Pyromania (album)

Pyromania
Studio album by Def Leppard
Released 20 January 1983 (1983-01-20)
Recorded January–November 1982
Studio Park Gates Studios, Battle, East Sussex, England; Battery Studios, London
Genre Glam metal[1][2]
Length 44:57
Label Vertigo (UK and Europe)
Mercury (USA)
Producer Robert John "Mutt" Lange
Def Leppard chronology
High 'n' Dry
(1981)		 Pyromania
(1983)		 Hysteria
(1987)
Singles from Pyromania
  1. "Photograph" / "Bringin' On the Heartbreak"
    Released: 3 February 1983
  2. "Rock of Ages" / "Action! Not Words"
    Released: May 1983[3]
  3. "Foolin'" / "Comin' Under Fire"
    Released: September 1983 (North America only)[3]
  4. "Too Late for Love" / "Foolin'"
    Released: 25 November 1983 (UK only)

Pyromania is the third studio album by English rock band Def Leppard, released on 20 January 1983. The first album to feature guitarist Phil Collen who replaced founding member Pete Willis, Pyromania was produced by Robert John "Mutt" Lange. The album was a shift away from the band's heavy metal roots towards more radio-friendly glam rock and hard rock, finding massive mainstream success. Pyromania charted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200[4] and No. 18 on the UK Albums Chart[5] and selling over ten million copies in the US, and thus being certified diamond by the RIAA.[6]

Recording

The album was partially recorded with original guitarist Pete Willis, whose rhythm guitar tracks appear on all songs. Midway through the recording sessions, Willis was fired for excessive alcohol abuse and replaced by Phil Collen, who contributed guitar solos and other parts that had not yet been recorded by Willis.[7] On the original LP release, Willis is visible in the background of the photograph of singer Joe Elliott, while Collen is given his own personal photo as the new full-time member of the group.

The album can also be seen as a transitional one between the heavy metal sound of their first two albums and the beginning of the radio-friendly direction of later releases.[8] The album featured heavy metal rockers such as "Rock! Rock! (Till You Drop)", "Stagefright" and "Die Hard the Hunter" as well as Top-40 hits "Photograph", "Rock of Ages" and "Foolin'".[9]

Reception and legacy

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[10]
CD Guide to Pop & Rock[11]
Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal7/10[8]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music[11]
The Great Rock Discography7/10[11]
MusicHound3.5/5[11]
Rolling Stone[12]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[11]
Sputnikmusic4.5/5[13]
The Village VoiceC[14]

Pyromania has received mostly positive reviews, being commonly considered, along with its follow-up Hysteria, one of the band's finest efforts to date and one of "Mutt" Lange's best productions. David Fricke of Rolling Stone magazine praised Def Leppard for putting "some much-needed fire back on the radio", producing sophisticated music "more emotionally charged than most of the synthesized disco that passes for 'modern music'" over the airwaves; he added that the band "may not be highly original, but they mean what they play" and "Lange's artfully busy mix" easily covers up any fault.[12] AllMusic reviewer Steve Huey stated that Pyromania was "where the band's vision coalesced and gelled into something more." He also described the songs as "driven by catchy, shiny melodic hooks instead of heavy guitar riffs, although the latter do pop up once in a while", and added that "transcendent hard rock perfection on Pyromania was surprisingly successful; their reach never exceeded their grasp, which makes the album an enduring (and massively influential) classic."[10] Sputnikmusic staff reviewer is equally enthusiastic and thoroughly recommends the album "filled with tight musicianship, infectious melodies and anthemic choruses" "to pretty much anyone… No matter what their taste in music is."[13] On the contrary, Canadian journalist Martin Popoff considers Pyromania the beginning of Def Leppard's "creative degeneration" and criticizes Lange's "painstaking approach to detail" which strips the album "of its sweat and grit" to the level of making it sound "phony".[8]

With its melodic hooks and heavy MTV exposure, Pyromania became a massive success, and was a major catalyst for the 1980s melodic hard rock movement.[10] The album sold six million copies in the US in its original release (about 100,000 copies were sold per week for much of the year). It has since sold over ten million copies there and was certified diamond.[6] In 1989, it was re-released by audio fidelity company Mobile Fidelity Sound Labs as part of their Ultradisc series.[15] Three songs, "Photograph", "Rock of Ages" and "Foolin'", became top 40 singles in the US.[9] In 2004, the album was ranked No. 384 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.[16] In 2006, Q magazine placed the album at No. 35 in its list of "40 Best Albums of the '80s".[17] In 2015 Rolling Stone ranked Pyromania at No. 17 among the 50 Greatest Hair Metal Albums of All Time.[18]

Track listing

Side one
No. TitleWriter(s) Length
1. "Rock! Rock! (Till You Drop)"  Steve Clark, Rick Savage, Mutt Lange, Joe Elliott 3:52
2. "Photograph"  Clark, Pete Willis, Savage, Lange, Elliott 4:12
3. "Stagefright"  Savage, Elliott, Lange 3:46
4. "Too Late for Love"  Clark, Lange, Willis, Savage, Elliott 4:30
5. "Die Hard the Hunter"  Lange, Clark, Savage, Elliott 6:17
Side two
No. TitleWriter(s) Length
6. "Foolin'"  Clark, Lange, Elliott 4:32
7. "Rock of Ages"  Clark, Lange, Elliott 4:09
8. "Comin' Under Fire"  Lange, Clark, Willis, Elliott 4:20
9. "Action! Not Words"  Lange, Clark, Elliott 3:49
10. "Billy's Got a Gun"  Clark, Savage, Willis, Elliott, Lange 5:56

