Providence, RI - Media Review Quotes

Rick Massimo

Def Leppard was preceded by a montage of their history and the legend "That was then, this is now" and a mention of their new record, Songs From the Sparkle Lounge. They started off, however, with blasts from the past - "Rockit," "Animal," "Let's Get Rocked" and "Foolin'," straddling the line between classic '80s rock and occasional dips into proto-adult-contemporary.

While frontman Joe Elliott apparently was nursing a cold that hindered his ability to cut during the high notes last night (particularly in "Photograph" and "Let's Get Rocked"), the elements of the Def Leppard formula were still basically in place: guitars loud enough to rock but not too loud to get in the way of the vocal hooks, thick background vocals, and plenty of meta-rock - songs celebrating rocking and songs encouraging people to rock.

The band went back to 1981's High N Dry album for "Mirror Mirror (Look Into My Eyes)," and the Sparkle Lounge record was represented only by the single "Nine Lives," recorded with Tim McGraw. The latter is an early-'70s glam strut run through the Def Leppardizer, and as such it holds up with their best. But most of the night was taken from their multi-platinum records Pyromania and Hysteria.

By The Providence Journal 2008.

Read the full review at - providencejournal.com

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