43 Years Ago DEF LEPPARD Release Second Album HIGH 'N' DRY In The UK

Saturday, 6th July 2024

Def Leppard 1981

Def Leppard released their classic second studio album High 'n' Dry on this day in 1981 in the UK.

The follow up to On Through The Night was released on 6th July 1981 just ahead of their UK tour which ran from the 13th to the 25th.

It was the first time the band would work with legendary producer Robert John 'Mutt' Lange.

And the album which established the band's trademark sound, introducing them to a wider audience. Featuring their first "hit" single in 'Bringin' On the Heartbreak' as well as other songs that still feature in the live show in 2017 in 'Let It Go' and 'Switch 625'.

The album was later released in the USA and Canada on 21st July (according to the RIAA) and would reach Number 38.

It peaked at Number 26 in the UK charts.

The second studio album released by the band following their first world tour which had ended in October 1980 in Europe.

Soon after the band began writing songs in Sheffield before embarking on a short club tour of the UK in December 1980 to road test some of the new songs.

Side One of the album would played live in sequence for the first time in Kanazawa, Japan on 18th November 2002 during the first leg of the X/Ten world tour. It would be played many more times in 2002 and in 2003 and only once in the UK (28th October 2003 in Cambridge).

Side One would be brought back into the set for the 'Ded Flatbird' segment of the 'VIVA! Hysteria' residency in March/April 2013 and captured on the DVD filming.

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