UPDATE: Def Leppard inducted to UCR Rock Hall of Fame

[DLManiac]

UPDATE: September 3, 2014 DEF LEPPARD Inducted


From UCR:

It wasn’t even close. Def Leppard trounced all over Van Halen to snag a spot in the Ultimate Classic Rock Hall of Fame. The Brits conquered the Americans with more than 62 percent of the vote.

Along the way, classic artists like Motley Crue, Ozzy Osbourne, the Police and U2 were left bloodied and beaten in this latest battle to see who would earn a spot beside Rush, Fleetwood Mac, Pink Floyd, the Beatles and other legendary bands in our Hall of Fame.
Def Leppard were formed in Sheffield, England, just as the ’70s turned into the ’80s, and released their first album, ‘On Through the Night,’ in 1980. Three years later, they released their third album, ‘Pyromania,’ and they became stars overnight. The album went multi-platinum and spawned the radio staples ‘Photograph’ and ‘Rock of Ages.’

But it was their next album, four long years in the making, that turned them into a powerhouse hit machine. ‘Hysteria‘ stayed at No. 1 for six weeks, sold several million more copies than its predecessor and unleashed a couple years’ worth of massive hits, including ‘Pour Some Sugar on Me,’ ‘Love Bites’ and ‘Armageddon It.’

Despite some bumps along the way — drummer Rick Allen lost an arm in a car accident in 1984 and guitarist Steve Clark died of alcohol-related respiratory failure in 1991 — the band has proved quite durable, releasing a string of successful albums (1992′s ‘Adrenalize’ also hit No. 1) and tours.

We welcome Def Leppard to the 100 percent fan-voted Ultimate Classic Rock Hall of Fame. Congratulations!

UPDATE: September 1: Def Leppard have unofficially won with the poll closing with Def Leppard over 24% ahead of Van Halen.

UPDATED: August 25, 2014 for Final Round



ultimateclassicrock.com/def-leppard-vs-van-halen/

After defeating Iron Maiden by around 9% in round one, Def Leppard beat U2 by 14% in the second round of August 2014 Ultimate Classic Rock Hall Poll.

Now, they take on the Mighty Van Halen!

This will definitely be the toughest round yet, and for good reason. Van Halen has stepped in on one of these to promote themselves on Facebook before, to over 5 million followers.

As of posting Def Leppard is at 54% so let's keep voting to keep them in the lead.

You can vote once an hour until the voting closes on September 1st.

[andylgr]

The Police and U2??? If they're classic rock then I'm a chinaman.

And realistically Leps paired with Iron Maiden is a tough one to call, as they have a much better history than Leppard around the world.

[DLManiac]

It's all about who has a bigger fanbase on UCR, and which bands get into it. (Foreigner was inducted last month with the help of their official Facebook page promoting it.) I think that Def Leppard fans are more likely to be on UCR because the are more similar to the rest of the bands that UCR regularly promotes, whereas Iron Maiden is a little more metal-y

[jasonninelives]

They both should be in!!!!!

[edwardcreighton]

Just voted, see Lepps are winning, bit of a surprise, thought Maiden's fans would be more rabid than Leppard. That said when i saw Leppard bulldoze over Kiss this summer, the lines for Kiss merch and number of people wearing Kiss t-shirts was bigger than Lepps, but the crowd reaction, especially in Nashville, for Leppard far exceeded that for Kiss.

[DLManiac]

UPDATED: August 18, 2014 for Round 2


Please see original post above, edited for reflections of round 2 vs U2 after Def Leppard defeated Iron Maiden in round one.

[DLManiac]

DL Is at 55%, and Van Halen has pulled ahead of Motley Crue and now at 52%

Will be interesting to see how this turns out

[DLManiac]

UPDATED: August 25, 2014 for Final Round



ultimateclassicrock.com/def-leppard-vs-van-halen/

After defeating Iron Maiden by around 9% in round one, Def Leppard beat U2 by 14% in the second round of August 2014 Ultimate Classic Rock Hall Poll.

