Diamond Star Halos

Def Leppard

Released on 27/5/22 by UMC (Universal Music Catalogue)
Main artists: Def Leppard
Genre: Rock

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Def Leppard have released a whole host of standout albums that combine great artistic creation with huge commercial success, particularly during the 80s with records like High’n’Dry (1981), Pyromania (1983) and Hysteria (1987)—the latter of which went 12 times platinum in the US alone.

As grunge and new modern music gained traction, it really dealt a blow to MTV-era hard rock bands, but Def Leppard—like many of the old school rockers of the time—never gave up. If you’ve been closely following the band’s career since the early 90s, Diamond Star Halos won’t come as a surprise since the band have followed a fairly logical progression. From civilised ballads to huge productions that have swapped hard rock for more classic rock, they could easily be included within the AOR genre. This English band haven’t lost their knack for creating huge hits either: there’s three on this 2022 album alone.

This album is smooth, clean, and harmonised. The agressive sound they went for in their early years has been replaced with the kind of class that only comes with age, even their big riffs have a classy edge (for example in SOS Emergency, which starts off heavy but eventually morphs into a track well-suited to mainstream radio). Naturally, this release features its fair share of ballads, some of them more accomplished than others. Keyboardist Mike Garson (David Bowie’s faithful companion) even features in the credits of Goodbye for Good This Time and Angels (Can’t Help You Now). The guest list also includes Alison Krauss, the 27-time Grammy Award-winning bluegrass star (who has also released two albums in duet with Robert Plant in the past). Her vocals light up This Guitar and Lifeless. There are few other tracks that pack a real punch too: the lively and synthetic Unbreakable, the groovy U Rock Mi (which has a chorus that was just made for live stadium performances) and the incredible Open Your Eyes (which really puts the spotlight on Joe Elliot’s evolution as a vocalist).

Unlike Scorpions and Saxon with their recent viagra-fuelled albums, Def Leppard are now making music that’s “suited to their age”—and that’s no bad thing, no one’s going to be holding it against them. Diamond Star Halos is a great rock album (perhaps even a great hard rock album). It might have been worth dropping two or three tracks from the tracklist (see if you can spot them!), but this a still a brilliant, well-produced release. There’s no doubt that Def Leppard have still got something to say that’s worth hearing. © Charlélie Arnaud/Qobuz

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Diamond Star Halos

Def Leppard

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Joe LaPorta, Mastering Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Phil Collen, Additional Engineer, Guitar, Background Vocalist, AssociatedPerformer, StudioPersonnel - Ronan McHugh, Producer, Mixer, Editor, Engineer, Drum Programming, AssociatedPerformer, StudioPersonnel - Vivian Campbell, Additional Engineer, Guitar, Background Vocalist, AssociatedPerformer, StudioPersonnel - Joe Elliott, Additional Engineer, Vocals, Background Vocalist, AssociatedPerformer, StudioPersonnel, ComposerLyricist - Rick Allen, Drums, AssociatedPerformer - Rick Savage, Additional Engineer, Guitar, Bass Guitar, Background Vocalist, AssociatedPerformer, StudioPersonnel, ComposerLyricist - Def Leppard, Producer, MainArtist