Title - 'Hysteria [DELUXE EDITION] ' (UMe)
Artist - Def Leppard
Def Leppard has never been able to climb past the commercial or creative success they achieved with Hysteria. Some might argue that Pyromania was their finest effort. Truth is, Hysteria was the record that made them a success not only in their home country of England, but also broke them to a worldwide audience like no other hard-rock/ heavy metal act before them. This Hysteria: Deluxe Edition puts that whole era in perspective, with the inclusion of live B-sides, studio outtakes, and extended remixes of their succesful singles. Disc One brings together the original album and the studio b-sides while Disc Two is an additional disc of all the B-sides off the 7 (yes, count them, SEVEN) singles released to promote the record. Four of those B-sides come on the first disc, and the idea works well, because those songs are actually studio outtakes that did not make the final cut. Therefore, their presence here only adds to what they were working on at the time. Of particular interest is Ride Into The Sun, off their independent debut EP which they re-recorded in 1987. The second disc starts with several LIVE versions of 5 songs (Elected, Love and Affection, Billy's Got a Gun, Rock of Ages, Women) and goes on to include remixes for ANIMAL (extended version), POUR SOME SUGAR ON ME (extended version), ARMAGEDDON IT (The Nuclear Mix), EXCITABLE (Orgasmic Mix), ROCKET (The Lunar Mix). It is important to mention that while Rock of Ages has the same name as their famous song off Pyromania, the version here is actually a medley including parts of the classic rock anthems "Not Fade Away," "My Generation," "Radar Love," "Come Together" and "Whole Lotta Love". Finally to close the second disc they have included another studio b-side, a humorous version of "Release Me," credited to Stumpus Maximus & The Good Ol' Boys. Which proves that Def Leppard and particularly Hysteria might not be the most serious music ever made, but they were indeed serious about having fun. The booklet has great pictures of the band and the hysteria story in it as well. Enjoy this edition, for collectors and rock fans alike.
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