Def Leppard Album: “On Through the Night”

4.5 Stars

If someone played you "On Through the Night," without telling you who it was at first, you may be very surprised to learn that it's Def Leppard's debut album. Released in early 1980, before the band hooked up with its sixth unofficial member, producer John "Mutt" Lange, "On through the Night" sounds nothing like any other album in the British quintet's catalogue. While Def Leppard, along with Van Halen, proved to be the decade's innovators, more or less in inventing the formula known as "pop-metal," on their debut, Def Leppard was just another band from the NWOBHM (New Wave of British Heavy Metal). In addition, with a hint of blues-based metal and Jimmy Page-esque riffs and arraignments, there is a clear influence of Led Zeppelin on "On Through the Night." Tom Allom, who produced such Judas Priest classics as "British Steel" (1980) and "Screaming for Vengeance," (1982) was on board for "On Through the Night" and it shows.

While Def Leppard's debut is somewhat derivative of Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, and Led Zeppelin, it's still an excellent album. The thing that immediately strikes the listener is how young the band sounds. At the time of its release, the members of Def Leppard were in their late teens and early 20s. The band sounds so youthful, so hungry, and so wanting to rock. Singer Joe Elliot sounds great, doing the best Robert Plant/Rob Halford/Bon Scott impersonation that anyone could hope for. Guitarists Steve Clarke (lead) and Pete Willis (rhythm) provide tremendous instrumental firepower. While their playing isn't groundbreaking, they sound alive and invigorated. Steve Clarke shows early on that he was "the riff-master," delivering killer song after song. "On Through the Night" may be a little unoriginal, but the riffs and solos are fully captivating and effective. Bassist Rick Savage and drummer Rick Allen provide an exciting and dynamic rhythm section.

On "On Through the Night," the band just plain sounds good. One thing going for this album is that it sounds very live. There aren't a lot of overdubs, it sounds as though the band just went into the studio, cut an album in a few takes, and that was that.

A lost Leppard classic, the opening "Rock Brigade" takes no prisoners and makes the band's ambitions to play the arenas known. It sounds almost like a sped-up version of "Good Times, Bad Times" from Led Zeppelin I (1969). An early hit, "Hello America" shows even without Mutt Lange, the band's innate pop-sensibility. As others have noted, the light keyboards add a nice effect. Led Zeppelin again makes its influence known with the hard-rocking-but-bluesy "Sorrow is a Woman." "It could be you," with its echoing vocals and Jimmy Page inspired riff, sounds a lot like Led Zeppelin's "The Immigrant Song," as noted by others. The melodic, metallic "Satellite," sounds as though it came right from Judas Priest's "Hell Bent for Leather" (1980) album. Def Leppard comes very close to Spinal Tap country with the Iron Maiden/Dungeons and Dragons mythological epic "When the Walls Came Tumbling Down." It's a little silly, and dated, but the song rocks hard and is effective. "On Through the Night" goes into full-out heavy metal mode with the blistering "Wasted." Judas Priest again rears it influence with the slightly generic "Rocks Off." While not a great song, it's good and keeps up the momentum. "It don't Matter," gets the album back on track with its engrossing, mild-mannered verse that builds up into a satisfying melodic chorus. "Answer to the Master" is another good-but-not-great Zeppelin inspired mid-paced rocker. The album ends triumphantly with the majestic "Overture," which sounds like a cross between "Stairway to Heaven" and Boston's "More than a Feeling."

When people think of Def Leppard, they undoubtedly think of such classics as "Pyromania," (1983) and "Hysteria," or the stink-bomb "Adrenalize" (1992). "On Through the Night," and its equally underrated follow-up "High and Dry," (1982) have unfortunately been overlooked and remain lost gems. While "On Through the Night" isn't the most groundbreaking or original album in the world, it's still a fine CD that fans of Def Leppard and rock in general should check out.

