555. Def Leppard / On Through the Night. 1980. 3/5

As I write this review, it is thirty years to the day since this album was released in the UK. The band has been through some ups and downs since its release, and the music they have written has progressed in a different direction than many of their peers from 1980 did. Not only that, they’ve outlasted most of them as well.

Driven by a very NWOBHM sound, On Through The Night is very much more based in the hard rock that was prevalent in the late 1970’s – bands like Kiss - than perhaps any intent on following the likes of Judas Priest, Motorhead and the emerging Iron Maiden who were pioneering the heavier edge at the time. It’s rockier themes separated Def Leppard’s debut album from those bands, and though not overly successful on the charts with this release, set themselves up for commercial success in the future.

The bouncy feel of the openers “Rock Brigade” (very like 1970’s Kiss!) and “Hello America” set the tone for the album early. Along with other up tempo songs like “It Could Be You”, “Satellite”, “Wasted” and “Rocks Off”, these songs show off the best of Def Leppard, especially at this stage of their career. Great hard rock songs, punchy choruses, good solos and excellent vocals. In fact, Joe Elliott’s voice is at its finest here. I’m not convinced he has ever sung better.

This was a better than average beginning for the band. For reasons that are probably obvious (those of us who listen to their current albums realise that they produce sugar candy songs now) the band seems to ignore this part of their history, which is a real shame. Adding songs off this album to their live set would be a terrific thing. However, as everyone nows, the music that you find on here is not their style anymore. Still, thirty years on and this album still has some magic about it, and is work either checking out for first timers, or reliving if you are an elder statesman like myself.