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 visualizer for "Hysteria" from the upcoming release:
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:
Trailers:
In what will be one of the live events of 2023, Def Leppard are coming home! On the eve of the bands biggest ever European tour and the launch of new album, Drastic Symphonies, Def Leppard are set to play a one off club show at the iconic Sheffield venue, The Leadmill.
The 850 capacity venue will be treated to a must see performance from one of Britain’s greatest ever rock bands. It will be a huge night for fans of the band who get the chance to hear the bands extraordinary stadium style catalogue in a club setting. It will be the most intimate show the band have played in the UK or Europe in 35 years. The setlist will be for one night only – unique to this show and different to the setlist the band will play three days later, when they start the UK and European tour at a sold out Sheffield United’s Bramall Lane on Monday May 22.
The band are looking to shine a light on The Leadmill, a vital part of the Sheffield and national UK music scene and is amongst many of the small UK music venues threatened with closure. Net proceeds from ticket sales from The Leadmill show will be donated to Music Venue Trust who diligently work to help struggling UK music venues.
Joe Elliott says “Sheffield is in the very DNA of this band! We are ecstatic to be starting the European leg of our world tour at home at Bramall Lane! When thinking of a warm up, it made sense to do a special set at The Leadmill, in the city where it all started. We know there are a lot of small music venues struggling across the UK, so we wanted to give back to what gave to us. The net proceeds from the evening will go directly to Music Venue Trust in an effort to keep UK clubs alive…and to coincide with the release of our symphonic record, “Drastic Symphonies”, on the 19th of May. It’s all very special!”
Tickets for The Leadmill go on general sale at 9 AM on Friday, May 12, here.
However, there is also a special pre-sale from 9 AM on Thursday, May 11. To get access to the pre-sale and improve your chances of getting tickets to this once in a lifetime intimate performance, fans can pre-order a copy of Drastic Symphonies on any format from the Official Def Leppard UK Store here before 5 PM on May 10 to receive exclusive ticket pre-sale access. T&Cs apply.
Ben Hartley, Live Promoter from The Leadmill says, “We’re absolutely delighted to be welcoming a band as legendary as Def Leppard onto our stage. The fact that a local act that has gone on to play stadiums across the world is willing to come back home and support us in a time of need (as well as thousands of other integral grassroots venues across the UK) speaks volumes of their character. This will be the first time they’ve played The Leadmill, so it’s wonderful to be adding another chapter to Sheffield’s musical history.”
Mark Davyd, CEO and Founder of Music Venue Trust, says, “It’s fantastic to get this support from such an iconic and legendary group as Def Leppard. The UK’s Grassroots Music Venues are facing an incredibly tough year, currently one is permanently closing every week. It’s going to take a huge collective effort to turn that around and it’s so important that artists get involved and lead the fight we need to stop closures."
Formed in 2014, Music Venue Trust is a UK Registered Charity which acts to protect, secure, and improve UK Grassroots Music Venues for the benefit of venues, communities, and upcoming artists.
Established in 1976, The Leadmill is Sheffield’s longest running music venue.
Due to the strictly limited tickets available the band will also stream The Leadmill show via Veeps to allow fans from across the globe experience this very special show.
Veeps is the Emmy-nominated premiere platform available on the web, iOS, Android, and Apple TV for music fans to watch live concerts, music documentaries, and more. They have worked with the likes of Kings Of Leon, Foo Fighters, Nine Inch Nails, Jack White, Muse, Metallica, Perry Farrell, and Slash, amongst others.
Tickets for Def Leppard “One Night Only" are available to purchase worldwide now (or after May 13 for fans in the UK) for $14.99 ($17.99 on or after 19 May) at Veeps.com.
Each ticket includes a replay window of 24 hours, allowing fans to relive the magic of the performance. Fans will be able to purchase limited edition merchandise to commemorate the show, donate directly to the Music Venue Trust, and engage in Veeps’ built-in chat room during the live-stream event, creating a unique and meaningful connection between fans and their favourite artists.