If you're looking for slick production, ballads, and the other stuff that made Hysteria and Adrenalize "distinctive" and "groundbreaking", you won't find them here. Does it matter? No.

It won't matter when you feel compelled to headbang to the opening riffs of "Rock Brigade" and "Wasted". It won't matter when the riffs on "It Could Be You" or "Answer to the Master" kick in. It don't matter, it don't matter, it don't matter to me... sorry.

There might be one weak song on here (When The Walls Came Tumbling Down), but even that would have been "Hysteria"'s best song, had it been done on that album. Joe Elliot's singing isn't all that great, and his smooth voice doesn't seem to match to the raw, un-produced band. This is a minor complaint, though. Pete Willis and Steve Clark definitely steal the show with all those notes (Rock Brigade's riff is 21 notes, and all 21 stick in your head, proving that a riff doesn't need to be simple to be catchy. But hey, try telling that to Gene Simmons).

Breakdown:

Rock Brigade 10/10 This euphoric, fist-pumping riff kicks the album off in style, instantly making itself the best song. Def Leppard is in command, rocking harder than they ever would again... except for a little thing called High'N'Dry.

Hello America 8/10 Catchy at first, but it doesn't have the substance of the other songs on the album. Heck, there's even a synthesizer part on the chorus.

Sorrow is a Woman 8.5/10. The album's only ballad. The acoustic verses suck, of course, but when the chorus hits, it hits hard. Not only does it hit hard, it also sounds very melancholy at the same time, fitting the song title.

It Could Be You 9/10 Awesome descending scale or whatever you call it. Who else but On Through the Night-era Def Leppard would have the gall to write such a simple riff - with so many notes? The echoing choruses aren't all that great, but everything else makes up for it.

Satellite 8/10. I don't really know what to make of or how to describe this song. It's not really all that good, if you think about it, but the song is written so that you don't think about it, you're too busy listening.

When the Walls Came Tumbling Down 7.5/10 Sound effects, no riff, and a standard galloping drumbeat do not really make a song good. You can't blame Def Leppard for trying, though. And yes, that chorus is good, why don't they repeat it more?

Wasted 10/10 Not only is that riff downright awesome, this song is their version of Metallica's "Seek and Destroy", a song that their old fans still love and revere, even when the artist has moved on to worse albums and better media coverage.

Rocks Off 8.5/10 It's a cool song (sounds like it was supposed to be the b-side to Wasted), but for some reason it doesn't stick in my head like some of the other songs do.

It Don't Matter 9.5/10 Reminds me a lot of AC/DC. I can definitely imagine Bon Scott singing the verse, but not the chorus. That and the opening riff (15 notes) separate it from that "other" band from Australia.

Answer to the Master 8.5/10 Hey! It's "It Could Be You" played backwards! The verses are good, though, a little better than "It Could Be You".

Overture 8/10. They set out to write an epic here. It might have worked, except there was no one to stop them from putting in generic guitar parts, making it 8 minutes of extremely high-quality filler.

High'N'Dry is better, one of the all-time best albums, but this is extremely good, too. It's too bad that they had to move with the trends instead of staking out their own sound. Sure they did eventually do that, but in that case, "their own sound" turned out to be cheesy bubblegum rock. Highly recommended!

