Such was their spread, they picked up fans who'd never knowingly listen to anything with a guitar ... or big hair.
(side note: Bon Jovi had a part to play in this commercialisation of Metal too - but I was never a big fan of the boys from New Jersey led by a bloke with an Italian name. "Shot through the heart and you're to blame, you give Metal a bad name")
Albums that graced the pages of Kerrang and/or Metal Hammer just didn't ship in these sort of numbers, and certainly not over a long period of time ('Hysteria' and 'Appetite For Destruction' have now clocked sales in excess of 25 million each)
Was it the production values? Was it the hype? Was it the back-story? Was it that they were actually good albums stuffed with good songs?
Well, it is probably all of that, and if we focus on the songs there was just enough reined in danger to make them palatable to both Monsters Of Rock Festival go-ers and listeners to mass-market radio.
'Hysteria' started in early 1984 following Def Leppard's US breakthrough album 'Pyromania'. Mutt Lange was engaged at the start (as he was for their two previous albums) but dropped out during pre-production and Jim Steinman was approached. The Steinman sessions yielded little,and the band decided to have a go at producing it themselves.
And then on New Years Eve 1984, drummer Rick Allen had a car accident and lost his left arm. Sessions were suspended whilst Allen got back to health and developed an electronic kit where his feet triggered midi pals replacing his left arm beats.
And then more illness happened - Joe Elliott got mumps. Would the new album ever see the light of day?
By mid-1986, Rick Allen was back up to speed (his first solo live show (ie without a back-up drummer) was the Monsters Of Rock Festival at Donnington in August 1986), and Mutt Lange returned to knock the recordings into shape.
He applied the polish, pushed the "Mutt Lange magic button" and the album hit the streets in August 1987 (preceded by the single "Animal" in July 1987)
Guns n Roses formed in 1985 and comprised members of the bands Hollywood Rose and LA Guns (hence the name). Near constant gigging around the LA clubs brought a following and the attention of major record companies. Inside a year they were signed to Geffen and released their first EP.
This EP - 'Live ?!*@ Like a Suicide' - was released in a limited number on an independent label (Uzi Suicide - which wasn't really independent, it was a small, sometimes dormant, label owned by Geffen).
The EP pretty much sold out and a buzz continued in LA, but not many other areas of the US. They did get some interest from an intigued UK press - who are these Guns n Roses chappies?
Very soon after this release they were straight back in the studio to assemble their debut album - 'Appetite For Destruction'.
This album was released in mid-1987 and was a catalogue of Punk-inflected Glam Metal, telling stories of the under-belly of LA with a dollop of sleaze and debauchery, and an image just right for MTV.
However, outside of LA the album fell relatively flat initially, and it was only the second single ("Welcome To The Jungle") and more seismically third single "Sweet Child O Mine" received attention, that the album started to shift major units
"Women" vs "Welcome to the Jungle"
Bass and drum thumping away, reined in guitar, and an almost narrative lyric (with a Sheffield-infused US accent), the track builds to a call and response type affair. Not a bad start.
But it's up against a chiming, and then chugging, riffing onslaught with pained vocals. "Welcome To The Jungle" wins it for sheer abandon. And the melodic middle-eight (which is literally 8 bars smack in the middle of the song) provides the win assurance.
Def Leppard 0 Guns n Roses 1
"Rocket" vs "It's So Easy"
The Lepps are still thudding away, but also using every production processing trick in the book to drive the song along. The chorus opening may not be all that (just a repeat of the title) but Joe Elliott's soaring vocal at the end of it is darn fine.
"It's So Easy" suffers by following "Jungle" - it just can't keep up with it. It starts in fine fettle - almost like a Western theme, and continues to gallop along nicely. Good track, but feels a bit flat after that opener.
Def Leppard 1 Guns n Roses 1
"Animal" vs "Nightrain"
"Animal" was the song longest in gestation when recording the album - I reckon they must've laboured over this one to make sure it was damn near note perfect - everything about it just works. It bounds along with some abandon - who knew Hair Metal could be this good?
"Nightrain" has a bluesy swagger and even some cowbell going on (maybe not enough?). Problem is, it still sounds like it needs a bit of a lift. There are moments when Axl Roses's vocal screeching starts to grate, and "Nightrain" just falls short because of that.
Def Leppard 2 Guns n Roses 1
"Love Bites" vs "Out ta Get Me"
He's not shrieking (as much) on this one - which is a bonus. You sense he's pretty angry though (all that effing and jeffing in the chorus). It very nearly takes it, but this track finds itself up against the obligatory ballad which filled a lot of Hard Rock albums around the time, and often found themselves peeled off as singles.
"Love Bites" is a technical masterpiece of construction - everything reined in and the emotion laid bare. As Rock ballads go, this is up there with the best.
Def Leppard 3 Guns n Roses 1
"Pour Some Sugar on Me" vs "Mr. Brownstone"
The last song to be written and recorded for 'Hysteria' and the second single lifted. "Pour Some Sugar On Me" is (almost) the equal of "Animal" in swagger, professionalism in the delivery, but with added raunch.
