JOE ELLIOTT On PYROMANIA Album Cover/PETE WILLIS Guitar Contribution

Monday, 18th March 2024

Def Leppard 2024

Def Leppard singer Joe Elliott was recently interviewed during the promotion for the Pyromania 40 anniversary box set with video available.

The 40th anniversary 'Pyromania 40 Super Deluxe Edition' will be released on Friday 26th April 2024 via Universal Music Recordings.

The release follows a year of band celebrations on social media using the #pyromania40 hashtag and recent video teasers.

Pyromania Album Cover

Joe spoke to Ultimate Classic Rock recently and discussed the original album cover design.

He talked about how the artwork came together in 1982.

And mentioned the contribution of the late Andie Airfix who also went on to work on 'Hysteria', 'Adrenalize' and 'Euphoria'.

Pete Willis Contribution/Phil Collen

Joe praised Pete Willis's guitar work on the album who had completed most of the backing tracks with Steve before being fired in July 1982.

He also mentioned how Phil was a great choice to replace him.

Read a full transcript below and watch the video which seems to be from a longer conversation that might be posted nearer the box set release date.

View the full announcement news story with the full tracklistings:

28th February 2024

DEF LEPPARD To Release PYROMANIA 40 Super Deluxe Edition Box Set With Unreleased Songs

Def Leppard will release a 40th anniversary Super Deluxe version of Pyromania in late April including rare songs.

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 2024.

Joe Elliott March 2024 Interview Quotes - (Transcribed by dltourhistory)

Promania Album Cover

Joe Elliott

"There wasn't really a great deal of development, I think from the original drawing, which would have been, you know, if you wanna call it the black and white napkin drawing of the front cover, it didn't really change a great deal because it's not a photograph, it is, it's a cartoon or whatever you wanna call it, it's a painting, you know."

"I do remember that the very first draft of it had a white framing and we all went, that looks really crap."

"And I do remember one of us getting a sharpie and just colouring it in and going, it needs to be black."

Artist Andie Airfix

Joe Elliott

"And we went with the black and everybody agreed that black was the way to go, you know. So that part of it was easy really, it was Andie Airfix, it was our first time working with Andie because we'd used Hypnosis on High 'n' Dry, which is an itch we had to scratch because being Zeppelin, UFO, Pink Floyd fans, etc, it's like we've gotta use those guys and we did and you know, done."

"And then Andie Airfix was suggested and he came in really enthusiastic and we were like, okay, guy, this guy is so enthusiastic, I don't wanna step on his toes here, let him go with something, you know."

Pyromania Album Band Photos

Joe Elliott

"What I do remember being funny was the back because when the album first came out, we didn't have a running order."

"So the album cover on at least the first few pressings, the song titles were all over the place in the wrong orders and the photographs, we were scrambling for pictures, you know, we did a photo session for High 'n' Dry, they were all shoulders up topless."

"But for Pyromania, we wanted to use live shots and everybody had got to pick their own individual shot and by then, Pete had left the band."

"So Phil's shot is him from when he was in Girl and Savs was a fan shot that we really loved so we asked whoever took it permission to use it."

Pete Willis

Joe Elliott

"And in the background of one of the other three of us, you can see Pete Willis, which we actually thought was kind of cool because he is on the record."

"So it's an acknowledgement of Pete's contribution which let's say here right now was immense."

"And even Phil would say, you know, we'd heard the multitracks, Pete's rhythm playing on Pyromania is astonishing. It's really, really good and he's a big part of that record."

"But unfortunately, his personality as he was at the time was not a big part of where we wanted to be."

Phil Collen

Joe Elliott

"And Phil obviously through the fact that he's still here, you know, 40 years later, 42 years later, is obviously was the right guy for the job, you know, especially with the way that the songs went, they steer onwards, because we'd really went much more in a pop rock direction."

Pyromania Album Band Photos

"But yeah, the back was just like, you wouldn't do it now as an established band, you wouldn't go, oh, this is a really good, it's like, no, it was like, oh, shit, well, Phil, give us a live shot."

"But I mean, Girl, it doesn't matter, you're live, it'll have to do. Savs didn't, he liked, I don't think we were using Ross much at the time."

"He didn't like the Robert Ellie shots or he didn't like the Ross shots and he just liked this one that this fan had taken. So that's the one that got used on the back of the sleeve. So each photo gets in its individual credit."

Pyromania Album Cover/September 11th Attacks

"And in the background on one of us, I can't remember which one, there's Pete Willis hovering around, you know, it was a bit of a mishmash that back bit, but the front was, it was thought of, you know, that was thought out, that was Andie Airfix's explosive idea, you know, obviously, let's, you know, not hide behind the fact that it is alarmingly like 9-11."

"And that did strike us, you know, when that happened, we actually discussed, should we like change the sleeve?."

"But we realized that, you know, A, it's a piece of history and it's not our doing and it's just an insanely awful coincidence."

"So, you know, if we were to change every bit of art that foresaw a terrible situation like that, we'd be changing a lot of art, you know what I mean?."

"So, you know, rewriting history is something that everybody's trying to do with language these days, but I don't think there's any point doing it with the live stuff, with visuals, sorry, because it is what it is."

"You know, it wasn't intended to represent anything that would happen in the future. It was just explosive pyromaniac, bang, boom, fire, you know."