Hysteria

I actually owned the Def Leppard 'Best Of' collection, but sold it because the only tracks I liked were singles off this album and maybe 2 or three from the previous 3 albums, I didn't have much to say about anything 'Adrenalize' onward...as they were crappy, by the numbers 90's love/rock ballads as far as I could tell and that bores me!Many Def Leppard die hards would actually point to this album as when they lost interest in the band, their 'sellout' point if you like - I'm not one of those fans. Whilst I do think the first three are excellent albums and arguably Def Lepperd at there purest 'Pop/Rock/Metal' / NWOBHM form, 'Hysteria' was both a leap into the unknown and one of those 'sacrificial lamb' albums metal and rock (unwillingly) needed to make the genre sustainable by opening doors to new audiences and commercial longevity and force it to be taken seriously critically, much like Metallica would do 4 years later with the Black Album for Thrash Metal.The hits are colossal : 'Women,' 'Rocket,' 'Animal,' 'Love Bites,' 'Pour Some Sugar On Me,' 'Armageddon It,' and the title track...count 'em, a ridiculous 7 singles(!), yet they're so good you'd be tempted to buy them as singles even if you had the album! While it's fair to say the first half of the album is much stronger than the second...when you're sharing a disc with what I've just listed you'd be hard pressed to stand out! That being said, 'Gods of War' and 'Don't Shoot Shotgun', while dripping in 80's cheese, are excellent in their own right!In many ways, this album is the ultimate rock band mainstream triumph. A concerted effort by the band and legendary producer Mutt Lange to concoct a (what Wikipedia describes as a) 'hard rock version of Michael Jackson's Thriller,' with the possibility of every track being a single and that's pretty much what it is, without being a random collection of great songs, it flows as good as any concept album. Rarely before or after has hard rock felt so box office and pristine, with faultless vocal performances from all members at the front or back.While the argument that because it's mainstream that there are no riffs is simply false! If 'Pour Some...' isn't a riffathon of the highest order, then 'Armageddon It' undoubtedly is and the lead lines on 'Animal' are as good as leads get in hard rock. This album no doubt has numerous aural clues that make it easily identifiable as a late 1980's rock album, the songwriting has remained timeless and is as excellent now as it was back then.

7 hit singles, 3 years in the making, 2 serious car accidents, a labour of love by all involved, sounds as good and fresh now as it did when it first came out, is it over produced, sure, do some of the samples sound old hat (Ronald Regan anyone?) yes, how could they not? Should you let that stop you, no, if you liked it then, you'll love it now.

Brilliant classic cd. New cd so great quality. Highly recommend

I liked the cd completely

Had to replace as went missing.

A very nostalgic listen. Took me back to the eighties some tracks sound a bit dated but overall it’s a classic album. Enjoy!

Great value

Great music and always a classic