‘DRASTIC SYMPHONIES’ OUT TODAY

Def Leppard is back today (May 19th) with its first sojourn into the classical field with Drastic Symphonies. The new collection features, “tracks dramatically reimagined by London’s iconic Royal Philharmonic Orchestra” — along with new vocals and instrumentation from the band.

Frontman Joe Elliott said in the album’s official announcement, “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.”

During a chat with Kyle Meredith, guitarist Phil Collen explained how Leppard got into the symphony business: “We said ‘We would love to do that if we could get totally involved. And that would mean bringing our own string arranger in, selecting the songs — doing everything and being part of the whole thing.’ And they said, ‘Yeah, okay.’ And it was seamless, honestly. And the whole thing was so exciting because it was reimagining the songs. And some of the context didn’t work, like, some of the song choices. Like, originally, ‘Pour Some Sugar On Me’ was, like, it sounded comical with cellos playing the riffs. We said, ‘We can’t do that one.’ So, again, we got ’round that by doin’ another version of it.”

DEF LEPPARD PUBLISHES ‘DEFINITELY’ GROUP MEMOIR

Newly published is Def Leppard‘s first official band biography, titled Definitely: The Official Story Of Def Leppard. The book, which is published via Genesis Publications, is described as “Part memoir, part scrapbook,” and will be the ultimate official record of Leppard’s legendary career.

According to the press release, the tome “is narrated by the band in their own words, illustrated with photography and memorabilia from the Def Leppard archives.”

Genesis revealed, “The 62,000-word manuscript has been gathered from extensive new interviews with current band members, as well from archive interviews with Steve Clark and Pete Willis. With unlimited access to the band’s archive, Definitely presents over 1,500 items of memorabilia and photography, spanning four decades of the band’s history.

Definitely presents over four decades of the band’s history through handwritten correspondence, rare vinyl pressings, tour memorabilia, set lists, lyrics, stage clothing, and elements from “a scrapbook compiled by Joe Elliott‘s mother, Cindy Elliott.”