JOE ELLIOTT On DEF LEPPARD's Drastic Symphonies Album/Definitely Book

Wednesday, 3rd May 2023

Def Leppard 2023

Def Leppard singer Joe Elliott was interviewed earlier today on UK radio and mentioned the new Drastic Symphonies album and Definitely book.

The new album Drastic Symphonies will be released on Friday 19th May.

The album will feature 16 classic Def Leppard songs reworked and reimagined with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at Abbey Road Studios in London.

The first single 'Animal' was released to digital and streaming services on the same day as the announcement - listen below.

The World Tour 2023 started in Mexico City on 18th February 2023.

The UK/European leg begins in the band's home city of Sheffield on 22nd May.

Joe Elliott On New Album

Joe appeared live on Planet Rock radio this morning to announce a new live show/live stream event at The Leadmill.

Whilst talking on the Breakfast With Paul Anthony show he also mentioned the new album Drastic Symphonies and the Definitely Def Leppard book.

Joe talked about The World Tour 2023, The Stadium Tour 2022, South American tour, Def Crue plane, Sheffield Bramall Lane show, Definitely The Official Story Of Def Leppard book, Drastic Symphonies album and The Leadmill intimate show.

'Kick' and 'Animal (Drastic Symphonies)' were also played.

Read some quotes about the Sheffield shows below and The World Tour and listen to the full audio via the link.

Drastic Symphonies Album

Joe talked about how the album came about and that they treated it as a new album while reworking the songs.

Definitely The Official Story Of Def Leppard

He also talked about using the many photographs they own for the upcoming book.

On 16th May the Definitely Def Leppard book event takes place in London at the Royal Festival Hall.

Visit the Tour News section. For more news on future tour plans.

Visit the Album News section for more news on new music (based on band member quotes).

Def Leppard 2023.

Joe Elliott/Planet Rock - 3rd may 2023 Interview Quotes - (Transcribed by dltourhistory)

Paul Anthony - "Brilliant times and let's say you've come on leaps and bounds since then with so much in the pipeline including the new album which is out on the 19th of May. Drastic Symphonies. Speaking of which let's play a track from it now. This is the brand new version of Animal with the symphonic orchestra on Planet Rock Breakfast."

Paul Anthony - "Def Leppard the new reimagined version of Animal featured on their new album Drastic Symphonies. Once again out on Friday 19th of May. Joined by Joe Elliott on the show today. Now Joe with this album and with the orchestra you've tried to take it to a completely different level than bands that have gone before."

Joe Elliott - "Yeah we're by far nowhere near the first band to ever have done symphonic versions of their songs. And obviously the listeners will be aware of Metallica, KISS did a live album in Australia. KISS Alive IV I think it was."

Joe Elliott - "And go all the way back to 1968 with Deep Purple. A long time before I'd even heard of Deep Purple they were doing it you know."

Joe Elliott - "But when the offer was put forward for us to do this, it just seemed like a great thing to do, but we weren't just gonna let it be the icing on the cake."

Joe Elliott - "Where here's the songs, just shove an orchestra on top. We really wanted to work this like was a new piece of work, a new album."

Joe Elliott - "So we took the original tapes and we stripped them back down to basics and we removed more than we put on to be quite honest."

Joe Elliott - "And, 'cause we wanted the orchestra to breathe. We wanted it to be heard as the main feature."

Joe Elliott - "Eric Gorfain who is our string arranger. We've worked with him for many years. He did three tracks on Diamond Star Halos. He did the Down 'n' Outz album. He did the Def Leppard Christmas song. Phil worked with him on a Tesla album a little while back."

Joe Elliott - "And he's a rocker that does strings. As opposed to symphonic guy that's dipping his toe into rock and roll and kind of getting it wrong. He really knows how to structure these songs properly."

Joe Elliott - "So, you know, we replaced guitar parts with violas and cellos. So it sounded like a cross between either - if it was a slow song it was very Penny Dreadful. And if it was a fast song it was kind of almost like James Bond."

