On May 16, the world will see rock and classical royalty unite on Drastic Symphonies - a brand-new euphoric album featuring Def Leppard’s greatest produced tracks dramatically reimagined, and sounding more exhilarating than ever before, via the band teaming with London’s iconic The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Watch a new video trailer below:
Drastic Symphonies represents a bold new approach to Def Leppard’s most loved songs. Def Leppard have deconstructed and rebuilt not only some of their most well-known tracks, but also some of their hidden gems as well. By and large, they have intertwined the audio from the original tapes and performed them alongside The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, consistently ranked as one of the world's leading orchestras. The album additionally includes new vocals and guitars that culminate in stunningly beautiful symphonic arrangements, which at different points you can hear Joe Elliott duetting with his younger self.
Vocalist Joe Elliott says, “Def Leppard has always enjoyed veering off the expected path - working with the likes of Tim McGraw, Taylor Swift & Alison Krauss for example. So, when the offer to revisit some of our back catalogue with the Royal Philharmonic was presented to us, we all jumped at it. Although we’re far from the first band to ever do this, working directly with an orchestra at Abbey Road on some of our more orchestrated songs seemed too good of an opportunity to pass up.”
The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra was recorded at Abbey Road in March 2022 and is produced by Def Leppard, Ronan McHugh & Nick Patrick (producer of the following RPO/Orchestral albums - xElvis, Roy Orbison, Beach Boys and Buddy Holly), with arrangements by Eric Gorfain (Neil Diamond, Ryan Adams, Christina Aguilera).
Guitarist Phil Collen says, “When the offer of doing an orchestral album with the RPO was suggested, we were honoured. But we didn’t just want an orchestra plonked over our previous recordings. We decided to create something special where we would have something classic but present it in a brand new way that would involve making everything work in the context of Drastic Symphonies. Recording new parts, remixing previous sounds, taking some of our instruments out so the orchestra could breathe, and literally making a new album. It was an amazingly inspirational process culminating in the live recording of the RPO at Abbey Road studios in London. An absolute team effort that took a good part of a year. It’s a new Def Leppard album, it’s a greatest hits plus album with some songs rarely heard before, it’s a live RPO album and we think it’s perfect. We’re so proud of how Drastic Symphonies turned out and can’t wait to share it to the world.”
The album will be available on CD, 2LP black vinyl, limited 2LP colored vinyl, limited 2LP picture disc, CD/Blu-Ray (Atmos) and digitally. Building upon elements from the album artwork, a collection of exclusive merch is now available for pre-order in the band's official store, here.
- Album Pre-Order
- Hero Link (Pre-Order & Pre-Save)
Tracklisting:
"Turn To Dust"
"Paper Sun"
"Animal"
"Pour Some Sugar On Me" (Stripped version)
"Hysteria"
"Love Bites"
"Goodbye For Good This Time"
"Love"
"Gods Of War"
"Angels (Can’t Help You Now)"
"Bringin’ On The Heartbreak"
"Switch 625"
"Too Late for Love"
"When Love & Hate Collide"
"Kings Of the World"
"Have You Ever Needed Someone So Bad" (Vinyl and Atmos bonus track)
"Animal" Director’s Cut video:
Trailer:
On May 16, Rick Allen, Vivian Campbell, Phil Collen, Joe Elliott and Rick Savage will be in conversation at the Royal Festival Hall, talking about their incredible life in music, and their new book telling the tale - Definitely: The Official Story Of Def Leppard, published by Genesis Publications.
Tickets to the event can be purchased via the Southbank Centre website, here. Especially for the event, copies of Definitely: The Official Story Of Def Leppard that are bought in advance as an optional add-on are available at reduced price of £30 and will come with an exclusive commemorative event poster featuring a new portrait of the band taken by the rock photographer, Ross Halfin.
"We had balls and we were naive, in a good way. We just went out there, full throttle..." - Joe Elliott
Released as a hardback, priced £35, on May 18, Definitely: The Official Story Of Def Leppard is the ultimate record of Def Leppard's legendary career and is available to order from defleppardbook.com and all good bookstores. A signed limited-edition version became the fastest-ever title to sell out in Genesis Publications’ history, after it was fully subscribed within days of its pre-order announcement.
Part memoir, part scrapbook, the wide-ranging narrative from the band chronicles Def Leppard's incredible story through hundreds of photographs where fans can reminiscence on the band recording in various studios, at promo shoots, on tour in planes, trains, cars and Holiday Inns, backstage and, of course, doing what they are best known for - performing their explosive live shows in front of global audiences from 1978 to the present day.
From extensive new text contributions to in-depth archival interviews, every member's voice is present within the book including Joe Elliott (lead vocals), Rick Savage (bass and vocals), Rick Allen (drums), Phil Collen (guitar and vocals), Vivian Campbell (guitar and vocals), Tony Kenning (drums), Pete Willis (guitar) and Steve Clark (guitar). Definitely also features introductions by Queen founder and guitar maestro, Brian May, and renowned journalist and senior editor of Rolling Stone, David Fricke. A long-time friend and champion of the group, Brian May delivered the speech for Def Leppard's induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2019, while David Fricke has written about the band from their earliest successes.
"Def Leppard are original, inimitable and, well, I'm gonna say immortal." - Brian May
With unlimited access to the Def Leppard Vault, Definitely presents over 1,300 items of memorabilia and photography, spanning four decades of the band's history such as handwritten correspondence, rare vinyl pressings, tour memorabilia, set lists, lyrics, stage clothing, music video storyboards, draft album artwork and press cuttings, including many from the band's early days presented in a wallpaper sample scrapbook compiled by Joe Elliott's mother, Cindy Elliott. Photographs from band members' personal archives and fans across the world are featured alongside those taken by renowned rock photographers such as Ross Halfin, Mick Rock and Anton Corbijn.
Def Leppard and Mötley Crüe's The World Tour continues on May 22 at Bramall Lane in Sheffield, UK. Check local listings for complete ticket details including VIP offerings.
To purchase tickets please visit motley.com and defleppard.com.
