Def Leppard — Pyromania (40th Anniversary Super Deluxe)
Qobuz reissue review (April 2024)
Pyromania is in that awkward tier of massively successful, inescapable-in-their-time albums that have nonetheless failed to achieve the ubiquity of a Dark Side of the Moon or a Rumours. Its 10x Platinum status puts it in the company of Van Halen’s debut and The Joshua Tree, but also of less-acclaimed chart-dominators like Hi Infidelity and Please Hammer Don’t Hurt ’Em. Even within Def Leppard’s catalog, Pyromania is a bit of an in-betweener, moving away from the full-bodied, metal-but-melodic rawness of High and Dry and toward the high-gloss accessibility of Hysteria, while effectively fusing the best of both of those approaches. It is here that Robert John “Mutt” Lange positioned himself as the quintessential ’80s hard rock hitmaker, codifying both the booming, larger-than-life sound he had become known for on albums like Back In Black and Foreigner’s 4into a “5th Beatle”-type role where his process-heavy studio methods were as integral to the album’s sound as the songs. Those methods, combined with the band’s uniquely accessible evolution of NWOBHM hard rock (and, to no small extent, their videogenic style), made Pyromania — at least for denizens of the early MTV era — the Def Leppard album, containing their first omnipresent hits (“Photograph,” “Rock of Ages,” “Foolin’”) and a sturdy selection of hard rock deep cuts (“Comin’ Under Fire,” “Stagefright,” “Action! Not Words”) that wouldn’t have been out of place on High and Dry.
Like many ’80s hits, Pyromania’s critical reputation has been bruised by the inescapability of the songs’ ubiquity, but even now, the album manages to thrill. This remaster is muscular with a stadium-size soundstage that peels away just enough of the era-evoking, reverb-drenched brightness that has plagued previous digital versions to give the set the sort of accessible toughness that was always part of the band’s DNA. To be sure, it still very much sounds like the fussily titanic “Mutt” Lange production that it is, but, much as he has done for other iconic British rock bands (Black Sabbath, Deep Purple), Andy Pearce’s remastering work gives this 40th anniversary edition a notable heft and warmth that has long been missing from its presentation on CD and streaming. The raft of unreleased material — especially the rough mixes — is a fantastic addition, showing just how tight and taut all of these songs were before they were Mutt-ified; the dry and driving early mix of “Photograph” in particular is revelatory and may become your go-to as it manages to provide a bit of surprise to such a well-worn cut. The full live show — recorded at the Forum in Los Angeles near the end of the second U.S. leg of the 1983 tour — is the same one that was included in the 2009 deluxe edition of the album, but it’s well worth repeating, as it’s one of the band’s best shows from the era and even, somewhat wildly, features guest Brian May on a cover of Creedence Clearwater Revival’s “Travelin’ Band.” While it’s never wise to say that any “deluxe version” is the final word on a classic album, this set gives Pyromania an edition worthy of its impact and stature.
