Track Listing

1. Rock Rock (Till You Drop)
2. Photograph
3. Stagefright
4. Too Late For Love
5. Die Hard The Hunter
6. Foolin'
7. Rock Of Ages
8. Comin' Under Fire
9. Action Not Words
10. Billy's Got A Gun

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #13713 in Music
• Released on: 1999-06-15
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .21 pounds
• Running time: 45 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
Def Leppard's rock sensibilities shot them right to the top of the charts in the 1980s. On their third album, Pyromania, the band reconciled new wave melodicism with heavy metal and catchy hooks without compromising any of its edge. The album has sold over 10 million copies, due in part to heavy rotation on MTV. But even without their ubiquitous television presence, anthems like "Rock of Ages" and "Foolin'" still had the stuff that drove the kids crazy. Bursts of screaming guitars and simple power riffs joined forces with choruses that begged to be shouted along to. Guitarists Phil Collen and Steve Clarke may have provided all the pyrotechnics on Pyromania, but the focal point of Def Leppard's sound, particularly for their teenage female fans, was singer Joe Elliott's voice (and, of course, his hair). The record--an essential brick in the foundation of '80s metal--also contains the hit "Photograph". --Steve Gdula

CD Description
Although many music fans were convinced that Def Leppard would become hard rock's next big band, few could have predicted the massive across-the-boards success that its third record, 1983's PYROMANIA, achieved. Many wondered why it was taking the group so long to release a follow-up to 1981's HIGH 'N' DRY, but the finished product was well worth the wait. Not only did it become one of the year's best-selling albums and made the band instant U.S. arena headliners, but it has remained a consistent seller ever since (by 1994, it had reached nine million units in the U.S. alone).
The songwriting and overall sound was more streamlined and succinct this time around--while there are guitar riffs galore, the songs have more of a pop feel. Founding guitarist Pete Willis leftduring the recording, replaced by Phil Collen, who fit in perfectly with the band. The album features such mega-hits as"Photograph", "Rock of Ages", and "Foolin'", as well as a couple of other tracks that could have easily been singles aswell, "Rock Rock (Till You Drop)" and "Too Late for Love". PYROMANIA remains one of the best and most popular hard-rockrecordings of the '80s.

Customer Reviews

The dogs
What more can be said? This is the canine's nadgers of metal albums. It contains 'Photograph' a record so perfect that it makes me weep to hear it. Lock the door, plug in the air guitar and attain musical nirvana.

Caution: May cause you to be a lifelong Leps fan
Often overlooked by the music press, who seem to prefer Hysteria, I think that Pyromania may be the best thing Def Leppard ever did. Don't get me wrong, Hysteria is amazing but this, for me just steals it by a shade. At this stage Steve Clarke was still alive and Rick Allen still had not had that awful car crash. During the making of this album second guitarist Pete Willis was to leave to be replaced by the dazzling talents of Phil Collen.

This is the album that said "Hello world, we are Def Leppard, take notice!", especially in America where "Photograph" made them household names. Produced by Mr. Shania Twain, (Mutt Lange)it features the excellent rockers Comin' Under Fire, Foolin' Rock Rock Til You Drop, Billy's Got A Gun and Stagefright. All these tracks are mint and sadly apart from Foolin' seldom seem to feature in the live sets nowadays. Photograph is up there with Love Bites as one of the only songs to start me blubbing.

Action Not words, Die Hard and of course Rock of Ages (unter glieben glauben globen, what an intro!)add to the rockers making this one of the few albums in the world to not have any bad tracks. Guitar playing, singing, everything about this album is spot on. If you do not own this and like classic rock you need your head examined! If you want to get into Def Leppard start here, buy everything but Slang and be hooked for life!

The Best Album Ever...?
The naivety of 'On Through The Night' promised nothing like this, while the excellent 'High 'N' Dry' layed the foundations but...Jeezus, this album was amazing. Probably the one that made stadium (or poodle) rock the monster that it became. Opener Rock rock (till you drop) showed no compromise and kept the Leps true to their metal roots. However, this was a band determined to show that they could leap way beyond the NWOBHM from where they came.

Photograph took the world by storm, and rightly so. A gorgeous, melodic rock homage to one of the century's most beautiful icons.

Stagefright was to start the live set for many years to come, while the stunning Too late for love would leave the audience gagging for more. One of hard rock's greatest tracks, both on vinyl (or disc) and espcially live. Together with Bringin' on the heartbreak (from High 'N' Dry), the Leps would never sound this good again. Die hard the hunter became a classic, while Foolin' was an (almost) over-produced piece of stadium rock genius. It's an orgasmic statement of intent that Leppard have struggled to match in the years since.

A similar theme continues as the Leps churn out more rock classics until the incredible Billy's got a gun brings the amazing experience to a dramatic close.

Like many of the Leps' earlier and later lyrics, this might sound like a cliche, but they really don't make 'em like this anymore. Which really is a great shame.