DEF LEPPARD's JOE ELLIOTT On PYROMANIA 40 Box Set/Lost 11th Album Track
Def Leppard 2024
Def Leppard singer Joe Elliott was recently interviewed and discussed the Pyromania 40 box set and the lost 11th album track.
The 40th anniversary 'Pyromania 40 Super Deluxe Edition' is 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.
Joe Elliott On Rockenteurs
Joe recently appeared on the latest episode of the Rockenteurs podcast with hosts Gary Kemp and Guy Pratt.
Gary played in Spandau Ballet and Guy played bass in the last line-up of Pink Floyd and is now part of David Gilmour's solo band.
They also play in ex-Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason's Saucer Full Of Secrets band together.
Joe talked about the origin of Def Leppard in Sheffield. the On Through The Night/High 'n' dry albums, working with Mutt Lange, Pyromania album recording/success, Pete Willis, Phil Collen and the new Pyromania 40 box set.
Pyromania 40 Box Set Origin
Joe once again talked about how the Pyromania 40 box set idea came about when looking through old tapes during lockdown.
No You Can't Do That
He also talked about finding the demos and the lost 11th album track 'No You Can't Do That'.
Read Joe's quotes below and listen to the full interview via Spotify and Apple Music.
Joe's part starts at around 7 minutes in and the box set talk is in the final 10 minutes or so.
Also shown below is a photo of Joe with Gary and Guy and a short video clip.
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).
Rockenteurs/Joe Elliott - 5th May 2024 Interview Quotes
Gary Kemp
"You just had a good work ethic, didn't you? All of you, but the reason you came in as well is because it's the 40th anniversary of... 40ish anniversary. Forty-first. And there's this box set that you've executive produced."
Joe Elliott On Pyromania 40/No You Can't Do That
"Right, well, you can skip the first disc because you've heard it for 40 years."
"It's a remastered, again, version of the first 10."
"As you may remember, I've been saying the 11 backing tracks that we did. Along the way, an 11th backing track got abandoned."
"We recorded enough of it for it to be a song, but we didn't think enough of it to finish it."
"And I also think it was probably swayed, that decision was swayed, by the fact that you're still in vinyl land in 1982."
"So it's like, well, five songs each side is the balance. So this 11th song can be a B-side."
"They say, ah, we've been so long making this record. It's like, forget it. We'll do it for the next album. And then we just forgot it existed."
"Then during COVID, I'm cleaning out my tape library, going through all these cassettes that have got nothing written on them."
Guy Pratt
"I remember that's the TDK."
Joe Elliott On Pyromania 40/No You Can't Do That
"And then you put them on, and just because, I don't know, you think you're an idiot to do it, but then you're glad you're not."
"It's blank. You put it in, you can't hear anything. So you fast forward it two minutes, and there's still nothing."
"Fast forward it to 22 minutes, and you can hear a bit of hiss."
"And then you fast forward it again, and it's halfway through a song. It's in the middle of the tape. Why?."
"Why? You know what I mean? So this is that 11th song."
"And it's not even the recording of it. It's a demo. It's a band playing with a real kit."
Gary Kemp
"Actually, what's interesting about it, because we've heard it, is that it's almost open for other kids who want to do a melody on it now."
Joe Elliott On Pyromania 40/No You Can't Do That
"Oh, totally. They're all instrumental. Because as I said, we don't bother writing the lyrics until we get a song."
"OK, Mutt says we're going to do it. We're going to do it. So there's six demos that I'd found, again, on a blank tape."
"It's like I transferred them into digital and sent them to Sav. I said, do you remember these?."
"And he goes, yeah, they're pre-Pyromania demos that we never, they just got abandoned because the other ones were better."
"We had 16, 17 things knocking about. The 11th song, we found the multitracks in the archives at Universal."
"So again, they copied them onto digital and sent them to Ronan, our sound guy, who mixed it sympathetically to sound like 1983."
"So there's a real proper version of the backing track of, apparently, the song was called No You Can't Do That, which none of us ever, that's what was written on the box."
"But that line was stolen and used in the song Die Hard The Hunter."
"So obviously, we'd like a phrase and go, well, we're going to use that somewhere else if we're going to finish that song."
"It went into the bridge."
"So that's on the disc with the rough mixes that I found on a cassette, all brilliantly tidied up by Ronan McHugh, our sound guru, get, you know, de-hissed and made to sound glorious."
Joe Elliott On Pyromania Demos
"And so there's instrumental versions, half-finished vocals. It's just a mishmash of history is what it is."
Joe Elliott On LA Forum Show/Brian May
"And then there's the live recording from the LA Forum when Brian May got up with us on the second."
"He came to watch the first night and we were hanging out with him backstage because he turns out he's a fan. And like we're going this Brian May from Queen my god."
"And he says, can I get on plane with you guys tomorrow? And we're like, yeah."
Gary Kemp
"He asked you."
Joe Elliott On LA Forum Show/Brian May
"He comes down and he brings his Vox amp. We're stood at the desk watching him and he starts playing Photograph."
"And we're like. So it's too difficult to work him into that one."
"So we on-chord with Creedence's Travellin' Band. 12 bar easy whip round song, you know. And he says, yeah, I know that one enough."
"We sound checked it with him and boom, we did this phenomenal version."
"And so that's on the live thing."
Joe Elliott On Dortmund 1983 Show/Pyromania 40 Booklet
"There's a live recording that's never seen the light of day legally from Germany in 1983."
"And there's a booklet."
"In fact, I like, you know, look, you probably got them. All the good stuff. You buy it for the book."
"Because it's a 200 page read while you're listening to the demos and stuff like that. I hate it when it's like the petrol station album."
"You know, the greatest hits of Otis Redding. And it's just a picture of Otis Redding and the song titles on the back."
"I just burn it into my thing and throw this disc away. I want to read the history."
"You know, and so that's what you've got. It's great unused photos, brand new interviews. It's not archive stuff."
"We are quality control. We do it ourselves. We don't just say, if you want to put it out, piece it."
"That's why I got the credit. I didn't ask for it."
"They gave it to me generously because I literally spent months, in fact, years piecing this thing together. Because I had all this stuff."
Def Leppard / Latest Release
- Photograph (Rough Mix Version) - (Digital Single)
- Pyromania 40 Box Set - (Album - April 2024)
Def Leppard / Latest Tour
Def Leppard The Summer Stadium Tour 2024
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