#464 – Def Leppard, ‘Hysteria’

Hysteria (Def Leppard album) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Released: August 3, 1987
Label: Mercury (US), Phonogram (original release)
Mercury (2000 re-release)
Genre: Glam metal, pop rock
Producer: Robert John “Mutt” Lange, Def Leppard

Well, there you go! I learned a couple of things about Def Leppard and the metal music-scape this week – and these are probably things that everyone knows and I’ve just missed somehow, but hey, I’m learning.

So, the first thing is that Def Leppard are a lot less hardcore metal which I was expecting, and a lot more glam-pop-KISS-esque. A pleasant surprise, and pretty fortunate since I’d rather listen to some classic 80’s style big-hair rock than death-metal any day.

Second: Def Leppard are ENGLISH. I just about chocked on my protein shake when I heard this (I’m working out now y’know..). Listening through this album I would have sworn black and blue that Leppard were American – how could they be anything else with a sound like this – but here we are, they hail from Sheffield, South Yorkshire (close to where my parents are from).

The album itself is an absolute corker, and right up there in my new-found appreciation for 80’s glam with KISS’s Destroyer, but technically, and certainly lyrically, a more accomplished record. Made over 3 years plagued by delays, during which Def Leppard’s drummer Rick Allen famously lost his arm in a car accident on New Year’s Eve 1984, Hysteria is pure rock fun.. and more than that, it’s really, really good. This is more than air-guitar shits and giggles: this is pretty special.

And of course I can’t go past mentioning Allen’s famous recovery from the auto-accident, after which he fell into a deep depression believing he would never perform with the band again, and then learnt to play drums again with one arm and his feet. And then go on to make a classic – top shelf. Props too to the artist who did the cover art, which is fricken’ sweet.

Top tracks: The album’s biggest single “Pour Some Sugar on Me” is fantastic, and ‘Love Bites” is all 80’s slow dance power-rock ballad; the protest song “Gods of War” with its samples of Thatcher and Reagan at the end is a stand-out for me – a seemingly rare toe dipped into political/social commentary, and the album is richer for it.

#472 – George Michael, ‘Faith’

Faith (album) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Released: October 30, 1987
Label: Colombia, Epic
Genre: Pop, pop rock, R&B, British soul, adult contemporary
Producer: George Michael

I love this album. As in, I freakin’ love this album.

This was Michael’s debut solo album after Wham!, and he produced the thing by himself, he penned all of the songs bar one (which he co-wrote), he experimented with different sounds and arrangements and vocal styles, and he played many of the instruments, including all on “I Want Your Sex Pt. 1”), proving to the world that he wasn’t just a fluffy pop figurehead…

A quarter of a century later and Michael is one of the greatest pop stars in history, and this album has certainly stood the test of time.

Faith still feels fresh and new somehow – the finest part of 80s synth and experimentation. Faith is also bold and accomplished and mature (he made it when he was 24 by the way). These were songs for adults, and so any of his Wham! fans had to grow up and come along with him or get left behind.

As a lyricist I think Michael deserves some real accolades, and especially on here with the third and fourth singles “Father Figure” and “One More Try”. Of course it’s interesting to pick apart these songs now that we know Michael is gay, but more than this, these are a couple of stand-outs that display his raw talent for songwriting (the vocals on “One More Try” are especially brilliant also), and remember, he was 24.

A real gem of a commercial pop album.

Top tracks: “Father Figure” – there’s almost no other song like it, and “One More Try” where Michael gets all-soul with an amazing vocal performance (and listen to what the song’s about..).

#487 – Cyndi Lauper, ‘She’s So Unusual’

She’s So Unusual (Cyndi Lauper album) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Released: October 14, 1983
Label: Portrait
Genre: New wave, pop rock
Producer: Rick Chertoff, William Wittman, Cyndi Lauper

Now we’re cracking! This album is awesome, and I feel like I’m on a bit of a roll with this list. After mentioning that music from this list is everywhere now that I’m really listening, I saw a poster for a Wilco tour… a couple of months ago I wouldn’t have known who they were. Love it.

She’s So Unusual is absolutely fucking awesome. Cyndi Lauper for me had just always been on the periphery, either screamed out by a drunk hen’s party at karaoke, or some rendition of “True Colours” performed by someone somewhere, and then there’s “Time After Time”. But this is really terrific pop music, really quirky and really cool.  What strikes me most is the strength of Lauper’s voice; her vocals are almost unbridled, technically not-at-all perfect, and the songs are all the better for it. There’s real feeling and fun and a hell-for-leather attitude in here. I fell in love with this album.

This was Lauper’s first studio album and garnered four top-5 hits – a first for a female artist. Really great stuff.

Top track: “Money Changes Everything” is great (a cover itself), as is “When You Were Mine” (which I know as a cover from Triple J’s Like a Version). For 80’s girl-power attitude, I’d skip “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” and head straight to “Kiss You”.

This week: Well, I did say work was hard at the moment. It all got to be a bit ridiculous on Friday and so I wrote that last post. I won’t say much more for now, except things are a bit better. It’s amazing what some perspective can do. It is funny what you choose to listen to depending on what’s happening in your life… “Money Changes Everything” was really speaking to me this week, even though it’s unlikely I can actually relate to the song itself right now.