Track Listing

1. Now
2. Unbelievable
3. You're So Beautiful
4. Everyday
5. Long Long Way To Go
6. Four Letter Word
7. Torn To Shreds
8. Love Don't Lie
9. Gravity
10. Cry
11. Girl Like You
12. Let Me Be The One
13. Scar
14. Kiss The Day
15. Long Long Way To Go

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #49001 in Music
• Released on: 2002-08-12
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .22 pounds

Amazon.co.uk Review
With X, Def Leppard have enlisted the aid of Aerosmith collaborator Marty Frederiksen, whose opening "Now" draws together all the Leps trademarks--sweeping acoustic strums, sweet waves of backing vocals, guitars both chugging and screeching, and soaring keyboards--all moving towards an ecstatic climax. Then his "Everyday" and "You're So Beautiful" slip into Cher-style pop-rock. Also there's Andreas Carlsson and Per Aldeheim, co-creators of the Britney sound, whose "Unbelievable" is a big puffball of a ballad. But it's really after the collaborations that X gets going properly. With "Four Letter Word", those famous innuendos are back and singer Joe Elliott--for the first time--seems genuinely energised. "Torn to Shreds" is an old-school Lep ballad, pained sentiment building to sonic explosion, while "Gravity" and "Girl Like You" introduce techno squiggles in an echo of Slang's experimentation. Best is the closing "Scar", a five-minute epic, complete with screaming oriental guitars and those incredible vocal harmonies. It's not Hysteria, then, but it's a fine effort nonetheless. --Dominic Wills

CD Description
Tenth album from Sheffield old-school metallers - still going strong after 25 years - sticks with their tried and tested melodic, poppy style but adds some modern electronic influences. Recorded with their long-term collaborator Pete Woodroffe and 'N Sync/Backstreet Boys producers Andreas Carlsson and Per Aldeheim. Lead single 'Now' was single of the week in Kerrang!.

Customer Reviews

Modern sound, classic feel.
If you know what classic Leppard is like, let me say that this is probably the closest to that feel since Hysteria.
In fact, this probably should have been the follow-on album.

This time around the lads have gone for the "pop" angle again. The songs are concise, 3-4 minutes only per track. Good choruses, with the classic Leppard harmonies abound. And two tracks from outside the band, one from some of Britney's writers (Unbelievable), dunno who the others are but it's a good track(Long Long Way To Go, which is perhaps their best ballad since Love Bites!), and input from one of Aerosmith's collaborators, which still fits nicely onto the album. And there's the odd sample and loop, but well done and not too prominent. There are mid-tempo rockers, moody tunes, a couple of up-tempo numbers (4 Letter Word is my favourite, hints of Armageddon It), and to close, "Scar", written on the anniversary of Steve Clark's death, and it shows. This song is also the only one with a decent guitar solo, otherwise the boys are a bit too restrained for my liking (me guitarist, me like solos), which is partly why I only gave 4 stars. Having said that, Scar has perhaps the most interesting solo for years, certainly since White Lightning (Adrenalize) IMHO. The other thing missing is a mid-tempo "apache" beat song, last heard on Euphoria (Paper Sun, which is fantastic, although I think the solo could have been better - they made up for it live), and something nobody else does as well (Billy's Got A Gun, White Lightning, etc.).

The UK version has 2 extra tracks, Kiss The Day, which is an excellent mid-tempo song that goes nuts at the end (best guitarwork on the CD from both Phil and Viv), and an acoustic version of Long Long Way To Go, which is nice.

So all you guitarists, get the UK version! And hopefully Def Leppard will be back at the top of the charts (apparently "X" is in at #11 on the Billboard 100 in the USA).

Definitely one of the best Def Leppard albums ever made...
... a brilliant mixture of slow songs, happy songs, fast songs and sad ones, there certainly is something in here for everyone. The opening track 'Now', also the first single off the album, is a fast paced song with all the Lepp trademarks, guaranteed to make sure you keep listening.
My personal favorites are Long Long Way to Go, Cry, Four Letter Word and Kiss The Day. No two songs sound alike yet each contains a familiarity that is unique to Def Leppard. They show now signs of losing the talent they've entertained us with for the past 20+ years, and I see lots of life in them yet.
Excellent guitar riffs and hard-hitting drum beats make this a sure fire winner. If you haven't bought it yet, you should!

A Good Album - Takes a few listens
After listening to the album about 10 times now, I think the Leps were wrong to go with the single Now. It's not as radio friendly as some others.
You've got to admit, the fan base want the overlayered harmonized hard rock that was introduced by 3 time producer (and 1 co-produced) Mutt Lange, but you've got to give the band credit for trying something different. It's not as different as Slang was from their unique sound, but it is slightly more mellow.
The following songs are to me, the standout tracks
and possible single contenders

- You're So Beautiful - a mid rocker with nice harmonies and vocal
- Long Long Way To Go - a ballad that is lyrically brilliant and musically chilling. The chorus has the traditional harmonies
- Four Letter Word - A grooving rocker - almost a rap but not quite! Traditional harmonied vocals for the chorus
- Love Don't Lie - another mid rocker with great distorted guitar effects
- Cry - a rocker of sort! You have to hear this to appreciate it's strangeness
- Let Me Be The One - another ballad acoustic and strings
- Scar - This has the wild guitars that I like - a good rock track that would not be out of place on Pyromania or Euphoria

This is a good album with a couple of duff tracks. I'm not sure if it will do comercially well, but it is artistically different and yet somehow the same. Harder next time please,.