Aug 30

Aug 30 Def Leppard - Diamond Star Halos

Def Leppard
Diamond Star Halos
Release Date: May 27th, 2022
Label: Bludgeon Riffola/Mercury

Review by Jared Stossel

There are only a few bands from the era of “glam metal” that remain. Only a select few of them can still fill arenas from around the world, and even fewer are large enough to headline stadiums. Def Leppard is a band that has stood the test of time, the PRMC committee, and the rise and fall of grunge. Decades later, they are back with their twelfth studio album, Diamond Star Halos, a love letter to the music that raised them before taking the world by storm in the days of the British heavy metal invasion. The album’s title actually comes from a T. Rex song titled “Bang a Gong (Get It On); there is a sentimentality that is laced through the fifteen tracks on Diamond Star Halos. While it does feel a little too long at times (the album clocks in a little over an hour), there are moments on this album where Def Leppard feel truly focused, reenergized, and ready to have some fun.

When a band releases a self-titled album, it’s a defining moment. As a band or an artist, you’re literally telling the world, “This is who we are.” After that point, I’ve begun to notice a lot of artists start to have a little more fun with their work, veering off into new areas or revisiting lost flames. Def Leppard’s self-titled album was released back in 2015 (their first new album, at the time, in nearly seven years). Diamond Star Halos is that follow-up, finding a band returning to the roots that they once love. “Take What You Want” is a high-powered rock track that kicks off Diamond Star Halos, beginning sweetly before building into a stadium-worthy verse and chorus. The guitar work between Phil Collen and Vivian Campbell shines on this track, and it features some memorable moments throughout the album’s fifteen songs.

“Kick”, “Fire It Up”, and “Gimmie A Kiss” are certifiable glam rock entries whose catchiness evokes the power of acts like David Bowie, Mott The Hoople and the aforementioned T. Rex. The choruses are the stars of these tracks; catchy, straightforward, but powerful in nature. Diamond Star Halos pivots momentarily in sound, pulling in a more country-folk element on “This Guitar”, a collaboration with the astounding Alison Krauss (whose currently on the road with the legendary Robert Plant). A glam rock album isn’t officially a glam rock album unless there’s a ballad, and Kraussand co. deliver on “This Guitar” and “Lifeless”, a country-tinged track that appears later. Joe Elliott’s vocal work pairs well with Krauss’, and it provides a brief respite before one of the album’s best tracks, “SOS Emergency”, kicks in. It’s one of the tracks I truly hope the band include in the setlist on their upcoming tour with Motley Crue, Poison, and Joan Jett & The Blackhearts, which is currently underway in the U.S. It’s meant to be heard in the largest room possible. The follow-up track, “Liquid Dust”, creates the same kind of feeling.

“U Rok Mi” begins in a more experimental fashion, incorporating what feels like elements of folk and Latin guitar, before building into one of the album’s biggest choruses. “Goodbye For Good This Time” is a ballad straight out of the 1980s, the bow sliding across the cello as the piano fills the airspace. You can practically see the lighters being held up in the crowd.A Spanish guitar solo is added in the middle, complementing the soaring vocal lines and piano work from Mike Garson (David Bowie’s original pianist). “Angels (Can’t Help You Now)” feels very similar. I think that there could have been a few less ballads on Diamond Star Halos, but then again, those kinds of songs were never my favorite. “All We Need” feels a bit like Def Leppard putting their sound through a modern pop filter, and it works well.

“Open Your Eyes” is a more progressive entry in the band’s song catalogue, conjuring up similarities of the 1990s’ grunge takeover; for some reason, it makes me think of Stone Temple Pilots, but with Elliott’s vocals bringing the track to life. “Unbreakable” finds the band adding electronic elements into their songs, but not in a way that overpowers the core elements of the song. It pushes the envelope of the Def Leppard sound without going too far out of left field.

The album ends with the epic “From Here To Eternity”, which finds Def Leppard sounding bigger than ever before fading out as Collen rips through an impressive solo. This era of rock may have left the mainstream a few years ago, but Def Leppard are still carrying the torch. It’s burning brighter than ever.