Elliott’s next major piece in the band’s puzzle was to propose a new name, that being “Deaf Leopard”, spelt as such. Apparently, this was a name that he thought of while he was designing band posters in art class at school. This seemed to go across well, although Tony Kenning did suggest that the spelling was slightly modified to make it seem less like the name of a punk band, the genre with whom the band was currently in competition with at that time in the UK. Which is why we have the now well-known spelling of as such. In January 1978 the band was back to one guitarist, Pete Willis, and decided to audition for a second guitarist replacement. It was at this time that Steve Clark arrived on the scene. According to an interview with Elliott, Clark secured his spot in the band by playing Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Free Bird" in its entirety during his audition. The band then played extensively through the UK for much of the year, before deciding to record an EP. However, in November 1978, just prior to recording sessions for the three-song release that would become known as “The Def Leppard E.P”, Kenning abruptly left the band. With a fast option required to complete the recording, he was replaced for those sessions by well-known drummer Frank Noon. Sales of the EP soared after the track "Getcha Rocks Off" was championed by BBC Radio 1 DJ John Peel, an influential person at the time in the cause of emerging punk and hard rock bands considered at the time. By the end of the month, Rick Allen, then only 15 years old, had joined the band as its full-time drummer.
On the back of the success of the EP and their constant gigging, Def Leppard found a devoted following through the UK. The burgeoning NWoBHM movement had taken them on board, though the band themselves never felt as though they belonged in the group of bands that were being coined with that term. While their sound did fit in nicely to what those British bands were producing at the time, their music direction was closer formed to the bands they admired from the 1970’s rock and glam era, and their focus was firmly on making a break into North America. Their growing popularity led to a record deal, and on the back of changing their management team the band spent December of 1979 in Startling Studio in Berkshire recording what would become their debut studio album, titled “On Through the Night”.
The album opens with the hard blazing styles of “Rock Brigade”, a song that praises their fan base and gives them an anthem to sing along to from the very beginning. It’s a great start to the album, and gives their fans of their harder material a song to grab a hold of and ride down the wave with. “Hello America” on the other hand is a very direct message to everyone across the pond from where Def Leppard were currently plying their trade. And that message was – here is a very commercial hard rock song that we think will appeal to your audiences, and the lyrics themselves are pointedly asking you to love us and adore us, and will you please take us on? It is a real change from the opening track on the album and of course is a pointed as to where they wanted their music to go in the future. So, although it did appear to alienate some of the local media and some of their local fans, it was an indication from very early on that they wanted to make it big in America, and if the rest of the world followed that would be great.
“Sorrow is a Woman” is a song of two parts, again with the first half trying to incorporate itself into a soft rock ballad with the kind of AOR sound that was proliferating the US FM radio market at the time, and was of the kind of genre their favourite bands were making music in. “It Could Be You” picks things back up again nicely, moving along at a good clip and with a great bassline throughout and a nice solo slot for the two guitars to fill in. Joe’s vocals don’t seem to be able to find their calling in this song though, they are a bit hard up and almost break as he reaches for the higher tones. “Satellite” again moves along like a softer rock song, never really getting out of second gear and with Joe singing effectively but not with a real feeling in his voice. The solo section again comes across as the best of the song with Clark and Willis delivering again. “When the Walls Came Tumbling Down” is perhaps the one song on this album that showcases the band’s love of prog rock and then deciding to incorporate it into their own music. The verses seem muted and yet musically crashing into each other, before the chorus kicks in and becomes more streamlined with the lyrics and then the guitars and drums breaking into their own artform.
