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Def Leppard's new album, Euphoria, crashes out of the speakers like a rock'n'roll godzilla, demanding your attention, defying you not to get swept along by its exuberance, its joyous primal drive. Euphoria has the kind of energy level you associate with a band's debut album, not their NINTH. The sound is classic Leppard.

"We're more self-aware, self-mocking if you like, we're a group of guys having a laugh," singer Joe Elliott says. "Music has taken itself too seriously for the past seven or eight years. When musicians try to be politicians it's as ridiculous as it would be if politicians tried to be rock stars." Euphoria sees Mutt Lange's return as a co-writer on three sparkling tracks, and also features a guest solo from little-known guitar hero Damon Hill. It sounds far mor e like vintage Leppard than the group's last album Slang, in 1996.

"Slang was something we had to do, to get it out of our system," Joe explains. "But this is us coming back strong. There was a time when so many bands had stolen our sound that the market got saturated, but we always felt we had some unfinished business." Track three, "Back In Your Face", captures the resurgent spirit of Leppard in 99 perfectly. Its anthemic pop with a real uplifting feel.

"There's an obvious dollop of Gary Glitter to it, which expresses the having a laugh' side to us," Joe adds. The album opens with "Demolition Man", its jagged riff building into a big, brash, bombastic chest-beater of a number. Formula One legend Damon Hill supplies the ride-out solo. "Damon lives in Dublin, just seven doors away from Sav and like John McEnroe, he fancies himself as a guitarist," Joe jokes. "Promises", the first single, has a hook that is catchier than razor wire y- fronts. It is one of the three pearls co-written by maestro Mutt, along with the funky pop of "All Night" and "It's Only Love", an

unashamed slice of endearing romantic nonsense described by Joe as "The track that is definitely NOT typical Leppard." Mutt and the band hadn't worked together for eight years. Joe says; "We were really pleased with ten of the new songs, but we knew there was something missing from these three.

We asked Mutt to come over to work on them with us and inject some of his magic." They had just four days together. "So we blitzed it," Joe says, "with the help of much caffeine intake. That guy has oodles of energy. We'd start at 11 a.m. and he'd still be going strong at four the next morning. Bottled essence of Mutt could replace Lucozade as a re-energizer for the sick and listless. I love All Night', it's got a really funky Prince-y feel, a James Brown riff and very tongue-in-cheek lyrics taking the mick out of all the self-styled studs who strut our stages." Mutt wasn't at all involved with the production of the album. That job was done by the band and Pete Woodroffe, a combination Joe reckons to be "The nearest you can get to Mutt without him being there." Other standout tracks include Rick Savage's tender "Goodbye." "A good Leppard ballad," Joe says proudly. "With us, ballads come out like wisdom teeth at the dentists." "Goodbye" is very representative of the softer side of Leppard, as is Viv's "To Be Alive." "Kings of Oblivion" is the polar opposite, a sinewy rocker evocative of "a dark alley and steamy manholes," Joe enthuses. "It's the seamy side of Manhattan at three in the morning. It's also Leppard meets Rush with a large portion of UFO on the side. The title is shamelessly stolen from Bowie's The Bewlay Brothers'."

"Disintegrate' is a Phil Collen instrumental, it's very cool. I love it." Euphoria, like Adrenalize, was recorded in Joe's studio, downstairs at his Dublin home. It took ten months to make, between May 1998 and March 1999. "All the lads lived at my house for the duration," says Joe. "Which cuts out the time wasted on travel to and from studios. We worked really hard, normally from Sunday to Friday, we would start work at 12 noon and finish at 1 a.m. unless Mutt was over. All our meals were cooked in-house by our tour manager. And the only days we'd have off were Saturdays." It's a mighty long way down rock'n'roll from the band's first rehearsal inside a spoon factory in Bramall Lane, Sheffield, UK in November 1977. Is it a bind having to get out and play 22 years on? "Never," Joe insists. "It feels better than ever now.

You don't think about what's happening to you when you're 21 years old, but as you get more experienced touring and recording gets better and better." "Def Leppard have never been a five year thing, we've always wanted to keep going like Aerosmith and Stones, improving our sound as we go. They have kept up to date, but never lost their identity. That's what we wanted to do here, make a modern record with the unmistakable Leppard trademark." And that's Euphoria. Very possibly the best Def Leppard album yet.

HISTORIA - 1988 1.Hello America 2.Let It Go 3.High 'N' Dry 4.Bringin' On The Heartbreak (Version 1/with Pete Willis) 5.Photograph 6.Rock Of Ages 7.Foolin' 8.Too Late For Love 9.Rock!Rock! (Till You Drop) 10.Bringin' On The Heartbreak (Version 2/with Paul Collen) 11.Me And My Wine 12.Women 13.Animal 14.Pour Some Sugar On Me (U.K. Version) 15.Hysteria 16.Armageddon It (Live) 17.Pour Some Sugar On Me (U.S. Version LIVE) 1.Opening Statements And Titles 2."Rocket" 3."Switch 625" (Steve Clark Tribute) 4.Solo Projects/Making Videos 5."Let's Get Rocked" 6.Vivian Campbell Joins Def Leppard 7."Make Love Like A Man" 8."I Wanna Touch U" 9."Have You Ever Needed Someone So Bad" 10.Interviews 11."Tonight" 12."heaven Is" 13.Fans/Off Stage Life 14."Stand Up (Kick Love Into Motion" 15.Return To Sheffield 16."Two Steps Behind" (Live From Sheffield) 17."Love Bites" (Live From Sheffield) 18."Photograph" (Live From Sheffield) 19.

The Future of Def Leppard "Let's Get Rocked" RealAudio | RealVideo LIVE PERFORMANCE From The Don Valley Stadium Sheffield, England (June 1993) 1.Let's Get Rocked 2.Foolin' 3.Rocket 4.Two Steps Behind 5.Armageddon It 6.Pour Some Sugar On Me 7.Rock Of Ages 8.Love Bites Video Promos (1993-1995) 9.When Love & Hate Collide (Performance only) 10.Two Steps Behind 11.Action 12.Miss You In A Heartbeat 13.When Love & Hate Collide (Epic 8 minute version) Acoustic Performance From The Wapentake Club Sheffield, England (October 1995) 14.Two Steps Behind 15.Armageddon It 16.When Love & Hate Collide 17.Animal 18.Pour Some Sugar On Me 19.Ziggy Stardust.

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