Def Leppard's new album- "X" -release date & discussion
 

<center>http://www.defleppard.com/defleppard/img/splash.jpg
http://www.defleppard.com/defleppard...mg/x-cover.gif
July 24 (Japan)
July 30 (US/Canada)
August 5 (UK/international)</center>

TRACKLISTING:

1. NOW mp3 sample
2. UNBELIEVABLE mp3 sample
3. YOU'RE SO BEAUTIFUL mp3 sample
4. EVERYDAY mp3 sample
5. LONG, LONG WAY TO GO mp3 sample
6. FOUR LETTER WORD mp3 sample
7. TORN TO SHREDS mp3 sample
8. LOVE DON'T LIE mp3 sample
9. GRAVITY mp3 sample
10. CRY mp3 sample
11. GIRL LIKE YOU mp3 sample
12. LET ME BE THE ONE mp3 sample
13. SCAR mp3 sample
14. KISS THE DAY (UK & Japanese releases only)
15. LONG, LONG WAY TO GO (ACOUSTIC) (Japanese release only)

July 9 update: All soundclips revised

June 27 update: Exclusive site content? See 6/27 post.

June 25 update: message from Joe Elliott. See 6/25 post.

June 12 update: full tracklist

June 4 update: promo picture added below, possibly from inside CD cover. See 6/4 post.

June 3 update: tracklist and mp3 links above

:jawdrop:

Can't wait, Def Leppard rocks!

Def Leopard hasn't been any good since Pete Willis left the band.

Leave it to GuessWho to bring us such news. ;)

Hmmmmmmmm... I kinda got attached to Steve Clark and after his death stopped listening to their music. Their first album after he died wasn't too rockin'... ah well.

Looking forward to this -
Hysteria is still the best album EVER :)

Since no one else pays attention your DL posts I will give you a token bump. ;)

Now if you would have posted some pics of drunk female groupies from the Hagar/Roth show this thread would be booming!

I couldn't get the links to work, but I hit www.defleppard.com and listened from there. The clips were so short that it is hard to get a feel for the whole songs, but I am sure I will be purchasing this anyway. I am curious how it will sound as a whole due to the use of different producers. I hope they announce some more tour dates as well.

Correct - plus, I think we're getting the ends of a verse with the bridges... we probably still don't know what the chorus on these songs will be

Still more that a month to wait (assuming it doesn't end up on the internet) :(.

Looking forward to this album. Here's hoping that some songs leak out to kazaa or winmx in the coming weeks.

Joe Elliott's June 25 update... including how to pronounce "X"

6-25-02

Hello everybody, long time no speak!

As you can hopefully imagine, we've been incredibly busy for the last few months, leaving no time for personal get-togethers over the web site. However, I thought it was about time we did get together, so I could let you know what's been going on for the last while.

We finished mixing the album in London on the 7th of May 2002. We did the photo session during the mix, with a great photographer by the name of Clive Arrowsmith. He's been around for a long time but boy, does he still have it! Now, this guy shot the cover of "Band On The Run" for Wings back in '73, and "Play Don't Worry" for Mick Ronson in '74 (you don't have to be a rocket scientist to realize what that means to ME!!!!!). It was at Phil's insistence that we used Clive and what an inspired decision that was! In the past, we've been "advised" as to who we should use, sometimes much to our dissatisfaction. This time however, we are very happy with the way the photos look.

The same thing goes for the album artwork. We wanted something simple for the cover as, having decided on the title "X" ("TEN", not "EX" - well, it is our 10th album) we figured on something striking and to the point. We DID go round the houses for a while, but having had a spot of lunch with an old friend who quite simply said that it should be very plain, we decided that this simple approach was exactly what we'd been looking for. Poor old Todd!!!!!

Todd is Tod Perry, the sleeve designer who, for the last 4 months, had been bouncing ideas back and forth with me over a concept we had come up with. He had about one week to scrap all his hard work and re-design the sleeve. He has done an admiral job and deserves much credit for having to indulge 5 opinions from the band, as well as Marc at our management office. How Todd got the gig deserves a chapter on it's own, so we'll save that for another time!

On to the Music! I must admit to having a struggle when it comes to describing new Lepp stuff. Imagine: for the first few weeks, you're just too close to it. If you try and listen to it, all you do is come to a part of a song which might have been bothering you and you freeze! Wait till it passes and then carry on doing what you were doing (this is something only us and whoever produces it can ever experience). You have to "unlearn" all the bits that ever bothered you and that takes time! It does eventually go away and only then, you can listen to a new album impartially. Of course, by then, you're sick of it!!!!! Just kidding!

I like to think we've done a great job with this album. I know EVERYBODY says that when they put a new album out, but I haven't had this feeling for a long time, and I didn't have it instantly. It grew on me..... I'll admit to having doubts about certain things, but I've come to realize that it was only because I was too close to it. I have now "unlearned" and I hear it in a totally different way. I LOVE IT!!

