Ultimate Classic Rock - Every Def Leppard Song Best to Worst

[andylgr]

SOURCE


Def Leppard’s catalog is one of the leanest in post-1980 rock. It’s muscular with very little fat to be trimmed, as evidenced by these rankings: Many of the lower-ranking songs aren't bad or embarrassing, but instead represent moments where Def Leppard simply didn't reach their own standards. Not every album after 1992's Adrenalize was a hit – the band may have followed the Hysteria formula a little too religiously and possibly crafted one too many ballads – but because they took years between recordings, the group's artistry shines through. Even the songs on the lower reaches of this list have merits, which is something that can rarely be said about anyone with decades of releases under their belt.

We limited our scope to original and officially released songs by the band. No unreleased demos, outtakes, live songs or covers – and that includes 2006's Yeah!, Def Leppard's spectacular Mick Ronson and Sweet covers on Retro Active, their absurd update of “Release Me” (with their road manager on vocals), or their rock-gospel rendition of Depeche Mode’s “Personal Jesus.”

Revisiting their catalog, one can’t help but be struck by Def Leppard's quality control – so much so that ranking these 145 songs, notably the top half of this list, was not an easy exercise.

[Shawn]

50. “21st Century Sha La La La Girl” (1999)

Glam rock had an incalculable influence on Def Leppard, notably David Bowie, Queen, Mott the Hoople, Sweet, Slade and T. Rex. This rave-up rocker offers a nod to “20th Century Boy,” which they would eventually cover on 2006's Yeah!, and also name drops “Cosmic Dancer" – the second song on T. Rex’s legendary album Electric Warrior.

[Shawn]

48. “Rock Brigade” (1980)

The band’s debut found them forging their own sound, but classic rock influences permeated throughout – notably on this dashing number which is remarkable for Rick Allen’s drums. "When Pete Willis was in the band in the early days," Elliott explained in 1989, "he was listening to a lot of Pat Travers and Judas Priest, which is where the very heavy stuff came in. Steve, our main writer, was more into Zeppelin. Sav was a big Queen fan. And I was very into the glam stuff. I like Mott the Hoople, Alice Cooper, Sweet and Slade."

[Ted Leppard]

Maybe they saw the thread on this very forum lol.
I'm working on a 2019 update of my top 50 at the moment as a matter of fact.

[andylgr]

The paragraphs in the first post from the UCR website really sum up the vast majority of the bands work in terms of their quality control I think. Which is why something like this is an impossible task because the difference between a lot of songs is so small for me.

[TurnToDust86]

I almost quit reading when I got to #80. Which was after barely making it past #111.

It's somewhat of a crapshoot really, trying to rank that many songs... Especially when you say "no demos!" and then include two of them back to back. The big hits place themselves but the rest of the songs are all over the place. Of course each person will have his/her opinion about it but some of the rankings are truly baffling.

I also love the Joe quote for "Don't Shoot Shotgun" at 101 ("That’s the one thing we can’t do – sound like someone else.") which is followed by "Kings Of The World" at 91 ("Rick Savage contributed this marvelous arm-waving ballad that could be mistaken as a long lost Queen song.").

If I tried to rank all the songs myself I would surely wind up in the looney bin so props to them for doing it but aside from the big guns, most of it is likely placed somewhat at random.

[lepp703]

After reading the entire list, I think the band should play every single song in the top 30 during their residency in Vegas. Especially Desert Song and Stand Up. The way Joe’s voice is these days, he could easily open every night with Desert Song. Only a few high notes which he should be able to hit before the night really gets going.

I agreed mostly with the writer however songs like Day After Day, Fractured Love, Go, and Pearl Of Euphoria were too low on the list. But again, he got paid to write it, not me.

Great read though.

[rellis]

I read the entire list and I agreed with the top 5 although not in that order. I think Bringin on the Heartbreak was groundbreaking and with MTV, propelled them into stardom. A great song with awesome guitar work.

[DesertSun81]

This was an entertaining read if nothing else.

On the positive side, this had to have been quite the massive undertaking to put together and it was a nice touch to include so many band quotes and summaries from various different interviews over time. This was not just thrown together and it was well thought out. Also, I actually agreed with the approximate location of a decent amount of songs more than I thought I would when I started (the top and the bottom in particular).

I will echo however that a handful of these songs should not have been included and some of the spots are indeed baffling. WE ALL NEED CHRISTMAS has a higher placing than ALL TIME HIGH, LADY STRANGE, and CRUISE CONTROL (and 30 other songs)? 79 Def Leppard songs better than WINGS OF AN ANGEL? 21st CENTURY GIRL in the top 50? ONLY THE GOOD DIE YOUNG in the top 25? Some bold choices in there.

The album ranking is also interesting as PYRO got the nod over HYSTERIA (I know many would agree) and only the first four albums were placed higher than the YEAH album...

Either way a fun read and you don't see an entire catalog of songs ranked very often from any band.

[martyd]

Mar 15, 2019 10:10:24 GMT -8 DesertSun81 said:

79 Def Leppard songs better than WINGS OF AN ANGEL?

There is no artist in the history of this planet that has 79 songs better than Wings Of An Angel. And that includes Def Leppard.