Discord & Rhyme: An Album Podcast

Discord and Rhyme is a podcast where we discuss the albums we love, song by song.

036: Def Leppard - Hysteria (1987)

“We’re all young, none of us is particularly ugly, and the songs are good.”

Joe Elliott

Once one of the biggest bands in the world, Def Leppard is now a bit of a joke among “serious” rock fans. But do they deserve that? Amanda thinks not, and does her best to convince Rich, Mike, and Phil that Hysteria is a truly excellent album. Even if you’re not on board with Mutt Lange’s super-shiny production, this is a terrific bunch of songs, and very much worth any music fan’s time. Yes, even “Pour Some Sugar On Me.” Especially “Pour Some Sugar On Me.” 

Miscellany

  • We mentioned that the guys in the band all had very supportive parents. In fact, toward the end of the Pyromania tour, the whole band flew their parents out to California to join the tour for a couple of weeks, so they could see what their kids had been working on all that time. 

  • Apparently “Women” was Def Leppard’s attempt to write a pro-women song. We are skeptical about whether they were successful.

  • The “Women of Doom” t-shirt is available on eBay! Amanda still wants one. Definitely not this one, though.

  • Mike gave us an excellent explanation of the Fairlight synthesizer back in our Kate Bush episode.

  • During “Love Bites,” Mike referenced a commercial for Monster Ballads, a compilation that was advertised a lot in the ‘90s, the same way Pure Moods was. It does not actually include any Def Leppard songs, but it does have Boston’s classic “Amanda.” 

  • As Amanda mentioned, she live-tweeted Hysteria last year, and some of the things she said there are very different from what she said in the episode! It’s interesting how opinions can change when you’re listening closely to something you’ve known for decades.

  • After we recorded this episode, Mike realized that the end of “Gods of War” is an obvious homage to the Beatles’ “I Want You (She’s So Heavy).”

  • The mud shark rumor is about Led Zeppelin, not Def Leppard. It is vile and only partially true. 

Other links 

Discord & Rhyme Roll Call 

  • Amanda Rodgers (host)

  • Phil Maddox (moderator)

  • Rich Bunnell

  • Mike DeFabio

  • John McFerrin (guest appearance) 

Hysteria tracklist 

  1. Women

  2. Rocket

  3. Animal

  4. Love Bites

  5. Pour Some Sugar On Me

  6. Armageddon It

  7. Gods of War

  8. Don’t Shoot Shotgun

  9. Run Riot

  10. Hysteria

  11. Excitable

  12. Love and Affection 

Other clips used 

Def Leppard:

  • Photograph

  • Rock of Ages 

Others:

  • Todd Rundgren - You Need Your Head

  • Limozeen - Because, It’s Midnite

  • The Drummers of Burundi - Live at Real World

  • Animal - Wipe Out

  • Heart - Nothin’ At All

  • Frankie Goes to Hollywood - Relax

  • King Crimson - Larks’ Tongues in Aspic, Pt. 2

  • Pink Floyd - Goodbye Blue Sky

  • David Bowie - Heroes

  • Badfinger - Day After Day

  • Cream - White Room

  • The Cars - Drive

  • Iron Maiden - Aces High

  • Judas Priest - You’ve Got Another Thing Comin’

Songs we mentioned but didn’t clip

Def Leppard:

  • Getcha Rocks Off

  • No Matter What 

Others:

  • The Moody Blues - Your Wildest Dreams

  • Yes - Into the Lens

  • Led Zeppelin - When the Levee Breaks

  • The Barbarians - Moulty

  • Richard Marx - Hold On to the Nights

  • Richard Marx - Endless Summer Nights

  • Spinal Tap - Rock and Roll Creation

  • R.E.M. - Drive

  • King Crimson - Starless

  • Lou Reed - Satellite of Love

  • Charlie Erickson, Joel Hodgson, and Josh Weinstein - Love Theme from Mystery Science Theater 3000

  • Led Zeppelin - Whole Lotta Love

  • Joni Mitchell - The Jungle Line

  • The Moody Blues - Don’t You Feel Small

  • Paula Cole - Where Have All the Cowboys Gone?

  • Smashing Pumpkins - Rocket

  • Billy Joel - We Didn’t Start the Fire

  • The Moody Blues - Higher and Higher

  • Shania Twain - You’re Still the One

  • Pearl Jam - Animal

  • Poison - Every Rose Has Its Thorn

  • Dave Matthews Band - Lover Lay Down

  • Mr. Big - To Be with You

  • Nazareth - Love Hurts

  • J. Geils Band - Love Stinks

  • Yahoo - Mordida de Amor

  • Judas Priest - Love Bites

  • Bon Jovi - Livin’ on a Prayer

  • Duran Duran - Hungry Like the Wolf

  • Michael Jackson - Billie Jean

  • Prince and the Revolution - When Doves Cry

  • Hall and Oates - I Can’t Go for That (No Can Do)

  • Run-DMC - Walk This Way

  • Queen - We Will Rock You/We Are the Champions

  • T. Rex - Bang a Gong (Get It On)

  • Led Zeppelin - D’yer Mak’er

  • The Clash - White Riot

  • The Cure - Just Like Heaven

  • Bob Dylan - Masters of War

  • Badfinger - No Matter What

  • Prince and the Revolution - Computer Blue

  • The Romantics - Talking in Your Sleep

  • The Fixx - One Thing Leads to Another

  • Outkast - So Fresh, So Clean

  • Pink Floyd - Summer ‘68

  • The Bloodhound Gang - The Bad Touch

  • Joan Armatrading - Love and Affection

  • Michael Jackson - The Lady in My Life

  • Janet Jackson - Funny How Time Flies (When You’re Having Fun)

  • Iron Maiden - Rime of the Ancient Mariner

Band/album personnel 

  • Joe Elliott - lead vocals, backing vocals

  • Steve Clark - guitars, backing vocals

  • Phil Collen - guitars, backing vocals

  • Rick Savage - bass guitar, backing vocals

  • Rick Allen - drums, backing vocals

  • Robert John “Mutt” Lange - production, backing vocals, lamination

Credits 

“Discord & Rhyme (theme),” composed by the Other Leading Brand, contains elements of: 

  • Amon Düül II - Dehypnotized Toothpaste

  • The Dukes of Stratosphear - What in the World?? ...

  • Faith No More - Midlife Crisis

  • Herbie Hancock - Hornets

  • Kraftwerk - Autobahn

  • Talking Heads - Seen and Not Seen

  • Def Leppard - Pour Some Sugar On Me (this episode only) 

You can buy or stream Hysteria and other albums by Def Leppard at the usual suspects such as Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, and Amazon [affiliate link]. Follow Discord & Rhyme on Twitter @DiscordPod for news, updates, and other random stuff. Special thanks to Rich Bunnell for editing and Mike DeFabio, The Other Leading Brand, for production. See you next album, and be ever wonderful.


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