Def Leppard – Pyromania(Deluxe Edition)/Adrenalize (Deluxe Edition)

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The next rock releases in Universal’s ‘Deluxe Edition’ reissue series both come from Sheffield’s Def Leppard, having already had their Hysteria album given the deluxe treatment last year. After the chronically disappointing deluxe release of Black Sabbath‘s Paranoid (the same problems with which are looking to be replicated with re-issues of Black Sabbath and Master of Reality later this month), the bonus material added to Pyromania and Adrenalize make a return to the excellent standard of previous releases in the series. The original singles from Pyromania all carried album tracks on their b-sides, and therefore provided no additional material for inclusion here, so the bonus disc features a complete, excellent quality, 70-minute live concert from the 1983 tour for the album, recorded in Los Angeles, on an official CD for the first time. The Adrenalize bonus disc starts with all four tracks from the limited In The Clubs, In Your Face live EP released in 1993, and then includes every b-side from the Adrenalize singles which weren’t touched-up on the Retro Active compilation album. Aside from covers of You Can’t Always Get What You Want and Little Wing, these are mostly demo, acoustic or live versions of album tracks. Not as interesting as the Pyromania bonus disc, but still well thought out and fills a gap in most Leppard fans’ collections. All that’s missing is the live version of Alice Cooper‘s Elected, which was put on the Hysteria bonus disc, for some reason, replaced here with the acoustic version of Tonight, which was a b-side from the Retro Active album. The Pyromania release is the better of the two here, but the Adrenalize, and indeed Hysteria releases are more than worth while for anyone collecting Leppard’s albums.

Written by Andy Lye
More: Albums, Hard Rock, Quick.Play Reviews, Re-release, Def Leppard