Deluxe edition bonus CD

Personnel

Def Leppard

Additional musicians

Production

Charts

Album

Year Chart Position
1983 Billboard 200 (USA)[4] 2
RPM100 Albums (Canada)[19] 4
UK Albums Chart[5] 18
Swedish Albums Chart[20] 23
New Zealand Albums Chart[21] 26

Singles

Year Single Chart Position
1983 "Photograph" Mainstream Rock (USA)[9] 1
Billboard Hot 100 (USA)[9] 12
RPM50 Singles (Canada)[22] 32
UK Singles Chart[5] 66
"Rock of Ages" Mainstream Rock (USA)[9] 1
Billboard Hot 100 (USA)[9] 16
RPM50 Singles (Canada)[23] 24
UK Singles Chart[5] 41
"Foolin'" Mainstream Rock (USA)[9] 9
Billboard Hot 100 (USA)[9] 28
RPM50 Singles (Canada)[24] 39
"Too Late for Love" Mainstream Rock (USA)[9] 9
UK Singles Chart[5] 86
"Comin' Under Fire" Mainstream Rock (USA)[9] 24
"Billy's Got a Gun" Mainstream Rock (USA)[9] 33
"Action! Not Words" Mainstream Rock (USA)[9] 42

Certifications

Country Organization Year Sales
USA RIAA 2004 10x Platinum (+ 10,000,000)[6]
Canada CRIA 1991 7x Platinum (+ 700,000)[25]
UK BPI 1985 Silver (+ 60,000)[26]

Catalog numbers

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Def Leppard -Biography, Discography, History". MetalDescent. Retrieved 2 November 2015. Their 1983 album Pyromania helped establish a virtual blueprint for glam metal bands to work with throughout the 80′s.
  2. ↑ "Top 50 Glam Metal Albums". metal-rules.com. Retrieved 2 November 2015.
  3. 1 2 Senff, Mark. "Def Leppard Online Discography – 7" vinyl". Archived from the original on 8 December 2008. Retrieved 2 April 2011.
  4. 1 2 "Pyromania Billboard Albums". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved 14 September 2015.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 "Def Leppard Official Charts". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 8 September 2015.
  6. 1 2 3 "RIAA Searchable Database: search for "Def Leppard"". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 14 August 2015.
  7. ↑ Fricke, David (1987). Animal Instinct: The Def Leppard Story. London, UK: Zomba Books. pp. 75–77. ISBN 0-946391-55-6.
  8. 1 2 3 Popoff, Martin (1 November 2005). The Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal: Volume 2: The Eighties. Burlington, Ontario, Canada: Collector's Guide Publishing. p. 92. ISBN 978-1-894959-31-5.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 "Pyromania Billboard Singles". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved 14 September 2015.
  10. 1 2 3 Huey, Steve. "Def Leppard - Pyromania review". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved 13 September 2015.
  11. 1 2 3 4 5 "Pyromania". Acclaimed Music. Retrieved 14 November 2015.
  12. 1 2 Fricke, David (31 March 1983). "Pyromania - Def Leppard". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 13 September 2015.
  13. 1 2 Boy, Davey (6 January 2009). "Def Leppard - Pyromania". Sputnikmusic. Retrieved 13 September 2015.
  14. ↑ Christgau, Robert (26 July 1983). "Christgau's Consumer Guide". The Village Voice. New York. Retrieved 14 November 2015.
  15. ↑ http://www.mofi.com/v/vspfiles/assets/images/goldcds.txt
  16. ↑ 500 Greatest Albums of All Time: Pyromania – Def Leppard Rolling Stone. Retrieved 17 November 2011
  17. ↑ Q August 2006, Issue 241
  18. ↑ "50 Greatest Hair Metal Albums of All Time". Rolling Stone. 13 October 2015. Retrieved 2016-02-23.
  19. ↑ "Top Albums/CDs - Volume 39, No. 3, September 17 1983". Library and Archives Canada. 17 September 1983. Retrieved 14 September 2015.
  20. ↑ "Def Leppard – Pyromania (Album)". Swedishcharts.com. Media Control Charts. Retrieved 14 September 2015.
  21. ↑ "Def Leppard – Pyromania (Album)". Charts.org.nz. Media Control Charts. Retrieved 14 September 2015.
  22. ↑ "Top Singles - Volume 38, No. 11, May 14 1983". Library and Archives Canada. 14 May 1983. Retrieved 14 September 2015.
  23. ↑ "Top Singles - Volume 39, No. 1, September 3 1983". Library and Archives Canada. 3 September 1983. Retrieved 14 September 2015.
  24. ↑ "Top Singles - Volume 39, No. 11, November 12 1983". Library and Archives Canada. 12 November 1983. Retrieved 14 September 2015.
  25. ↑ "Gold Platinum Search for Def Leppard". Music Canada. Retrieved 10 July 2015.
  26. ↑ "Search for Artist Def Leppard". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 14 September 2015.
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