Revisiting Def Leppard’s “Pyromania”
The record that put the band on the map in the U.S., and how I came to own it.
Note: One of the things I love most about being here is the direct line between writers & readers. It fosters all kinds of interactions you won’t find elsewhere online. It also leads to a lot of unexpected twists & turns.
You never know what might resonate with someone—or several people. I was happily surprised at the number of reponses I received regarding my mention of Def Leppard in the recent mailbag post. As part of that, I thought it might be fun to share an article that further explored/explained my experience with the record. An original version of this first appeared on Medium.
In the 1960s-70s, 1000s of families all across America migrated from cities to newly built suburbs. My parents were two of those people.
Newly married and looking to settle down, they did what so many other couples did; they bought a starter house in a new(ish) neighborhood. Today, that city is roughly ten times larger than it was and in danger of being completely overrun by suburban sprawl. But at the time, it didn’t even have freeway access yet.
And like everyone else, my parents set about filling their new home with stuff. Wedding gifts were a nice start, but no one had given them a sofa, and a home stereo wasn’t on their registry, so they went out and got their own. Or rather, my dad did.
From my mom:
I think the components were Pioneer. The turntable is still here, but I can’t get to it. We first bought them when we moved to our first house in 1970. We slowly bought more pieces over the 3 years we lived there.
The second set of speakers were Cerwin -Vega (very top of line in those days!). We got those in the late 70’s. One of your dad’s coworkers blew one of them while recording music for his wedding and cranking up the volume. I’m not sure your dad ever forgave him (laughs).
To me, it seemed like that stereo never powered off. We watched TV, but cable was still in its infancy, so music it was. If you’ve checked out this project’s About page, you’ve already seen the stereo in action. The main picture I use is of me listening to it as a young child.
All year round, music would play; sometimes, it was albums, and sometimes, it was KGW 620 (before it was co-opted into a right-wing talk radio station). But it was always on.
During the holidays, Christmas music would play. Every year, someone would give my dad a record. And like clockwork, he’d make the same dad joke every year — holding the still-wrapped album and letting us all know how happy he was to be getting a basketball.
I used to sprain my eyes from rolling them so hard. Today, I’d love to hear it even one more time.
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My eighth birthday was pretty typical for the era: Invite a handful of kids from the neighborhood, hang out a bit, give gifts, open gifts, eat a lot of cake, and go play. If we were lucky, it was at a place like McDonald's or Burger King (yes, really).
We had a forest/park behind my house, so that’s where this one was held. As people set their gifts down to open later, I saw it; a basketb —, er, record. Suddenly, I couldn’t wait to get through all the preliminary stuff and open that one up.
Which one could it be?
It’s important to note here that I was only a year or two removed from hearing rock and roll for the first time. I hadn’t asked for anything specific and probably couldn’t name more than a few bands if I wanted to. Certainly not enough to specifically request one for a gift.
After what felt like two years, it was finally time to open presents. Resisting the urge to make the same joke as my dad — at least I hope I didn’t — I ripped off the wrapping, and looking back at me was Def Leppard’s Pyromania.
I was fascinated by the cover art. A building on fire? A gun sight? And what was this weird writing? It was nothing like the stacks of jazz and 60s records that filled our record cabinet.
I couldn’t wait to get it home and put it on… and I wasn’t disappointed.
The record grabbed me almost as soon as the needle dropped. The opening notes of “Rock Rock (Til You Drop)” were like nothing I’d ever heard. This was my kinda ride.
I realized quickly that I’d heard the next track, “Photograph,” on the radio. In short order, I would see it, too, as it received heavy airplay on MTV. Same story with “Rock of Ages.”
The album itself has held up surprisingly well. I went in with a few preconceived ideas of what songs still sounded great and which ones didn't, but I found that I enjoyed them all. This was producer Mutt Lange at his finest.
I was also reminded that neither of the two most popular songs on the record weren’t even my favorite; that title goes to “Stagefright”- a track that, as far as I know, wasn’t even released as a single (EDIT: I just went and looked and it was not).
Maybe more importantly, I was surprised at just how clear my memory of getting this gift still was. After all, it’s been almost 40 years, and I’ve received plenty of gifts since then.
I’m not saying it’s the best one I ever received, but it sure struck a chord with me. I’m sure some of that was down to it being such a curve ball — most kids my age weren’t getting vinyl for their birthdays back then. And part of that came from the novelty of the band’s sound. Def Leppard wasn’t the first metal band, but it was the first time I’d heard one.
And it sounded so good on those “top of the line” Cerwin-Vega speakers my parents had put in their new home.
Def Leppard | Pyromania, 1983
Click the record to listen on your platform of choice.
As always, I’d love to hear your take on the record. When was the first time you heard this record? Does it hold up? Let me know in the comments!
Thanks for being here,
Kevin—
I got this album in grade 7 I think, and was mocked by the metal heads I hung with because it was too pop (“you should have bought the Fastway record!”). I was fascinated by the processed vocals and still like the album’s sound. I personally feel Lange took his approach too far but I love his work punching up the Boomtown Rats Fine Art record. I recently learned that he wrote Do You Believe in Love, my fav early 80s single. 💃
On Through the Night and High n Dry hold up equally as well. After that it’s horrible. Haven’t seen a band nose dive like that since Soul Asylum!