Unitron Def Leppard's 1980 debut album On Through the Night fits right in with the NWoBHM sound, with that raw charm shared by many of their contemporaries such as Diamond Head and Di'Anno-era Iron Maiden. It's an excellent album and all, but Def Leppard was a band that couldn't stay underground, as their 1981 follow-up High and Dry shows. Gargantuan drums, infectious vocal hooks, roaring guitars, and flashy solos. This was perhaps the real beginning of what many refer to as the arena rock sound. Though while the album has a massive sounding production, which makes it sound like far-cry from the raw garage band sound of the previous album, the music itself is still screaming with heavy metal of the NWoBHM variety.

While not as well-known as the band's following two albums, High and Dry does come with their first radio hit in the form of "Bringin' on the Heartbreak". It's a good song on it's own, but works even better in the album as a whole as it segues into the instrumental of 'Switch 625' which ranks as one of metal's best instrumentals. Many of the songs could've been hits though, especially the great 'Lady Strange'. From the explosive opener of 'Let It Go' to the almost as excellent closer of 'No No No', this is an album that will bring the sound of the 80's rock arena right to your stereo.

Bomb Brigade It's hard to imagine that this is the same band that would give the world the watered down,commercial likes of HYSTERIA just six years after the release of this monumental hard rock opus.Perhaps some of the critics got it right when they said that the band had lost its flare after the dismissal of original co-lead guitarist Pete Willis.It was all of Willis' guitar pyrotechnics that seemed to imbibe the band with a refreshing reenvisioning of a sound somewhat reminiscent of earlier UK hard rock compatriots such as UFO,and even the harder works of DAVID BOWIE or,to a lesser degree,JUDAS PRIEST. What we have here,with HIGH N' DRY,is a young,upstart band's self-admitted reenvisioning of AC/DC's BACK IN BLACK;utter and non-stop head knocking rock n' roll delivered at full speed for maximum impact.Track to track to track,this album rocks with a deliberate and headlong brutality that would never be found in this band again.LET IT GO takes the listener into its sonic embrace and doesn't let go until the final chords of NO NO NO release us from the clutches of this methodically relentless album.You want a power ballad,for lack of a better term?The band doesn't disappoint in the least with its timeless and powerful BRINGIN' ON THE HEARTBREAK.Straight forward balls to the wall brute force?HIGH N' DRY has that too;just give LADY STRANGE,YOU GOT ME RUNNIN',or the album's title track a listen...non-stop flight to a sonic explosion! HIGH N' DRY is an essential part and key ingredient for any true headbanger's record library.Hopefully,you have heard this album at some point in your life;if not,pick it up and give it a listen immediately!You won't regret it. It was said that the boys in the Lep were drinking hard and heavy all through the period that HIGH N' DRY was written and recorded.AEROSMITH was also at their chemical/alcoholic peak during the GET YOUR WINGS,TOYS IN THE ATTIC,and ROCKS sessions.Van Halen smoked alot of reefer and partied with the best for the first few years of their carer.What's the pattern that can be found here,with the recording of some of the greatest hard rock albums of all time?I'll think it,but I won't say it out loud.