Now, they take on the Mighty Van Halen!

This will definitely be the toughest round yet, and for good reason. Van Halen has stepped in on one of these to promote themselves on Facebook before, to over 5 million followers.

As of posting Def Leppard is at 54% so let's keep voting to keep them in the lead.

You can vote once an hour until the voting closes on September 1st.

[DLManiac]

Well Def Leppard is still up by more than 10% which is fantastic... Hopefully it stays that way.


Funny comment even though I believe it to be false:

Ryan T Russell · Top Commenter · Wilmington, Delaware
I guarantee you there is some Def Leppard fan forum that is sending people to this site to stuff the ballot box. How on God's green earth can they possibly beat VH? I am not a Def Leppard hater. I own their 1st six albums and still listen to the 1st three to this day. But come on, they don't touch Van Halen in any category. VH is a better live act, a deeper and more consistent catalogue, more influential etc etc
Reply · Like · 2 · Follow Post · August 26 at 8:16am

[dsmithkma]

There sure are a lot of whiny VH fans over there, well, whining.

One huge difference is VH was/is always about Eddie. DL has/is always been about the whole band.

[Deleted]

Aug 29, 2014 6:11:41 GMT -8 dsmithkma said:

There sure are a lot of whiny VH fans over there, well, whining.

One huge difference is VH was/is always about Eddie. DL has/is always been about the whole band.

Ask Roth and he'll have a different answer lol

[DLManiac]

Aug 29, 2014 8:28:03 GMT -8 @blair said:

Aug 29, 2014 6:11:41 GMT -8 dsmithkma said:

There sure are a lot of whiny VH fans over there, well, whining.

One huge difference is VH was/is always about Eddie. DL has/is always been about the whole band.

Ask Roth and he'll have a different answer lol

Yeah I think all of the Sammy haters attest to the fact that Roth alone was a huge deal.

[tryingtofigureitout]

Aug 28, 2014 23:44:12 GMT -8 DLManiac said:

Well Def Leppard is still up by more than 10% which is fantastic... Hopefully it stays that way.


Funny comment even though I believe it to be false:

Ryan T Russell · Top Commenter · Wilmington, Delaware
I guarantee you there is some Def Leppard fan forum that is sending people to this site to stuff the ballot box. How on God's green earth can they possibly beat VH? I am not a Def Leppard hater. I own their 1st six albums and still listen to the 1st three to this day. But come on, they don't touch Van Halen in any category. VH is a better live act, a deeper and more consistent catalogue, more influential etc etc
Reply · Like · 2 · Follow Post · August 26 at 8:16am

Thanks for reminding me to vote again (8th time today).. ROCK ON

[DLManiac]

Aug 30, 2014 18:54:38 GMT -8 tryingtofigureitout said:

Aug 28, 2014 23:44:12 GMT -8 DLManiac said:

Well Def Leppard is still up by more than 10% which is fantastic... Hopefully it stays that way.


Funny comment even though I believe it to be false:

Ryan T Russell · Top Commenter · Wilmington, Delaware
I guarantee you there is some Def Leppard fan forum that is sending people to this site to stuff the ballot box. How on God's green earth can they possibly beat VH? I am not a Def Leppard hater. I own their 1st six albums and still listen to the 1st three to this day. But come on, they don't touch Van Halen in any category. VH is a better live act, a deeper and more consistent catalogue, more influential etc etc
Reply · Like · 2 · Follow Post · August 26 at 8:16am

Thanks for reminding me to vote again (8th time today).. ROCK ON

Thanks for voting! Pulled into an 18% lead now!