"Mr Brownstone" is a thinly veiled reference to the drug of choice for certain members of the band, and describes a typical day in the life. Fine chorus, fine guitar solo, but like the last couple of tracks, just missing that certain "something".
Def Leppard 4 Guns n Roses 1
"Armageddon It" vs "Paradise City"
4 singles form a 12 track album might be pushing the bounds of acceptability, but that didn't stop this song - complete with terrible punning title - reaching the 7" format. OK, maybe it was the singles that pulled in the new crowd, kept the album selling, and kept the band on tour for nigh on 18 months.
"Paradise City" is that longed for "something else" on this album. From it's electric/acoustic introduction, pounding drums, and chanted introduction, it then gradually builds with trebly guitars and wobbling bass into a riffing monster with an arena pleasing chorus. Them Buns n Toasties boys can do a bit more than riffing and squawking. And the 2 minute crazy bat-shit play-out wins the point easily.
Def Leppard 4 Guns n Roses 2
"Gods of War" vs "My Michelle"
"Gods Of War" tries hard to be an epic, but just seems to fall back to the tried and trusted. It's almost lumpen it it's delivery, offering nothing new. A bit filler-y really.
Guns n Roses seem to have got the hang of an earworm-y chorus (short and sweet, not always fitting perfectly, but an earworm over 2 lines). It repeats the acoustic intro trick before going all heavy riffology.
Def Leppard 4 Guns n Roses 3
"Don't Shoot Shotgun" vs "Think About You"
Sometimes the Def Leppard tried and trusted, mixed with a bit of posturing just works - like here for example. This track is the closest to a left-over from 'Pyromania', but with more processing. It may not be mould breaking, but it just works.
"Think About You" is a fine track - a bit filler-y, but a fine track nonetheless. More cowbell?
I think it might actually be a draw, but there's just enough about "Shotgun" to give Def Leppard a point.
Def Leppard 5 Guns n Roses 3
"Run Riot" vs "Sweet Child o' Mine"
"Run Riot" matches it name chugging along at great pace. Only thing is it's stuck in the same furrow. Heard it all before, but the increase in pace is certainly welcome, and it does boast a nifty little guitar solo (twiddly-dee, but just the right side of histrionics).
"Sweet Child O' Mine" though - that riff, the solo, the soaring vocal, the breakdown section - everything about this track works. I doubt Guns n Roses ever bettered it.
Def Leppard 5 Guns n Roses 4
"Hysteria" vs "You're Crazy"
The strongest songs from 'Hysteria' (with the exception of "Armageddon It") were lifted as singles - and this, the title track, is a strong stand alone track.
Built on a chiming arpeggio, with Joe Elliot's best sultry vocal (not as strained as before, but still with a hint of US accent about it). The chorus, whilst not exactly shifting too much from the tone of the song, is just one of those epic(ish) moments of release (backing vocals are a bit weedy, but ...)
"You're Crazy" may be built on a riff you've heard a million times, and a bit of a sweary chorus, but it pummels away like a thing demented. The pogo-i-est song on the album.
Two very different things against each other, and I'm calling it a draw
Def Leppard 5.5 Guns n Roses 4.5
"Excitable" vs "Anything Goes"
The problem with "Excitable" is it belies it's title by not being very exciting at all. You just want it to do "something", go "somewhere" - it doesn't. It just plods along.
"Anything Goes" may not be the strongest song in the set, but it least it keeps the energy levels up. And the obligatory solo has a touch of Peter Frampton's talkbox about it. Which is (sort of) interesting - mentioning Peter Frampton at a Metal gig in 1987 may have got you thumped.
Def Leppard 5.5 Guns n Roses 5.5
"Love and Affection" vs "Rocket Queen"
Oh ... both these albums seem to be limping to a close. In the case of Def Leppard, the limp is a bit more pronounced, offering nothing really new after a bright start - the track turns into a bit of a re-hash (with different lyrics) of the title track from a couple of minutes ago.
"Rocket Queen" as at least saved by a mighty guitar solo part way through, and the desire (although not always delivered) to finish on a relative high. The Guns n Roses track is just the more enjoyable of the two, and at least it has a definite ending rather than just fading out to obscurity.
Def Leppard 5.5 Guns n Roses 6.5
"Rocket Queen" as at least saved by a mighty guitar solo part way through, and the desire (although not always delivered) to finish on a relative high. The Guns n Roses track is just the more enjoyable of the two, and at least it has a definite ending rather than just fading out to obscurity.
Def Leppard 5.5 Guns n Roses 6.5
Albums are all about balance - in the cases above it looks like Def Leppard went for front loading, whilst Guns n Roses backloaded (or, more correctly, middle loaded). This allowed a foothold that 'Hysteria' could not recover from (it nearly did, but fell just short on many fronts)
Animal
Sweet Child O' Mine
