The reason that I started out (almost three years ago) to catalogue, rate and review all of my albums was because I was sure that there had to be brilliant albums I had totally forgotten about as my collection grew so large, and I wanted to hear them again. That has proven to be the case. Until I put High and Dry on my iPod two weeks ago, I had forgotten just how exceptional this album is. It has rarely been off my playlist since.
THESE were the days when Def Leppard was a band, when they wrote songs that had attitude, great rolling lyrics and a bit of edge to their music. Back in the day when they could certainly be classed as hard rock, with great riffs and great vocal melodies with Joe Elliott at his finest.
There is not a weak moment on this album. Each song has great anthemic sections, where you just can't help but sing along like you are in an English pub 30 years ago. Side One (for those that remember it on vinyl) is just sensational, incorperating the three great rocking tunes to start, moving into the single "Bringin' on the Heartbreak", which was basically the song that got me into Def Leppard in the day, and the brilliant instrumental "Switch 625". Awesome stuff. Side Two may not quite be as brilliant, but it loses nothing in comparison.
Has this album grown in my estimation purely from the fact that I haven’t listened to it for the better part of fifteen years, and that the stuff Def Leppard have released in that timeframe I consider to be pure trash? It’s a fair point, and may have a great deal of truth attached to it. Believe me, having indulged in the album a great deal in the past fortnight, the two things I have wondered is ‘why have I not listened to this in so long’ and ‘why can’t they put out an album like this now?’
But it isn’t the whole truth. When I first listened to it again, I remembered how much I loved it, and remembered sitting in front of the stereo with the album cover in my hands (ahhh, the days of vinyl…).This is Def Leppard at their best, when they were still a hard rock band and hadn't begun to soften and sweeten themselves into the parody they are now. The fact that it is rare to see a song from this album on their current playlist sums their current position up for me.
Rating: A brilliant snapshot of a band in their ultimate element. 4.5/5
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