From the heavily distored opening riffs off 'Rock Brigade,' to the slow building and fading of the closing song 'Overture,' there are sensational guitar solos, some amazing druming, and catchy lyrics, set against an all around "Stop, Drop, and Rock" album. This was produced in an abandoned warehouse in December of 1979 and released the following month. The minimal production is almost non-apparent, and one of the only indications that Def Leppard was running on a very low budget was the absent of there trademark Byzantine guitar layering. But a harder, rawer, sound is what makes this album so esential. Much darker and heavier than any effort after 1983's "Pyromania," this album is the reason why I consider Def Leppard, together with such late 70's-early 80's bands as Motley Crue and Van Halen to be one of the main influences on later eighties bands like Poison and Cinderella to name a few. This album has a little of eveything on it: No-holds-barred arena rock can be found on 'Rock Brigade,' 'Hello America,' the live cut of 'Rocks Off,' and 'Satellite.' There is evidence of almost poetic lyrics in 'Answer to the Master,' (My favorite song off the album) and 'When the Walls Came Tumbling Down,' (Which starts off like an english fairy tale narrated by Richard Kyle and progresses in an almost Metallica like prophecy of doom) 'Wasted,' is about a man driven to an almost suicidal drug addiction by a woman, a song that would later come eerily true when their first lead guitarist Steve Clark O.D.'d on Pills and Alcohol. Tracks like 'Sorrow is a Woman,' and 'It Don't Matter,' are angrier and up-tempo precursors to the later hits 'Bringin' on the Heartbreak,' and 'Love Bites.' Overture is Def Leppard's longest song to this date, the guitars fade in and out of complex riffs and slow, melodic, notes. And then there's 'It Could Be You,' non a bad effort, but not remarkable either. The only "C" song in a plethora of "A's."

The only thing missing from this CD are the Ballads for which Def Leppard is most famous. But when you are ready to crank it up and get your 'Rocks Off' this the album to do it. And it should definately be in the collection of any Heavy Metal fan. And in fact, just so fans can get an idea of what Def Leppard is truly capable of this album should be sold, as is, along with "Vault," for it is one of their best.

As you can tell by the title of this review, this album sounds NOTHING like Def Leppard. It is their debut album recorded in December 1979 and released in January 1980. This album is pure metal (pure metal by 1979-80 standards anyway). Joe sings a lot deeper on this album. Rick, of course, has both arms and he is a god on this album. Later, his drumming would become more simplistic, even before he lost his left arm. Whats more, is that Rick was only 17 on this album! Anyway on to the album.

1.Rock Brigade-The second I heard this I had to make sure this was Def Leppard I was listening to. Yep Leppard can rock. It'd be cool if Leppard opened their concerts with this one. Man just dig that solo.

2.Hello America-An early Lep single. I love that opening riff into the song. This song would be cool to play on a USA tour hence the title.

3.Sorrow is a Woman-An early ballad with some slow parts mixed with some nice rock interludes. Some of Rick's best drumming ever

4.It Could Be You-Generic rocker. Nothing more nothing less

5.Satellite-One of Lep's heaviest. A nice catchy chorus.

6.When the Walls...-Great acoustic opening. But dont be fooled this starts to rock away before you know it. But its pretty bland compared to others

7.Wasted-Another single. Right away from the opening riff you can tell the boys hit home with this rocker.

8.Rocks Off-Nah I didnt really enjoy this song. Dont let the ... audience fool you this is a pretty bland rocker.

9.It Dont Matter-Killer opening riff. This song doesnt quite cut it compared to others but it still have you nodding your head right along.

10.Answer to the Master-Has a pretty unique beat. Good little drum interlude at about 1:15 and a KILLER solo beginning at 1:45

11.Overture-Ah the centerpiece. A killer seven minute closer. Id like to see Lep's pop fans stomach this. Its so full of tempo changes it made my head spin.

Ah what an album. It has its clunkers but it still rocks (why do you think i gave it five stars). ... they dont play this stuff anymore (not even in concert) but we will always have this album for memories. I like some of their pop stuff but theres no argument that their crowning achievement was right here before the girls, money, music videos, and records that went a million times platinum. This is truly the heart and soul of Def Leppard.

In almost every interview Joe Elliot has done since about 1987 he says this is his least favorite Def Leppard album. He's even gone so far as to say he hates it. I have NO idea why. It's great. Better than most of their post "Arenalize" music, IMO. You can hear on this album why Def Leppard were originally considered part of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal (along with Iron Maiden, Diamond Head, et al). You can also hear the melodic side too, which makes their transition to a "pop metal" band not all that surprising. Still, if you like early 80's hard rock, this is one of the best of the first half of the decade.