Songs From The Sparkle Lounge - Dark Publications

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Album Description
BAND RETURNS WITH BRAND NEW STUDIO ALBUM
"SONGS FROM THE SPARKLE LOUNGE"
SET FOR RELEASE ON APRIL 29

Album Release Kicks Off With U.S. Spring Concert Tour!

Album Contains 11 NEW Original Songs Including the Single
"Nine Lives" Featuring Tim McGraw

Def Leppard, Great Britain's premiere arena rock band, is back with a bang--kicking off 2008 with the release of their 14th studio album and a U.S. arena concert tour scheduled for this spring. Entitled Songs From The Sparkle Lounge (Bludgeon Riffola/Island/UMe), the album contains 11 new songs including the highly-anticipated single "Nine Lives" featuring a groundbreaking collaboration with country music superstar Tim McGraw. Songs From The Sparkle Lounge is Def Leppard's first album of brand new material since 2002's X and begins yet another remarkable new chapter in the band's 30-year recording career.

Recorded last year during month-long stints at lead singer Joe Elliott's Dublin studio, the album's title refers to a backstage area called "The Sparkle Lounge" on Def Leppard's 2006 tour where the band would go to write songs. Tracks from the album have been described by the group as written in the style of Hysteria, with the production of High 'n' Dry.

"The whole record's got a great '70s feel," said lead singer Joe Elliott. "By our standards, it's a very different album as we've been very adventurous, musically, on certain numbers. On the album there are classic Def Leppard songs and then there's also tracks that are very new-wave influenced while others sound like middle-to-late '70s AC/DC. There will definitely be some moments on it where anybody that's familiar with our music will go, 'Whoa! I wasn't expecting that!'"

The foundation for the album's collaboration with country music superstar Tim McGraw was layed at Def Leppard's 2006 Hollywood Bowl show where McGraw joined the band on stage for an encore performance of "Pour Some Sugar on Me." The artists stayed in touch following the performance, and when the band started writing the song "Nine Lives" they immediately thought of reaching out to McGraw to sing on it. Guitarist Phil Collen flew to Nashville to play it for McGraw who loved it and recorded the song in Nashville shortly after. Other standout tracks on the album include "Go," reminiscent of the band's classic track "Rocket" in its power and aggressive tribal beat; "Love," an emotive and moving epic song; and the anthemic "Tomorrow," a song written by guitarist Collen about the death of his father.

With more than 65 million albums sold worldwide and two prestigious Diamond Awards to their credit, Def Leppard--Joe Elliott (vocals), Vivian Campbell (guitar), Phil Collen (guitar), Rick "Sav" Savage (bass) and Rick Allen (drums)--continues to be one of the most important forces in rock music. Over the course of their career, the band has produced a series of classic groundbreaking albums that set the sound for generations of music fans and artists. The group's spectacular live shows, filled with powerful melodic rock anthems, have become synonymous with their name and they are an institution in the touring industry as they continue to sell out arenas worldwide.

Album Description
UK pressing of the 2008 album from Great Britain's premiere Arena Rock band featuring one bonus track: 'Love' (Piano Version). This is Def Leppard's first album of brand new material since 2002's X and begins yet another remarkable new chapter in the band's 30-year recording career. Recorded last year during month-long stints at lead singer Joe Elliott's Dublin studio, the album's title refers to a backstage area called The Sparkle Lounge on Def Leppard's 2006 tour where the band would go to write songs. Tracks from the album have been described by the group as written in the style of Hysteria, with the production of High 'n' Dry. 11 new songs, including the highly-anticipated track, 'Nine Lives' featuring a groundbreaking collaboration with Country Music superstar Tim McGraw. Mercury.

Customer Reviews: Read 165 more reviews...

5 out of 5 stars

It finally happened again. An actual rock album from Def Leppard April 30, 2008
41 out of 48 found this review helpful

After X, I began to accept that we would never hear Lep rock quite like they did in the Pyomania Days. Sure, X had a couple rocking tracks like Cry and Scar, but mostly the songs were poppy and some that I don't care for at all that could've been written by Matchbox 20. Even Euphoria, which rocked fairly hard, tried to be too much like Hysteria.

I think Sparkle Lounge (despite the fairly lame album title) is the album that Def Leppard fans like me have been waiting for. It rocks. The last time I've heard so many rocking Lep tracks in one album was in Retro-Active, and half of those were covers. This just may be their hardest rocking outing since Pyro. And the band is in top form. Joe sounds fantastic, as always. It's amazing that after all these years he hasn't lost his range. The guitar work from Phil and Vivian is great. There are some good, memorable riffs on nearly every track, which is something X was missing. The production value is great as well.

