Joe Elliott names “the last band that kicked the industry in the face”
Throughout the past few years, rock and roll has not been as vital as it was back in the 1960s. Although artists like Radiohead have been trying to expand the boundaries on every subsequent project, other genres like hip-hop, pop, and everything in between have been given a shot on the charts, with the rock and indie scenes competing with different styles to keep up with the times. While Joe Elliott has still been making the rounds with Def Leppard, he thinks only one band has had the most impact in the past 30 years.
When talking about his place in rock history, though, Elliott is more concerned with leaving as big a mark on the genre as he can. Throughout his time with the group, Elliott has talked about getting the band closer into the history books, wanting to be on the same level as acts The Rolling Stones and David Bowie.
While the band may have started as a part of the new wave of British heavy metal, their chance for stardom resulted in some of the biggest hair metal anthems of the 1980s, like ‘Hysteria’ and ‘Pour Some Sugar On Me’. Once the 1990s kicked off, Def Leppard’s brand of rock started to look slightly passe, with many artists gravitating to the rootsy sounds coming from Seattle, like Pearl Jam and Nirvana.
Although Elliott would steer Def Leppard into unchartered territory with the experimental album Slang, he did have massive respect for when the sounds of British rock started to enter the mainstream again. Out of the downfall of grunge, the Britpop explosion yielded one of the most significant surges in rock music since its golden age, with Oasis standing as its cultural leaders.
Being equally indebted to punk rock and classic rock, the songs by Noel Gallagher, combined with the trademark attitude of his brother Liam, became one of the foundational elements of the next generation, taking the building blocks of the old guard and creating something entirely new out of it.
Although Leppard may have continued with comebacks with albums like Euphoria, Elliott thought Oasis were one of the last examples of rock having an impact in the mainstream, saying, “Oasis is about the last band I can think of that came along [and] kicked the industry in the face. They were on the front page of the newspaper every day for 18 months. They had all the bad attitude that kids love. Music needs that every now and then.”
Even though rock has made various inroads into the mainstream with the post-grunge sounds of acts like Shinedown, Elliott thinks that that bad attitude is what makes the culture that much more critical. Given how contentious The Gallagher brothers could get fighting amongst each other, that constant tension created significant headlines that made every listener want to focus on their every move by the time they played their massive shows at Knebworth.
Although Def Leppard may operate as a happy family these days, Elliott knows that it takes a little more than just great tunes to impact the industry. It’s about keeping the music scene on its toes, and both Noel and Liam knew how to keep their audiences guessing every step of the way.
