Def Leppard are an English rock band formed in 1977 in Sheffield as part of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal movement. Since 1992, the band has consisted of Joe Elliott (lead vocals), Rick Savage (bassist, backing vocals), Rick Allen (drums, backing vocals), Phil Collen (guitar, backing vocals), and Vivian Campbell (guitar, backing vocals). This is the band's longest-standing line-up.
The band's strongest commercial success came between the early 1980s and the early 1990s. Their 1981 album, High 'n' Dry, was produced by Robert John "Mutt" Lange, who helped them begin to define their style, and the album's standout track "Bringin' On the Heartbreak" became one of the first rock videos played on MTV in 1982. The band's next studio album, Pyromania in January 1983, with "Photograph" as the lead single, turned Def Leppard into a household name. In the U.S., Pyromania was certified Diamond (10× Platinum). In 2003, the album ranked number 384 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.
Def Leppard is the eleventh studio album by British rock band Def Leppard, released on October 30, 2015. It is Def Leppard's first studio album since Songs from the Sparkle Lounge (2008), marking the longest gap between two studio albums in their career, and their first one to be released on earMUSIC Records. The album became Def Leppard's seventh top ten album after it debuted on the Billboard 200 at number 10. The first single "Let's Go" was released 15 September 2015, alongside the artwork and track listing.
The album was produced by Ronan McHugh and Def Leppard.
According to vocalist Joe Elliott, the album will consist of 14 tracks with a running time of around 55 minutes. Regarding the sound of the album, he explained "It's just called Def Leppard because that's what it sounds like. It doesn't sound like any one specific era of Def Leppard. It's got everything. [...] Every single aspect of anything we've ever wanted to put out — acoustic, heavy, soft, slow, fast — it's there. That's why we call it Def Leppard because, just like Queen were, we're capable of coming up with vastly different kinds of songs."
On the first day of the first month in some distant year
The whole sky froze golden
Some said it was the aftermath of the radium bomb
While others told of a final retribution
A terrible revenge of the gods
But we understood the grand finale
Fulfillment of a prophecy told many years before
So all that was left was...
All the women were captured and chained
And national suicide was proclaimed
And New America fell to the ground
And all the children lay crippled and lame
But all the nations came together
In fear of the thought of the end
No more would we fight in the streets
No courage had we to defend
When the walls came tumbling down
When the walls came tumbling down
Everybody ran as they screamed at the sound
When the walls came tumbling down
When the walls came tumbling down
When the walls came tumbling down
Everybody ran as they screamed at the sound
A blinding light the sun had died
A new moon took its place
Tidal waves and open graves the fate of the unhuman race
The city's heart no longer beats no pity have I left to lend
A sinner sits reciting Dylan it's now that I welcome the end
When the walls came tumbling down
When the walls came tumbling down
When the walls came tumbling down
Everybody ran as they screamed at the sound
When the walls came tumbling down
When the walls came tumbling down
When the walls came tumbling down
Everybody ran as they screamed at the sound
When the walls came tumbling down
When the walls came tumbling down
When the walls came tumbling down
Everybody ran as they screamed at the sound
When the walls came tumbling down
When the walls came tumbling down
When the walls came tumbling down
Nobody made a sound