Def Leppard have released their 12th studio album, Diamond Star Halos, featuring 15 new songs from the British legends.
We previously heard the singles “Kick,” “Take What You Want,” and “Fire It Up,” tunes that check all the Def Lep boxes: catchy hooks, melodic guitar lines, and an upbeat and positive attitude, plus a nod to ’70s glam rock. The rest of the new LP promises more of the same, as the veteran band shows no signs of slowing down after four-plus decades.
Heavy Consequence recently interviewed Joe Elliott and Phil Collen about the new record, which the band recorded entirely remotely. It was all orchestrated by engineer and co-producer Ronan McHugh. Like an audio puzzle master, he assembled the various band members’ multitracks into the finished songs we can now hear on the album.
“Once we brought [McHugh] into the equation and said, ‘This is how we’re planning on doing it,’ he said, ‘Piece of piss. Easy. No problem,’” said Joe Elliott. “He’s got his own studio, and as he got each song as a demo, he would build a session. We would send everything to him, and he would glue it all together.”
Def Leppard will surely be premiering some of the new songs live when they embark on their higly anticipated North American stadium tour with Mötley Crüe. The 36-date outing kicks off June 16th in Atlanta, with Poison, Joan Jett, and Classless Act rounding out a stacked bill. Get tickets to all upcoming shows via Ticketmaster.
Stream Diamond Star Halos below and pick up a copy via Amazon.