was like Boys Together Outrageously. We got on with doing the job."


Def Leppard 1996.



Def Leppard 1996.

"We didn't have to clock-watch. We could look out the window and see the ocean."

"We weren't stuck in some poxy studio somewhere, and the clock's ticking away and you don't know whether it's raining or snowing or there's a riot going on outside."

"We were just in our own non-corporate world. We wanted to do a similar thing to what Zeppelin and bands like that did in the '70s, when they went into a house and just created their own environment, and that's exactly what we did."

"It was so relaxing that it gave us more energy to be as noisy as we were on 'Pearl of Euphoria' or 'Flesh,' and when we did acoustic guitars on 'Where Does Love Go When It Dies,' they were actually recorded outside at midnight with incense, candles, dogs barking, cars going past. It's all on tape."

"The one thing that anybody in a band hopes is that their audience grows with them,"


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