I was hooked from Go. It is one of the best Def Lep tracks I've ever heard. I can't quite compare it to any other song of theirs, though I've tried. If I had to choose, I'd say it sounds a bit like something on Retroactive, like Desert Song combined with Ring of Fire. But it's fast, has a nice dark tone to it and it's heavy! I've never heard a song like Go from the band before and I love it.

The Single Nine Lives is good too, even being co-written by Tim Mcgraw. Luckily it's not a country song. It rocks and reminds me a bit of Armageddon It, though of course not as classic. Other tracks here are good too. C'mon C'mon has a nice pop-rock feel to it. Love is the only ballad on the album and it's a very different Lep ballad, with acoustic guitar parts that sound like Battle for Evermore from Zeppelin and some Queen-style choruses. And Bad Actress must be what's drawing the AC/DC comparison, and it's also a different track for them. There are a few songs that I don't care for as much as others (Hallucinate is okay, but sounds like a Euphoria leftover) but there's nothing here that's throw-away and the album is listenable through and through. And one of the best things is that for the most part, everything here is different from what we've heard before, though the album still remains Def Leppard.

For those who've complained that this band hasn't rocked in a long time, this may be the album you've been looking for.

5 out of 5 stars

No lounge songs here, folks April 29, 2008
26 out of 28 found this review helpful

Probably not since 1996's "Slang" have I been so satisfied with a Def Leppard album of original material. "Euphoria" from 1999 contains excellent tunes but is slightly mired down with some total clunkers at the start, while 2002's "X," though bravely seeking to navigate into pure pop-rock waters in the vain of the then-popular boy bands, is a bit limpid when compared to the entire Leppard catalog. Enter "Songs from the Sparkle Lounge," an album that has real hit potential for a band that deserves more accolades to come its way in this day and age.

With its splashy cover and a less curt title than most Def Leppard albums, "Sparkle Lounge" right away makes its presence felt -- and the in-yer-face music does not once disappoint. The first track, "Go," is a pure jolt of both retro and modern Def Lep energy and may have made a stronger lead-off single than "Nine Lives" with Tim McGraw, though that great song's crunchy guitar work, hand claps and various addictive choruses are ten times more real and fun than tunes such as the contrived "Let's Get Rocked" from "Adrenalize." Equally as elated-sounding is Rick Savage's glammy toe-tapper "C'mon, C'mon," apparently the band's next choice for a single, which could easily find a happy home in commercials, movies and arenas till the end of time. Savage also wrote the multi-dimensional "Love," which threw me for a bit of a loop. "Love" begins with a thunderous explosion but quickly subsides to beautiful flamenco-style guitar picking and Elliott's soft vocals, which at first come off as sappy. Luckily, though, "Love" actually turns out to be a creative piece that is somehow a concoction of Queen's extravagant vocals, The Beatles' easy melody and Leppard's militaristic guitar work wrapped into one.

Interestingly, the Leps mostly chose to forgo a collaborative songwriting process in favor of bringing individual projects to the table. Collen's soaring "Tomorrow" features a Bono-esque "hoo-hoo" rally at the start and a message of living for today, but it's his other tune, "Hallucinate," which qualifies as one of my favorites on the CD. The opening riff of "Hallucinate" is chunkier and bolder than "Photograph's" from the early 1980s, but Elliott's amazing vocals and the chorus within the song are what make it so special. Elliott, meanwhile, flaunts his rugged vocals, rollicking songwriting skills and intrepid attitude on the rough-and-tumble "Bad Actress" and the majestic but rocking "Come Undone," which is another favorite of mine.

Vivian Campbell, too, deserves credit for his songwriting work on "Cruise Control" and "Only the Good Die Young." The former song takes on the eerie point of view of a suicide bomber, while the latter is a sweet and deserving tribute to the legendary Steve Clark, whose dark but catchy riffs have managed to live on in Def Leppard's music. Uncannily, "Only the Good Die Young" is a cool mix of Beatles and old-school Leppard, which proves Campbell is an underrated weapon in the band, someone with a great voice and guitar-playing skills, and a guy who seems to bring a fresh approach.