[Shawn]

Aug 30, 2014 20:28:19 GMT -8 DLManiac said:

Aug 30, 2014 18:54:38 GMT -8 tryingtofigureitout said:

Thanks for reminding me to vote again (8th time today).. ROCK ON

Thanks for voting! Pulled into an 18% lead now!

you have no idea how much pleasure i'm getting out of that lol

bunch of roth fans home scratching their heads

[DLManiac]

Aug 30, 2014 20:38:58 GMT -8 Shawn said:

Aug 30, 2014 20:28:19 GMT -8 DLManiac said:

Thanks for voting! Pulled into an 18% lead now!

you have no idea how much pleasure i'm getting out of that lol

bunch of roth fans home scratching their heads

Oh it's fantastic! All the DL fans go, vote and say "Oh cool" then leave. The VH fans go and vote and then say "WTF HAPPENED" hahaha and then sit there and complain

[Sandgrounder]

Is everyone still voting or is it just me ?!!!

[Shawn]

Sept 1, 2014 8:57:21 GMT -8 Sandgrounder said:

Is everyone still voting or is it just me ?!!!

non stop lol.. i refuse to let VH Fans win this lol

[tryingtofigureitout]

Sept 1, 2014 8:57:21 GMT -8 Sandgrounder said:

Is everyone still voting or is it just me ?!!!

Still Voting!  Def Leppard 69.97 and VH 30.03!!  AWESOME!  

[Sandgrounder]

VH are climbing so get voting !!!

[Shawn]

Ok .... do you have one more vote left in you for this Poll? Def Leppard vs Van Halen? I really want to bury them in this.... The Poll ends in 7 hours so a couple of more nails in the coffin will help get the point across
ultimateclassicrock.com/def-leppard-vs-van-halen/

[Deleted]

Just voted again

[Deleted]

And another from me, the vh fans arent taking this well at all

[DLManiac]

POLL CLOSED!!!!

Def Leppard has unofficially won! The poll has closed with Def Leppard ahead of Van Halen by over 24%

Expect a new post by UCR about this tomorrow...

[andylgr]

Aug 28, 2014 23:44:12 GMT -8 DLManiac said:

Ryan T Russell · Top Commenter · Wilmington, Delaware
I guarantee you there is some Def Leppard fan forum that is sending people to this site to stuff the ballot box. How on God's green earth can they possibly beat VH? I am not a Def Leppard hater. I own their 1st six albums and still listen to the 1st three to this day. But come on, they don't touch Van Halen in any category. VH is a better live act, a deeper and more consistent catalogue, more influential etc etc
Reply · Like · 2 · Follow Post · August 26 at 8:16am

VH a better live band - Maybe when you were comparing both bands back in the early 80's (when they still had Roth in his prime), but not since then IMO.

Deeper catalogue - Does that mean less songs that people know? Seriously I only own their greatest hits. VH with DLR for me fall firmly in to that bracket of its better to burn out than fade away, because he packed it in at their peak people want that line up back and the nostalgia factor for them is huge.

More influential - Thats subjective, on the one had you had EVH who inspired a generation of guitarists and DLR who has inspired Michael Starr a generation of vocalists in their look. Yet Leppard inspired a whole musical movement of copycats once Pyromania was a hit. Did VH music do that?? I don't know.

[Deleted]

how many comments on this poll are people going "Oh, Def Leppard lost their edge after the first 2 albums"......I never could understand that. Is it just jealously because they sold so many records between 83 and 88? Or am I blind because I'm a die hard?

[TurnToDust86]

I don't think either band deserves to 'lose' in this case. Each one deserves to win in their own right.

I can certainly see the argument for Van Halen defeating DL. To many, especially the common casual fan, DL's hits are essentially limited to two albums (commonly misconstrued as a four year period when we all know it took a lot longer than that to get all those singles out). Whereas Van Halen had their biggest hits spread from 1978-1996 with a maximum of four from one album. So it can certainly give the perception of a 'deeper' catalogue than Def Leppard. Having listened to all DL albums and all VH albums (minus III) and (not surprisingly) I feel DL has more quality album cuts than VH. VH might have the upper hand strictly in the number of hit singles they have though.