Side Two kicks off with the awesome “Wasted”, where we get as close as Def Leppard can on this album being the heavy metal band many wanted them to be. The music is terrific, Clark and Willis’s riffing throughout here is superb, and driving along with the great drumming from Rick Allen and bass line from Ric Savage. Joe’s vocals don’t really go to full throttle though, preferring to sit back without extending themselves into ta stratosphere that would really have made this an all-time classic metal track. Steve Clark’s soloing in this song is superb. This is followed by the perfect riposte in “Rocks Off”, which sticks to that perfect hard and heavy tempo with a great riff again. The bass riff from Savage underneath again is ripping and holds the song together throughout, joined in the middle of the song by Allen terrific drum beat that pushes the song to a harder tone again, followed by Clark’s solo again. The faux live sound is unnecessary but adds its piece at the song’s conclusion. “Don’t Matter” is reminiscent of this era of the band Kiss in tempo and on off staccato guitars with Joe singing over the top in the gaps. A change of singer would almost have you believing it was from another band. Deliberate or coincidence? You be the judge. “Answer to the Master” has the kitchen sink thrown at it musically. Everyone gets a chance to shine within the song, Allen’s solo drum piece, Savage’s excellent bassline up and down the fretboard is particularly impressive here even though it is low in the mix, and both Wills and Clark have the chance to individualise their solo.
The album concludes with “Overture” which initially appeared on the debut EP. This is a return to their prog rock loves, the longest track on the album at almost eight minutes, and reminiscent in places of Rush and bands of their ilk. It is so unlike the music that they went on to make over the rest of their career that it is still almost a shock when you listen to this album and get to this final track. It is completely out of place on the album, and yet it is a terrific song. It’s one that it is very unlikely that the fan base that came on to the band anytime after this album was released would even know was a Def Leppard song. And that is a great shame.
Is there are reason that this album doesn’t quite match up to the next two in their catalogue? For me, there is a distinct lack of true energy and excitement in the delivery of the majority of these songs. As they are written they certainly seem to have all the ingredients you need to push this hard and make it a really great hard to heavy album. And perhaps that is the first indication that Def Leppard didn’t want to BE that, because most of the tracks here have the bones to do so, and the soloing of both Steve Clark and Pete Willis is generally where the songs sound at their best as they both push to increase that energy, but as to the rest of the song – in almost every song – it feels like the band is turning up to work but only putting in the bare minimum. Perhaps that is a harsh judgement, but this album has always annoyed me because of the perceived perception that here is a perfectly good debut album that could be a real headbanger, and yet it doesn’t often live up to that. Songs like “Rock Brigade” and “It Could Be You” and “Satellite” and “Answer to the Master” should have been hard rock anthems, but they lack that vital kick over the top both musically and vocally that would have done that, and that could only have been a deliberate decision to keep them how they are.
These are the musings from someone who adores the band’s second and third albums. The first Def Leppard album I heard was “Pyromania” which came via my heavy metal music dealer, and I just loved that album to pieces, which is in fact what eventually happened to the cassette he recorded it onto for me, through overuse. I then got “High and Dry”, which I loved just as much if not more, and then came the release of “Hysteria” which blew up all over the world. So, when I finally picked up a copy of this album after all that excitement and brilliance, I was obviously expecting more of the same from their debut album. It is quite possible I was overhyped and expected too much. Well, no, that wasn’t it. What I wanted was a hard rock come heavy metal album like the first two albums of the band that I’d heard. And what I found is almost as I have described earlier. I heard an album that was… heavy metal adjacent. It was an album with songs that sounded like they wanted to be heavy metal songs of the era of its release, but the band who composed them wanted something… not quite that.
I’ve had the album on again this week, and it has been great. It really is an excellent debut album. I have offered some slight criticisms here of the album, but only from the point of view of what I was hoping for rather than what it is. It sounds like albums released in that era in the UK, and you can hear why they were spoken of as one of the leaders of that new wave. But the band themselves weren’t interested in that, they already had their eyes on another direction.
Of Def Leppard’s 12 studio albums to this point, this is ranked #4 on my list. It has the most varied song material of any Def Leppard album and as a result is still a great listen. It is a shame that, for the most part, the band seems to ignore this part of their history, which is a real shame.
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