Joe Elliott's voice is less raspy than in years past -- probably all the screaming and cigarettes over the years have taken their toll -- but his iron vocals are still on cue enough to more than get the job done. The underrated Phil Collen and Vivian Campbell are brilliant on this CD, pulling off stunning, fluid guitar solos everywhere, and Rick Allen's drum fills are so liquid-smooth that the guy must be receiving technical help somewhere. Nonetheless, this new approach to percussion on a Leppard album only enhances what is rapidly becoming a Hall of Fame career. Highly recommended.

5 out of 5 stars

def leppard awoke! they came back April 29, 2008
13 out of 13 found this review helpful

after listening to five of the new album "songs from the Sparkle Lounge",
i would have to say for the first time in a long long time def leppard got back the heavy guitar riffs and harmony that made male and even female fans remember the glory days of old when High N Dry was hot and Pyromania was king. I dont know how or what woke the band up, but they sound heavy.It is like Steve Clark is there along with original band mate Pete Willis of course not in form but in spirit. The Song "Go" is awesome! "Gotta Let it Go" is another great tune as is "Come Undone"."Bad Actress" has some feel to Hysteria or Pyromania days. I also think Leppard used some AC/DC sound ..that was well know from their 70s days like "Powerage", or "Let there be Rock" or even "Highway to Hell"-just the riffs i am speaking about. "Nine Lives" is also a cool track. "Hallucinate" sounds smooth just the beginning has that AC/DC sound as well as "Tomorrow". You be the judge. Take it from me a old-time Leppard fan, I think the boys got a hit album.

3 out of 5 stars

Songs From Mediocreville April 30, 2008
12 out of 27 found this review helpful

Although Def Leppard was mainly labeled as a heavy metal band, they never considered themselves that kind of a band. Even though High 'n' Dry, Pyromania, Hysteria, Slang seemed to borderline on the metal and progressive edge, their more recent efforts have truly shown their true source of affection - pop rock. While 'X' definitely was a boy band, glam, pop rock fest and one wondered if it wasn't a bunch of eighteen year olds writing the material, I don't know what to say about this latest offering. The opening track, 'Go' is a rocker and 'Nine Lives' rocks out a bit with some unusual collaboration with Tim McGraw, but the rest of the album is a take it or leave it. For the die hard fans this would be a keeper as evidenced by their 5 star reviews and just happy to have some original material from the band, but at what cost. Does this really cover any new ground and does it really hearken back to the days of Hysteria as in some pre-release statements about the album? Probably not. The case would be far from it from my point of view only. While some like the individual aspects as far as song writing from all the members, that doesn't necessarily mean that a great album can come forth. Just because you're in a band doesn't mean that whatever you put forth onto the album is going to be good. Basically, I would consider this a good pop-rock album and nothing even resembling past days and that doesn't mean that I'm trying to compare which is sometimes difficult to do when Def Leppard has had some monumental albums. Here it is only a sampling of 3-4 minute songs and the band can't even get beyond that. While they said no ballads, what do they do? They throw the song 'Love' on it and you can argue against that it's not a ballad, but face it, for most people the tempo of the song is going to constitute it as a ballad. So, for me, this album, while filled with short, new material, it's too short and way too focused on the pop side of the industry and really lacking any sort of depth from the age that the band is now in, in their life. With these group of band mates they could have done so much more (at least get the album up to 50-60 minutes for the fans), but once again they have limited themselves and not thought outside of the box to make a truly dazzling album. For me, I will give credit when credit is due on any release, but this just isn't up too par for a five star review.

1 out of 5 stars

Nothing to sink your teeth into! April 29, 2008
9 out of 45 found this review helpful

I would rate this album as if I had never heard this band before. I can tell you there is no decade in rock that this album would ever find a label to produce it. The slow songs are lifeless and the faster songs are terrible as any generic 80's band you would ever want to hear. Def Leppard became popular for a reason, with High & Dry and Pryromania they put out some hard rockin albums with fantastic songs and incredible guitar playing. The songs were so catchy, you couldnt help but get into it (snap your fingers, tap your feet, or get up and dance). This album couldn't lift up anyone even if it used a crane. The songs are poorly written musically, the production is crappy. I don't understand why Def leppard keeps putting out albums?? They had their day with INCREDIBLE albums like High N Dry, Pyromania, and Hysteria! They had some good releases like Adrenalize, Retroactive, and even some surprises like Euphoria which had some great songs like Paper Sun and Promises. But no doubt about it, Songs From The Sparkle Lounge is their worst CD ever! Die hard fans posting great reviews on this website arent fooling anyone a bit. This stuff is highly forgettable!

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