The album Def Leppard were convinced “no one” would like
Most artists tend to get a blockbuster album only once in their career. If you’ve got a handful of decent singles, you can typically soldier on for a few more years, but it all comes down to what you can do when you enter the studio to crank out a classic. While Def Leppard somehow managed to pull off the impossible by equalling the success of their smash hit Pyromania, they were convinced that no one was going to buy their album in the age of alternative rock.
I mean, after looking at Def Leppard’s appearance in their prime, it’s pretty clear they had no business going into the age of flannel. These were guys that seemed to live and die in the arena, and with the arenas now being populated by kids in flannel shirts singing about their inner feelings, the same guys whose biggest hit was a sleazy stadium rock anthem about sex wasn’t going to cut it anymore.
To the band’s credit, they kicked off the 1990s in style right before the ground was about to shift. After losing guitarist Steve Clark to alcoholism, their album Adrenalize was just what it was supposed to be: the next record. Despite songs like ‘Let’s Get Rocked’ and ‘Have U Ever Needed Someone So Bad’ getting decent airplay, no one had time for them once Nirvana blew up.
Also, working without the help of production wonder Mutt Lange, the band thought it was time to reinvent themselves yet again. Since they had started in the world of hard rock and graduated to making pop marvels like ‘Love Bites’ and ‘Pour Some Sugar On Me’, surely they could throw on some raggedy clothes and become with the kids again, right?
Well…not exactly. While most artists of Leppard’s ilk fell flat on their faces the minute they tried to go alternative, Slang at least has the makings of a decent record in it. Going back to the live vocal take and not layering as many vocals on top of each other, the entire album feels more like a rootsy rock record than anything the band had made in the 1980s.
That was the entire point of the album in the first place. When talking about recording every track, frontman Joe Elliott said that the goal was to not go back to the same tired formulas, telling Behind the Music, “It wasn’t so much about trying to copy Pearl Jam or Nirvana. It was more about not copying ourselves”.
Then again, who the hell was going to buy that the same guys who sang about sex, drugs, and rock and roll now are about to get serious? Garnering some of the slowest sales of Leppard’s career, Slang remains one of the most profoundly weird entries in their catalogue, as if they wanted to satisfy both their hardcore fans and the grunge crowd at the same time.
Whereas the rest of the band was willing to experiment, guitarist Vivian Campbell admitted years later that the writing was on the wall, explaining, “I remember going, ‘We’re spending a fortune here, and no one’s going to buy this record’”. Even though Campbell contributed to some of the album’s highlights, like ‘Work It Out’, it wasn’t long before the band shed their skin again.
On the next album, Euphoria, Leppard tried their best to give the fans what they wanted again, making a record that fell in line with their classic sound. They may have made the same mistake of changing on their next album, X, but Slang is still one of the most stark pivots that a hard rock band has ever made to change with the times.
