Home > Music > CD Review > Def Leppard, 'Songs from the Sparkle Lounge'

Def Leppard, 'Songs from the Sparkle Lounge'

‘80s hard rockers are still searching for a 21st century identity

By Kirk Miller

Metromix
April 29, 2008

Critic's Rating:

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Backstory: Although it may be the most successful hard rock band of all time (65 million records sold and counting), Def Leppard has been stuck in an identity crisis since the death of guitarist Steve Clark in 1991 and the band’s disassociation from producer Mutt Lange, who helped shaped the group's trademark sound (think big guitars, big choruses, big dumb lyrics). The U.K. rockers' more recent albums have seen Joe Elliott and company test out alt-rock, straight-ahead pop (with the aid of boy band producer Max Martin), ‘70s rock covers and the ever-popular "return to their roots." The result? Well, just try to name a DL song that came out after "Love Bites."
 
Why you should care: We didn't say those recent albums were bad. Def Lep can still create the monster chorus and perfect guitar riff—opening track "Go," one of the heaviest songs they've ever written, is proof of that. On "Sparkle Lounge," the guys are still experimenting, never quite deciding if they want to produce Gary Glitter–esque glam rock ("C'mon C'mon"), Queen-ish opera ("Love"), Bono-style anthems ("Tomorrow," which sounds like the band memorized U2's "Bad") or…country? The first single from this set, "Nine Lives," features Tim McGraw and makes a strong case that modern day CMT fare is basically twanged-up pop-metal.
 
Verdict: Despite an interesting start and a lot of new sounds, "Sparkle" meanders in its second half and never establishes a sound in its beginning. And we'll leave the lyrics (“Baby, baby/Take a ride of a lifetime/Thrill me, kill me/Won't you send me a loveline") to be examined on another day.
 
X-Factor: About that title: several of the songs here came out of jam sessions started backstage at concerts. The "sparkle" part references the jam area's "sparkly" lights.