While Def Leppard had obviously wanted to write big-sounding anthems on their previous records, Pyromania was where the band's vision coalesced and gelled into something more. More than ever before, the band's songs on Pyromania are driven by catchy, shiny melodic hooks instead of heavy guitar riffs, although the latter do pop up once in a while. But it wasn't just this newly intensified focus on melody and consistent songwriting (and heavy MTV exposure) that made Pyromania a massive success -- and the catalyst for the '80s pop-metal movement. Robert John "Mutt" Lange's buffed-to-a-sheen production -- polished drum and guitar sounds, multi-tracked layers of vocal harmonies, a general sanding of any and all musical rough edges, and a perfectionistic attention to detail -- set the style for much of the melodic hard rock that followed. It wasn't a raw or spontaneous sound, but the performances were still energetic and committed. Leppard's quest for huge, transcendent hard rock perfection on Pyromania was surprisingly successful; their reach never exceeded their grasp, which makes the album an enduring (and massively influential) classic.© Steve Huey /TiVo

While Def Leppard had obviously wanted to write big-sounding anthems on their previous records, Pyromania was where the band's vision coalesced and gelled into something more. More than ever before, the band's songs on Pyromania are driven by catchy, shiny melodic hooks instead of heavy guitar riffs, although the latter do pop up once in a while. But it wasn't just this newly intensified focus on melody and consistent songwriting (and heavy MTV exposure) that made Pyromania a massive success -- and the catalyst for the '80s pop-metal movement. Robert John "Mutt" Lange's buffed-to-a-sheen production -- polished drum and guitar sounds, multi-tracked layers of vocal harmonies, a general sanding of any and all musical rough edges, and a perfectionistic attention to detail -- set the style for much of the melodic hard rock that followed. It wasn't a raw or spontaneous sound, but the performances were still energetic and committed. Leppard's quest for huge, transcendent hard rock perfection on Pyromania was surprisingly successful; their reach never exceeded their grasp, which makes the album an enduring (and massively influential) classic.© Steve Huey /TiVo

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 4 into 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. © Jason Ferguson/Qobuz

Back on the Dancefloor is a two-disc best-of compilation by German dance group Cascada. The first CD contains 14 of their greatest hits, including "Evacuate the Dancefloor," "Miracle," "Everytime We Touch," and "Fever," as well as a new single called "Summer of Love" (which charted at number 13 in Germany and Switzerland and at number seven in Austria). The second CD features 15 remixes by artists such as Michael Mind, Rob Mayth, Thomas Gold, and Digital Dog. © Christian Genzel /TiVo

This is another restful and pleasant album of guitar-based jazz and classical-influenced new age music from Friedemann Witecka. His previous album, Indian Summer, was well received and highly regarded by both new age and jazz fans, and this one has met with much the same reception. Like Indian Summer, the music is performed by an ensemble that mixes live players and computer-based instrumentation, with the computer performances being limited to some of the percussion arrangements (enhancing the work of a live percussionist on some tracks) and keyboard voices that complement the music but can't be achieved via traditional means. The album, therefore, is very precise, with a gentle warmth to it rather than a fiery passion. In terms of the music itself, this works very well indeed -- this is music that will as often as not work to set or enhance a mood of meditation and thoughtfulness, doing so without falling prey to either sweetness or shallowness. As for Friedemann's own performances ... this isn't an album of guitar pyrotechnics, per se. Friedemann takes center stage when required by the music, but the music as often as not doesn't require his playing to be overwhelming. "Wednesday's Intermezzo," for example, sees the guitar tracks in an accompanying role, there but not grabbing the attention away from the melodic structures and counterpoints being performed by the wind players. One bonus for those who bought the Narada Christmas Album is the presence of "The Man From Caesaria" (with a note in the sleeve as to its origin in the Greek traditional piece, "Agios Vasilis"), served up here in a new arrangement that's slower and more thoughtful and may surprise fans of his earlier version.© Steven McDonald /TiVo