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Def Leppard - Hysteria



8.3 | 304 votes |
Release date: 3 August 1987
Style: Hard rock

Owners:

369 have it
18 want it
2 trade it


01. Women
02. Rocket
03. Animal
04. Love Bites
05. Pour Some Sugar On Me
06. Armageddon It
07. Gods Of War
08. Don't Shoot Shotgun
09. Run Riot
10. Hysteria
11. Excitable
12. Love And Affection

Additional info
Recorded at Wisseloord Studios, Hilversum, Holland.
Produced by: Robert John "Mutt" Lange.

Guest review by
DayFly
Rating:
7.0
In a genre known for singles and filler albums and an album composed almost entirely of singles is bound for greatness, right? Well, as so often, the answer to that question is ultimately a matter of personal taste but Hysteria is unarguably a landmark of an album, setting the blueprint for legions of hair bands coming after it. No traces of metal are remaining in Def Leppard's sound, so what's left are sweet pop melodies preformed in the typical rock arrangement and sugar-coated by one of the most detailed productions ever. The melodies are quite memorable, always one of Leppard's greatest strengths. The songs are also quite varied, ranging from loud, compositionally restrained stadium anthems to conventional rockers to power ballads and there is even a nods towards the more dramatic and epic songwriting on "Gods Of War". And lastly, the production is elaborate, delicate, sophisticated and manages to ruin almost everything.

Read more ››
published 13.02.2010 | Comments (21)

Staff review by
omne metallum
Rating:
9.2
All the pieces fall into place.

Read more ››
published 17.08.2020 | Comments (0)

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Comments

Comments: 19   Visited by: 416 users
24.09.2011 - 16:14
Rating: 10
Mehdi Taba
Mehdi Taba
I love this album, One of the best 80's album .
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24.09.2011 - 19:09
Rating: 8
Angelic Storm
Melodious
I will always hold a deep affection for this album, being as it was my gateway to the world of rock and later, metal.
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25.09.2011 - 14:20
Rating: 8
Angelic Storm
Melodious
Written by Irritable Ted on 25.09.2011 at 13:47

Good songs, but massively over produced.


Agreed. When I was growing up listening to it, of course I didnt notice, or care about that though... lol But definitely the main problem with the album is the pristine production, which totally strips it of any hard rock edge. Which is one of the reasons I prefer "High N Dry" and "Pyromania" over it... but still, I love most of the songs on it even today. hehe
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25.09.2011 - 21:05
Rating: 8
Angelic Storm
Melodious
Written by Irritable Ted on 25.09.2011 at 20:41
My guilty pleasure is liking Def Leppard. Although I don't like any of their new stuff, I see them live when they are nearby. Like you, it is one of my founding rock albums from my teenage years. along with On A Storytellers Night by Magnum, Poison by Alice Cooper, Tell No Tales by TNT and Odyssey by Yngwie Malmsteen. Pyromania is always the album I go back to however. That has classics all the way through.

I suppose that Rick's accident has formed the stereotypical Def Leppard sound since Hysteria, along with Mutt as well.


Well, to be honest, I haven't heard much of their later material... But I guess that's mainly because the small amount of it that I have heard, has failed to interest me. The last Def Leppard album I actually bought was "Adrenalize", and I find that album now, to be mostly not very good, although "White Lightning" is a gem of a song, and one of their very best. "Hysteria" was the first rock album I remember hearing from front to back, and falling in love with. Some of my other founding rock albums were "Appetite For Destruction", and "Trash" by Alice Cooper. xD

"Pyromania" is for me too, Def Leppard's definitive album. Mainly because all the songs are so great, and also because while it does have some of the poppier sensibilities of "Hysteria", it also retains some of the raw rock edge of their earlier albums, that was totally stripped away on it's successor. I do think Rick's accident must have had an effect on the type of material they were able to play afterwards, although I think the band allowing Mutt Lange too much control over their creative output was probably the main factor in how poppy their sound became from "Hysteria" onwards. Cos Rick still plays some of the older Leppard material live, like "Let It Go" and "Another Hit And Run". (the latter of which, is actually my fave Leppard song, although it's a close call between that and "Die Hard The Hunter"!)
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01.02.2012 - 21:25
Rating: 8
musicalkaratekid

This album sounds so big, but then 80's rock albums are like that most of the time. I'd like to say its my favourite DP album, but i haven's listened to 'On through the Night' or 'Pyromania' yet.
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25.05.2013 - 16:56
Rating: 9
R Lewis

Dear God, how much I love this album. Despite the fact that it doesn't give a fuck with what I usually listen. Or, maybe, just because it doesn't give a fuck with what I usually listen.
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We could be so much more than we are. Stop.
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21.02.2014 - 02:55
Rating: 8
tea[m]ster
Au Pays Natal
Written by R Lewis on 25.05.2013 at 16:56

Dear God, how much I love this album. Despite the fact that it doesn't give a fuck with what I usually listen. Or, maybe, just because it doesn't give a fuck with what I usually listen.


