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MY GRADE: A
SYNPOSIS: Def Leppard's unstoppable, anthemic hard rock has earned it sales of more than 65 million albums worldwide and a legion of dedicated fans. This fully authorized visual history of the band follows them from the new wave of British heavy metal to their massive Pyromania and Hysteria albums to the sustained power of their records and tours today.
SYNPOSIS: Def Leppard's unstoppable, anthemic hard rock has earned it sales of more than 65 million albums worldwide and a legion of dedicated fans. This fully authorized visual history of the band follows them from the new wave of British heavy metal to their massive Pyromania and Hysteria albums to the sustained power of their records and tours today.
Legendary rock photographer Ross Halfin has been shooting Def Leppard since 1978, and his candid and definitive pictures have helped capture and shape the image of the band. Def Leppard includes more than 450 classic and unseen photographs, along with text from Halfin and stories and commentary by the band members and others.
MY THOUGHTS: This is a heavy hardcover with thick glossy, mostly full color photos that go in order by albums. Some have captions, most don't. It measures 11.25"x.75"x9.25". There's a two-page intro from Joe and one to two pages each from the other members where they reminisce. Journalist Paul Elliott and tour manager Malvin Mortimer get a couple pages each too, as does Ross Halfin himself. Both Malvin and Ross are interviewed in the Classic Albums: Hysteria television episode from 2002. Malvin is shown in the DVD bonus features. It's real fucked up that former member and guitar player Pete Willis didn't get so much as one paragraph to give his thoughts considering he cowrote some of their best songs. At least there are plenty of photos of him with the band in here. I like the pre-Adrenalize era photos (and music, been a fan since childhood, 1987) best.
Ross said this about Steve, "The last time I saw Steve was at Hammersmith Odeon. He was odd; it was like talking to someone I didn't know. He kept asking if I had any cocaine. His father was with him, someone who seemed to be jealous of his son and instead of looking after him, encouraged him to drink. That's how I saw it, and it's sad..."
This is a photo book so not a lot can be said other than I enjoyed the photos and would have liked more text. I liked hearing what the band members had to say and would have liked more of that.
My favorite image from inside the book is below:
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