Def Leppard Hysteria, Behind the Recording

[T Boog]

 

[Rain]

I remember the look on my ex-wife's face when I first told her I had been a huge Def Leppard fan for a few years. She was a little younger than me so for her, Def Leppard was Hysteria. She had a tough time believing that they were once considered a heavy metal band.  By the time Hysteria came out, I'd long since lost interest in them - I was into Metallica and the whole thrash scene. But I could still appreciate the well crafted pop songs. 

Also, strippers loved Love Bites. I was 16 but I managed to sneak in with older buddy. Truth is, I never cared for stripper after I turned 18. But Love Bites brings back some sweet memories. 🤣

Anyway, thanks for posting this. I will be checking it out this weekend. I'd be curious to see one for Pyromania.

[Nitrate Audio]

They were big when i was a kid. Everyone owned Hysteria album. Even me. They were always hard rock pop to me. i never thought of them as metal, even before Pyromania . Metal back in early 80s was Iron Maiden and Whitesname and Motorheard. These guys were pop. Sorry. 

Edited Monday at 08:19 PM by Nitrate Audio

[T Boog]

3 hours ago, Nitrate Audio said:

Metal back in early 80s was Iron Maiden and Whitesname and Motorheard. These guys were pop. Sorry. 

 First, I'm a Metalhead too so I know there's no such band as "Whitesname".  😄

Second, I guess u didn't know that the song "Pour Some Sugar On Me" was actually written by Lemmy. (Mutt Lange just changed the word "Co©aine" to "Sugar")  😄

Third, Lemmy also cowrote the song "Love Bites" with Def Leppard.  The opening line... "When u make love, do u look in the mirror?" is also about Lemmy's love affair with co©aine.  😄

 

 

[Cookie Jarvis]

I lost interest in Def Leppard with the third album but the first two were great! High 'n'Dry definitely had an ACDC sound but the first one On Through the Night rocked!

[T Boog]

1 hour ago, Cookie Jarvis said:

I lost interest in Def Leppard with the third album but the first two were great! High 'n'Dry definitely had an ACDC sound but the first one On Through the Night rocked!

Cheers Cookie. Yeah, I was a High & Dry fan too. And for the record, I'm no big Hysteria fan, esp now. Even back in the '80s, Hysteria sounded overproduced (that's saying something 😁).  And yes, it's def a little too Pop-py for Hard Rock standards. I just enjoy these videos. I like seeing the techniques & tools used Regardless of the style, I usually find something interesting in them.

And just so my Heavy Metal street-cred is not in question, please know that I only listen to REAL Heavy Metal bands (Like Poison, Britney Fox, Vixen, etc) 🤘😜

[Nitrate Audio]

9 hours ago, T Boog said:

 First, I'm a Metalhead too so I know there's no such band as "Whitesname".  😄

Second, I guess u didn't know that the song "Pour Some Sugar On Me" was actually written by Lemmy. (Mutt Lange just changed the word "Co©aine" to "Sugar")  😄

Third, Lemmy also cowrote the song "Love Bites" with Def Leppard.  The opening line... "When u make love, do u look in the mirror?" is also about Lemmy's love affair with co©aine.  😄

 

 

Sorry man, but from what I remember, Def Leopard were the Brit version of Europe. it was a weird brand of pop hard rock. not heavy metal at all. 

 

 

 

[T Boog]

4 hours ago, Nitrate Audio said:

Sorry man, but from what I remember, Def Leopard were the Brit version of Europe. it was a weird brand of pop hard rock. not heavy metal at all. 

I feel u Nitrate. I personally think Def Leppard were better songwriters than Europe(although Mutt Lange surely played a big part in that). But youre right, Leppard became more & more Pop as they went along. However, in the early days, they were part of the new wave of British heavy metal and their first album actually influenced some very heavy bands. 

But again, these vids are mainly about production techniques. That said, I'm also subbed to a guy on youtube named Bobby Huff who loves breaking down Mutt Lange & Jeff Lynne recording techniques. I have no use for 95% of what he shows as it doesn't fit my syle. However, I still appreciate the creative recording techniques and occasionally I do learn a useful trick. Cheers my friend 🍻

 

[Byron Dickens]

On 8/8/2025 at 5:10 AM, T Boog said:

 

 I always considered that record the definitive example for "overproduced."  To this day I think "What would Mutt Lange do here if this was a Def Leppard record" and do the opposite.

[mettelus]

1 hour ago, Byron Dickens said:

 I always considered that record the definitive example for "overproduced." 

I agree, part of that was the time involved with the production (which also included some life-altering events along the way), but was definitely reflected in the studio bill and why they had to sell so many albums to break even. That record in particular has a very complex story behind it, but the video hit on the major points. They didn't mention that "Women" was the first track released and they were worried to even get air time on release (to pay off the studio bill).

Flip side on the "time in production" (but also Mutt Lange) was AC/DC's "Back in Black" which was done in 7 weeks. Hysteria was 4(ish) years in the making.

[T Boog]

4 hours ago, Byron Dickens said:

4 hours ago, Byron Dickens said:

I always considered that record the definitive example for "overproduced."  To this day I think "What would Mutt Lange do here if this was a Def Leppard record" and do the opposite.

Cheers Byron. Yeah it's a very sterile album. It has too much compression, too much chorus, too much reverb, too much 80s synth, and too many tracks.  And worst of all, it has an electronic drum sound. 

 You could actually argue that Mutt Lange jumped the shark with Hysteria. But I gotta give Mutt some credit too for Hysteria. He had a legendary work ethic and he developed MANY inventive techniques on it (I know that from watching all those Bobby Huff videos 😁).

Also, Mutt knew how to write & arrange hit songs then he knew how to produce them to fit the music scene at the time. He also accomplished DAW results using tape machines.  Everyone who's ever worked with Mutt says he's a genius.

But again, no arguement from me on the overproduced thing. Hysteria is as sterile as an operating room. 😷

 

Edited 13 hours ago by T Boog

[fjz]

I think the album sounds great!

- I'll get my coat.

[T Boog]

No, don't get ur coat. Music is like food and we all have diff taste. As long as ur not a Rick Astley fan, ur welcome here 👍

 

[fjz]

5 minutes ago, T Boog said:

No, don't get ur coat. Music is like food and we all have diff taste. As long as ur not a Rick Astley fan, ur welcome here 👍

 

Nope... No Rick Astley for me, so I guess I'll stick around.