Joe Elliott - "And that was the mantra that we were all kind of streaming forth if you like. That we wanted it to sound massive and like a James Bond car chase. And try and let every song have to have its own merit."

Def Leppard 2023.

Paul Anthony - "Once again 2nd of May for that one followed by Wembley Stadium on 1st July, Lytham Festival on the 2nd. Also Dublin on the 4th of July and Glasgow Green on the 6th of July. Prior to the dates in the UK you've got that in conversation event on the 16th of May at the Royal Festival Hall promoting the new book Definitely The Official Story Of Def Leppard."

Joe Elliott - "We've owned the rights to our photographs. 99 percent of them taken by Ross Halfin. All the way back to the Crooke's Workingmen's Club when he and Geoff Barton came to see us in the summer of 1979.."

Joe Elliott - "So you can imagine how many photos we have. And, you know, it's silly just leaving negatives laying around in a filing cabinet or whatever. So we wanted to share them."

Listen to the full interview on the Planet Rock website. At 2 hours in when 'Kick' is played.

Def Leppard 2023.

Def Leppard - The World Tour 2023 Dates

May

Mon May 22, 2023 Sheffield, England @ Bramall Lane
Thu May 25, 2023 Mönchengladbach, Germany @ SparkassenPark Mönchengladbach
Sat May 27, 2023 Munich, Germany @ Koenigsplatz (King's Square)
Mon May 29, 2023 Budapest, Hungary @ MVM Dome (Budapesti Multifunkcionális Sportcsarnok)
Wed May 31, 2023 Krakow, Poland @ Tauron Arena Krakow

June

Fri Jun 2, 2023 Prague, Czech Republic @ Prague Rocks *
Sat Jun 3, 2023 Hannover, Germany @ Expo Plaza
Wed Jun 7, 2023 Solvesborg, Sweden @ Sweden Rock Festival *
Fri Jun 9, 2023 Hyvinkää, Finland @ RockFest *
Sun Jun 11, 2023 Trondheim, Norway @ Trondheim Rocks (Bryggeribyen EC Dahls Arena) *
Wed Jun 14, 2023 Copenhagen, Denmark @ COPENHELL *
Fri Jun 16, 2023 Clisson/Val de Moine, France @ HELLFEST (Main Stage 1) *
Sun Jun 18, 2023 Dessel, Belgium @ Graspop Metal Meeting *
Tue Jun 20, 2023 Milan, Italy @ Ippodromo del Galoppo di San Siro
Fri Jun 23, 2023 Lisbon, Portugal @ Passeio Marítimo de Algés
Sat Jun 24, 2023 Rivas-Vaciamadrid, Spain @ Auditorio Miguel Ríos
Tue Jun 27, 2023 Thun, Switzerland @ Stockhorn Arena

July

Sat Jul 1, 2023 London, England @ Wembley Stadium
Sun Jul 2, 2023 Lytham/Lytham St. Annes, England @ Lytham Festival (Lytham Green) *
Tue Jul 4, 2023 Dublin/Rathfarnham, Ireland @ Marlay Park
~~Thu Jul 6, 2023 Glasgow, Scotland @ Hampden Park~~ - VENUE CHANGED
Thu Jul 6, 2023 Glasgow, Scotland @ Glasgow Green

August

Saturday, August 5th, 2023 Syracuse, NY @ JMA Wireless Dome
Tuesday, August 8th, 2023 Columbus, OH @ Ohio Stadium
Friday, August 11th, 2023 Fargo, ND @ Fargodome
Sunday, August 13th, 2023 Omaha, NE Charles Schwab Field Omaha
Wednesday, August 16th, 2023 Tulsa, OK @ Skelly Field at H. A. Chapman Stadium
Friday, August 18th, 2023 El Paso, TX @ Sun Bowl Stadium

* = Festival.

Def Leppard World Tour 2023

Def Leppard 2023.

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