Time Signature Let's get rocked, please...

Genre: pop metal

I like how Negoba describes this album as "Byan Adam's lost yawner", because it certaily is not an album that manages to rock my world. It is way too soft and poppy, without being original ("Hysteria" was interesting because it was different from most other pop metal releases at the time).

Don't get me wrong, there are a lot of good things on this album, and also a couple of okay tracks. The mildly rocking "Let's Get Rocked!", for instance, is not a bad song, which also goes for "Make Love Like a Man". But there is just too much soft, cheesy and ballady stuff on this album for my tastes.

I guess that those who like pop music, but don't mind a bit of distorted guitar would like this album.

Negoba Bryan Adams' Lost Yawner

By 1992, Def Leppard were getting long in the tooth, and sadly were limping along quite literally. The loss of guitarist Steve Clark and injury to drummer Rick Allen had prolonged the recording of this album. More importantly, the band had been drifting progressively toward singles-oriented radio rock for several albums. Even the heavier songs on this album are pretty limp. There are few good riffs here and there, but for the most part this is color by numbers hard rock.

Some of lyrics are just embarrassing. "I suppose a rock's out of the question." Uggh. The syrupy "Have You Ever Needed Someone So Bad" was clearly a grab at the phenomenal success Bryan Adams had with "Everything I Do." "Make Love Like a Man" is a strange lyric that is clearly directed at preaching to the choir aging women fans, not men. Considering the band's lifestyle, it's especially ridiculous.

Def Leppard were always on the softer side of metal, but a least they still seemed to know what rock was about at least through Pyromania. By Adrenalize, they were chasing Firehouse and Trixter with similarly boring cliches but were losing their youth. At least they were lucky enough to cash in one last time.

Bottom Line: A Band Far Past Decline...Don't Bother

Stephen The loss of Steve Clark was painful, and with Rick Allen losing his arm few years back, life's been a hard slap for Def Leppard, but did they still bite hard after being silent for over 4 years ? Surprisingly, the answer is a big yes, the album debuted #1 in the UK and went triple platinum in the US, quite a record in 1992 where grunge movement had started killing many glam bands.

The punchy anthem and kickin' riffs of "Let's Get Rocked" is a great concert starter. "Heaven Is", a marvelous melodic rock gem, is my favorite together with "Stand Up" and "I Wanna Touch You". "White Lightning" is an interesting lengthy epic that can be boring and brilliant at the same time, it's nice to see Leppard in a different form in this song but wait until you're blown away and left breathless with their greatest ballad ever made, "Have You Ever Needed Someone So Bad".

There's a big similarity on their musical style in this album with the Canadian rockstar, Bryan Adams' "Waking Up The Neighbours", which also a great album by the way, thanks to the godly-talent of Mutt Lange who handled both artists in the early 90s. Some Leppard fans found that Adrenalize was too typical and sounded like a weaker version of Hysteria, but with those great memorable songs inside, this album works out totally fine for me.