I dare just about anyone walking over the age of 24 to not hear the song “Pour Some Sugar on Me and not single along. If one thing is synonymous with the late 1980’s era of excess and fun loving times its Def Leppard’s “Hysteria” album. 5 chart topping singles, over 10 million albums sold worldwide, a sold out 16 month world tour and 30 years later the legend grows as the music is still going.
In February 1984 the band Def Leppard entered a studio to record an album called Animal Instinct with producer Mutt Lange of AC/DC fame. Lange quit while in pre-production due to exhaustion. After s few other producers and song writers came and went the initial recording sessions were entirely scrapped. In December 1984, Rick Allen lost his left arm when he wrecked his car on a back road. Further adding to the delay as Allen’s recovery and learning his new drum kit. Lange unexpectedly returned in the fall of 1985 and the band continued on with production.
January 1987 the band recorded one last song as a possible b side titled “Pour Some Sugar on Me“. Sequencing, mixing, artwork and a music video would take another 7 months and then the album was finally released August 1987. A weird choice if the song “Women” was the first single released and it pretty much flopped in the US. It was number 1 in England and after 3 singles including “Animal” and “Hysteria” the last recorded “Pour Some Sugar on Me” was released and the rest is history. 30 years later Def Leppard gives us the 30th Anniversary of “Hysteria” in multiple formats.
Included in this set is the of course the original album remastered. A book with never before seen photos, liner notes about the songs and recordings. 2 disc’s of preciously released b-sides, live sings and various remixes. including your reviewers favorite “TEAR IT DOWN”. Disc 4 and 5 is a live show called “IN THE ROUND, IN YOUR FACE” from the HYSTERIA world tour. Most of the showers were performed “in the round”, the staging was set up in the middle of arenas, giving the audience a “in the round” view so there wasn’t a bad seat in the house. Also underneath the stage is where a lot of hijinx and rock n roll decadence took place.
The Hysteria tour lasted 16 months with 4 different trips through the US. My Brother told me that he saw the band 3 times on the Hysteria tour and everytime the setlist was different giving the fans a reason to see it more than once. There was no bigger album in the 1980’s from a hard rock band released. This album is in a catagory with other 1980’s mega sellers such as “Thriller”, “Purple Rain”, “Whitney Houston”, “Bad” and “1984”. Another interesting fact is that Tesla was the opening act on this tour for their sophomore album “Mechanical Resonance” with so much exposure on the 16 month tour this helped to get this band put on the map as a force to be reckoned with.
Tesla would later have a hand in helping launce the “unplugged craze” and the 2 bands continue to tour together today. This anniversry set is available in 3 different versions. A few other interesting things to know about ‘Hysteria’ is that is album at the time was the longest single album clocking in at 63 minutes. The new technology of Compact Disc’s helped with the ingenuity of that. “Pour Some Sugar on Me” was actually a slight Mutt Lange experiment into the rap/rock genre made famous a few years earlier by Aerosmith and RUN DMC. Drummer Rick Allen’s hospital stay from his arm amputation gave him time to sit and think up his innovation electro/acoustic drum set he would use for the next 30 years.
John E. Thunder – Staff Writer
Born in the 70’s and raised in the 80’s, John is a true child of the the greatest decade. A lifelong fan of Star Wars and glam rock, he shows no fear in still rockin’ a fanny pack. While Jason Voorhees may have struck fear into his heart as a boy, now it’s responsibilities of adulthood which leave him quaking in his boots. A father of 3 boys, he takes great pride in passing on the great music and movies decades past to future generations. John E. can be found on a beach during the summer and traveling the country in the fall and winter. His motto is ….”Gene Simmons, Gene Lovell and G.I. JOE taught me everything that I’ll ever need to know”.
‘Hysteria’ Tracklisting
Disc 1: Original album remastered
1. Women
2. Rocket
3. Animal
4. Love Bites
5. Pour Some Sugar on Me
6. Armageddon It
7. Gods of War
8. Don’t Shoot Shotgun
9. Run Riot
10. Hysteria
11. Excitable
12. Love and Affection
Disc 2: B-Sides and Hysteria Radio Documentary
1. Tear It Down – B-Side
2. I Wanna Be Your Hero – Retro-Active
3. Ride into The Sun – Retro-Active
4. Ring of Fire – B-Side
5. Women – Edit Version
6. Rocket (Lunar Mix) – 7″ Single
7. Love Bites – Radio Edit
8. Hysteria – Edit Version
9. Pour Some Sugar on Me – Edit Version
10. Armageddon It – Edit Version
11. Release Me – Stumpus Maximus
12. Classic Album – Hysteria: BBC Radio Documentary
Disc 3: Mixes / B-Sides
1. Rocket (The Lunar Mix – Extended Version) – B-Side
2. Armageddon It (The Nuclear Mix) – 12″ Single
3. Animal – Extended Version
4. Pour Some Sugar on Me – Extended Version
5. Excitable (The Orgasmic Mix) – B-Side
6. Rocket (Lunar Mix) – B-Side
7. Armageddon It (The Atomic Mix) – 7″ Single
8. Rock of Ages (Live) – B-Side
9. Love and Affection (Live) – B-Side
10. Billy’s Got a Gun (Live) – B-Side
Disc 4: In The Round In Your Face (Live)
1. Stagefright
2. Rock! Rock! (Till You Drop)
3. Women
4. Too Late for Love
5. Hysteria
6. Gods of War
7. Die Hard the Hunter
Disc 5: In the Round in Your Face (Live)
1. Bringin’ On the Heartbreak
2. Foolin’
3. Armageddon It
4. Animal
5. Pour Some Sugar on Me
6. Rock of Ages
7. Photograph
DVD 1: Documentary / Live Performances / Promo Videos
1. Rock of Ages: Def Leppard Documentary
2. Rocket – TOTP
3. Pour Some Sugar on Me – TOTP
4. Animal – TOTP
5. Pour Some Sugar on Me – Brit Awards
6. Women – Promo Video
7. Animal – Promo Video
8. Pour Some Sugar on Me – Promo Video
9. Pour Some Sugar on Me – US Version Live
10. Hysteria – Promo Video
11. Love Bites – Promo Video
12. Rocket – Promo Video
13. Armageddon It (Live) – Promo Video
DVD 2: Classic Album Documentary
1. Introduction
2. Animal
3. Hysteria
4. Rocket
5. Love Bites
6. Pour Some Sugar on Me
7. Initial Recordings of Animal
8. Rick Gets Hysterical
9. Hysteria (Acoustic Performance)
10. Drumming – Return to The Status Quo
11. The Album According to Joe
12. Sugar Stripped Down
13. Pour Some Sugar on Me (Acoustic Performance)
14. Guitars, Guitars, Guitars
15. Windmill II and The Gods of War
16. Mutt’s Vocals in The Mix
17. The Album Is Finally Released
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