Don't ask me why I clicked on this album. Don't ask me why I thought of it. But I am in your camp, I won't admit it to anyone that knows me, but I really like this album....wait , wah-, uhoh I just admitted it to a bunch of MSer's
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rekt
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21.02.2014 - 03:43
Rating: 8
Ace Frawley
The Spaceman
Written by tea[m]ster on 21.02.2014 at 02:55

Don't ask me why I clicked on this album. Don't ask me why I thought of it. But I am in your camp, I won't admit it to anyone that knows me, but I really like this album....wait , wah-, uhoh I just admitted it to a bunch of MSer's


You're out of the closet and so am I. Love this album. I remember listening to "Pour Some Sugar On Me" every night on the radio back when it came out.
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The sun shines over The Fool...
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21.02.2014 - 04:30
Lit.
Account deleted
This is a great album with a lot of good stuff on it. I love Animal and Armageddon It especially.
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21.02.2014 - 13:58
Marcel Hubregtse
Grumpy Old Fuck
This album is my guilty pleasure. Totally overporduced sugary pop rock metal. But sidae a of the vinyl version is just soooo damn catchy. I totally love it.
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Member of the true crusade against European Flower Metal

Yesterday is dead and gone, tomorrow is out of sight
Dawn Crosby (r.i.p.)
05.04.1963 - 15.12.1996

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21.02.2014 - 23:20
Diverge

It's one of the best albums of the genre, that's for sure. It's kind of sad that people feel so guilty about liking it.
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25.03.2014 - 09:21
Rating: 9
M C Vice
ex-polydactyl
Stupid statement, I know, but I'm gonna say it anyway: 90 people rated this too low.
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"Another day, another Doug."
"I'll fight you on one condition. That you lower your nipples."
" 'Tis a lie! Thy backside is whole and ungobbled, thou ungrateful whelp!"
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13.02.2018 - 03:44
Rating: 8
Boxcar Willy
yr a kook
This album is fucking fantastic.

FANTASTIC.
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14:22 - Marcel Hubregtse
I do your mum

DESTROY DRUM TRIGGERS
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16.02.2018 - 22:37
Rating: 8
Ace Frawley
The Spaceman
Seven hit singles!
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The sun shines over The Fool...
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20.07.2022 - 04:15
Rating: 10
dingobattler

Beyond having no fillers, and being filled with hit singles, this album somehow captures the spirit of the 90s. There's that sleazy, yet fun and playful sound, and even the lyrics are the same. Extremely underrated, and sadly mostly forgotten today.
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20.07.2022 - 07:22
Rating: 9
AndyMetalFreak
A Nice Guy
I remember for some time this being my favourite album, I had it on repeat everyday for several months. Loking back now I find it soft, and slightly on the cheesy side, but that's because for the last 10 years or so I've been listening to more extreme metal, but it's still a good nostalgia trip when I hear their songs played.

"Rocket", "Animal" "Pour Some Sugar On Me", "Armageddon It", and "Gods Of War" are my favourites and all time rock classics
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20.07.2022 - 09:50
Rating: 5
gavdann

Written by AndyMetalFreak on 20.07.2022 at 07:22

I remember for some time this being my favourite album, I had it on repeat everyday for several months. Loking back now I find it soft, and slightly on the cheesy side, but that's because for the last 10 years or so I've been listening to more extreme metal, but it's still a good nostalgia trip when I hear their songs played.

"Rocket", "Animal" "Pour Some Sugar On Me", "Armageddon It", and "Gods Of War" are my favourites and all time rock classics

I listened to it for the first time in years a few weeks ago. I listen to lots of palette cleansing music and I thought it had dated badly.
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20.07.2022 - 16:10
A Real Mönkey

The first half of this album is practically flawless, but it really loses steam around the second. Even still, Hysteria is a great song.
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"Change the world. My final message. Goodbye."

~Last words of Harambe, seconds before he was shot, according to child he shielded from gunfire
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20.07.2022 - 16:12
Rating: 7
Metal Rasputin

I think it's fun and fine pop metal, but sadly overproduced and needlessly simplified. I prefer the rawer style of High 'n' Dry and Pyromania over Hysteria.
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You've got a lot of guts. Let's see what they look like!
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