Van Halen as a live band is pretty legendary as well... Especially, once again, through the end of the first Hagar era. Since then, it has had its ups and downs IMO. The Hagar reunion was a disaster and while the current incarnation sounds great, Roth leaves a lot to be desired as a live singer (but who is really there to hear him sing?). When I saw them in 2012, it was a great show, but the first thing I did when I got in the car was listen to Mirror Ball because I needed to hear a singer that does the songs justice.

Both bands are in the ever famous two diamond studio album club. Either band could have the edge in that category depending on how you look at it... DL did it back to back, which is certainly a feat, whereas VH did it 8 years apart. Granted DL didn't get their second one until the 2000's...

DL certainly deserves credit for their sales in the 80's and their reputation as a live act throughout their entire career. As mentioned by others, Eddie Van Halen is influential to who knows how many guitarists (Phil included) but DL essentially caused a movement with one album. Perhaps if that movement didn't evolve into the hairband thing, they would be looked upon more favorably.

Some VH fans can judge DL for their output after HND or after Pyro or after Hysteria all they want, just as we can judge VH for their output after 1984. I guess it comes down to Leppard having massive success in a relatively short period versus Van Halen having moderate to big success over a longer period.

Michael Starr

[DLManiac]

And all the people complaining that Def Leppard is too pop...

"Jump" is way more pop-y than anything Def Leppard has released. And then there is all sorts with the Sammy era...

[Dan]

I'm glad Def Leppard won of course but this was tough match up. To me Def Leppard is a talented band while Van Halen is a group of personalities with amazing talent.

Eddie's skill and influence on guitarists; Roth and Hagar's influence on lead singers is without doubt. But as a regular person just listening to music, I listen to the song not the players. I believe EVH makes music for musicians. It's great on a technical level and can be most appreciated by those that understand the skill of playing guitar. It's lost on me as a common listener. The pairing with the other band members creates the music that wins over audiences. Don't take this the wrong way as it's not a knock on Van Halen at all. It's the combination that makes the success.

Def Leppard are more of a cohesive unit. No one individual dominates the scene. They work best as a whole. It's part of why I'm looking forward to the new album. They wrote it as a band from the sound of it. This should make it stronger.

Two very different groups in some ways. Both fantastic.

[DLManiac]

UPDATE: September 3, 2014 DEF LEPPARD Inducted


From UCR:

It wasn’t even close. Def Leppard trounced all over Van Halen to snag a spot in the Ultimate Classic Rock Hall of Fame. The Brits conquered the Americans with more than 62 percent of the vote.

Along the way, classic artists like Motley Crue, Ozzy Osbourne, the Police and U2 were left bloodied and beaten in this latest battle to see who would earn a spot beside Rush, Fleetwood Mac, Pink Floyd, the Beatles and other legendary bands in our Hall of Fame.
Def Leppard were formed in Sheffield, England, just as the ’70s turned into the ’80s, and released their first album, ‘On Through the Night,’ in 1980. Three years later, they released their third album, ‘Pyromania,’ and they became stars overnight. The album went multi-platinum and spawned the radio staples ‘Photograph’ and ‘Rock of Ages.’

But it was their next album, four long years in the making, that turned them into a powerhouse hit machine. ‘Hysteria‘ stayed at No. 1 for six weeks, sold several million more copies than its predecessor and unleashed a couple years’ worth of massive hits, including ‘Pour Some Sugar on Me,’ ‘Love Bites’ and ‘Armageddon It.’

Despite some bumps along the way — drummer Rick Allen lost an arm in a car accident in 1984 and guitarist Steve Clark died of alcohol-related respiratory failure in 1991 — the band has proved quite durable, releasing a string of successful albums (1992′s ‘Adrenalize’ also hit No. 1) and tours.

We welcome Def Leppard to the 100 percent fan-voted Ultimate Classic Rock Hall of Fame. Congratulations!