I'm not going to go through every song, there's no point -- you'll make up your own minds when you hear it. I will say, however, that I think "NOW" is the right song to lead off with. It's not the most obvious first song, but it represents who we are in 2002 as well as any song could.

As I write this, we are in the middle of a press frenzy which, by recent standards, is unbelievable. So for all of you out there that have in the past complained about the lack of coverage we get, worry no more! By the time we've finished this round of interviews, we will have pretty much covered all the magazines you love to buy and more will be done. It wouldn't surprise me if we ended up in the "Vatican Weekly" the way this week is going!

We will be doing a "whistle stop" tour of 3 or 4 US cities late July to talk and play acoustically on some as of yet unconfirmed morning shows. Hmmmmmmmmm..... Singing at 7.30AM..... My favourite time of day..... NOT!!!!!

We're shooting the video for "Now" on Wednesday night (June 26), and as you may have gathered (check out the NEWS page), we desperately looked for old Lepp T-shirts! Why? I don't want to give too much away here, got to keep you guessing on a few things for a while !!!!

The gig in Kansas should be a hoot, we're pretty much rehearsed as much as we can be, the rest is up to the unknown equipment we'll be using, the vibe on the night and most importantly, any of you guys who can make it! You WILL hear new material, that's a promise!

Straight after the gig (oh, and the World Cup Final!) we head to Europe to give them a fair crack of the whip, presswise. Hey, as you know, if we don't do it, who'll ever know we have a new album out, right? This will go on for about 6 weeks! Only then can we have a short break before the full-on rehearsals for the tour which, by the looks of things, will start in November.

So, keep your ears and eyes open for the new stuff. "Now" should be on a radio station near you from this weekend onwards, so, if you don't hear it as often as you'd like, call in and request it! Word of mouth still works in this digital age - thank God!!!

Stay well, peace to you and yours, see you down the road somewhere soon.....

Joe XXXXX

Exclusive Web Content for X Owners

A restricted area with exclusive surprise content will be added the official site soon, that can only be unlocked with the "X" CD. The site will check the contents of the visitor's CD-ROM player, and access will be given only to those who have "X" in their CD-drive.

source: defleppard.senff.com

All 13 tracks now have MP3 samples!
(and the earlier samples have been revised to include the chorus)

see first post

Man, I would like to get back into Def Leppard. I just recently reacquired Hysteria which was one of the best albums of the 80's for me. I picked up Adrenalize the first day it was released but was very disappointed in it. I guess it just sounded too 'processed' to me. I haven't heard anything by Def Leppard since then except for the few songs (ballads) they had on the radio.

How does the new Def Leppard compare to the old? Do they still rock or have they turned more 'soft' if you know what I mean?

Listeing tot he clips posted above... I can best describe this album as a great Bryan Adams CD... Joe's voice is very BA-ish in these and the tone of the songs reminds me of BA's "18 Till I Die" album from 1996/97 or so

;

Wow, comparing it to the awful album is really mean. :)

I sure hope it's nothing like that. If they go in that direction there might not be an XI.

Has anyone heard the complete song "now" which is going to be the first single? I'd like to get some feedback on that tune.

Hmmm... went back and listened to the new clips. Far too many ballads for me, but understandable since that is all they will probably get any radio play for (if they get it at all). Joe just doesn't seem very vocally challenged with this one.

I will buy the cd anyway, out of loyalty if nothing else. I am interested in hearing the whole versions of Gravity and Cry. It sounds like they haven't totally given up the style on Slang.

My take on it as a old school Lep fan is that Slang was surprisingly good but Euphoria started with a great first 10 seconds and went straight downhill from there. I'm open to the new one but am not holding my breath.

I am one of the 15 people that liked Slang as well. I am a little saddened by the move to even more ballads though. Don't get me wrong, I like their ballads, but I like the songs that are harder more. Like I said, I don't know if they can get radio airplay for anything other than a ballad now though.

I'll still be a fan even if they are hopping around on stage in Depends though. I owe them that for all the great tunes they have put out so far.

Don't get me wrong. I loved Hysteria and Pyromania but I think High n Dry might be their rockin'est album.

Did I just say "Rockin'est"?

Huh, Huh you said Rockin'est :)


I tend to agree with that, although they were still a little raw on High n Dry. Overall, I prefer Pyromania and Hysteria. I could listen to them anytime, anyplace. In fact, I had a recent 16 hour road trip with nothing but DefLeppard music since I was by myself and could listen as loud as I wanted.

beavismom, did you just listen to pyro and Hysteria over and over?

While X is their 10th CD.... I have 40+ from them, and thats counting double CDs as 1. I could fill a very loooooong road trip. :D