DEF LEPPARD, YEAH CD REVIEW ON ROCK N ROLL UNIVERSE

In May of 2005 Def Leppard released an Anthology CD which besides spanning their career it also featured an awesome cover of Badfinger’s hit from 1970 “No Matter What” which was kind of a preview of their latest release “Yeah!”.Besides the song titles(from the 1970’s “Glam” scene in the UK),the first thing I noticed was how well the packaging (booklet/liner notes) was put together.Notes were written about each song & artist by various members of the band & each band member’s photograph was placed in classic glam album covers such as Queen,T Rex,David Bowie,Lou Reed,& Iggy & the Stooges.
Back around 1980 or so I picked up a record by a group called ‘Girl’ called “Sheer Greed”.The main reason I bought the album was because they recorded a cover of Kiss’
“Do You Love Me?”.Needless to say,that record kicked ass(including the Kiss cover song).Phil Collen(Def Leppard) was in the band along with Phi Lewis(LA Guns) but anyway upon hearing “Yeah” I got the same feeling as when I originally played Girl’s version of “Do You Love Me”.From start to finish this CD kicks ass & what I like most is that they didn’t stray to far away from the orignal versions but the songs all sound a bit more updated with a little more crunch added.It’s really tough picking out the standout tracks because they all are phenomenal but my favorite track off the CD would have to be “Stay With Me”originally recorded by Rod Stewart & the Faces.Collen takes over the lead vocals on this one & really let it rip.20th Century Boy(T Rex) really rocks out & will likely be released as a single as I’ve seen them play this one live on a few late night talk shows in the USA.Mott the Hoople’s”Golden Age of R&R” really cranks & Elliott’s vocals are almost dead on to Ian Hunter.Def Leppard pays tribute to Sweet by playing a crunching version of “Hell Raiser” which has a great vocal exchange between Elliott & the two guitarists,Phil Collen & Vivian Campbell.
Whether they’re covering the Kinks,Bowie,David Essex,or Blondie,Def Leppard brings these “Glam” hits up to date & adds a little bite to them.Once you play this CD I’m sure you will be listening to it “On Through the Night”. 4 ½ out of 5 crunching guitars