Metal Watch Def Leppard The Early Years New Releases From Legacy Bands

The Metal Watch section of the Metal Hall of Fame’s website will focus on the great artists from past eras who’ve helped to shape the Heavy Metal landscape. This will include interviews, news, and features about their classic albums, songs, and careers, as well as news about their new releases and reissues – – with a few surprises along the way.

DEF LEPPARD – The Early Years

Every legend has to have a beginning. For Def Leppard, their roots are in their first two albums, released prior to the world-changing “Pyromania.” Out now, the Early Years 79-81 box set includes the band’s first two classic NWOBHM albums, On Through The Night (1980) and High ‘N’ Dry (1981). The 5-CD deluxe set consists of the original albums remastered, B-sides, rarities and re-mix versions, Radio One sessions, and two live shows, one from1980. Leppard may have become a more mainstream rock band since, but there is no denying the importance of these two albums to the history of Heavy Metal.

With songs like “Me and My Wine,” “Let It Go,” and the epic “Overture,” the early albums showcase a young, hungry band full of booze and swagger, years before they hit household-name status. Joe Elliott’s voice is confident, but still raw and primitive. Everyone in the Rock n’ Roll world loves the titanic hits from the later Gold and Platinum-selling albums, but Metal purists often cite Def Leppard’s early years as their favorite era of the band’s history.