Def Leppard - Retro Active

Japanese-only SHM-CD (Super High Material CD) pressing of this classic 1993 compilation album from the Rock legends. SHM-CDs can be played on any audio player and delivers unbelievably high-quality sound. You won't believe it's the same CD! Universal. 2008. Album Description

Everything I (used to) love about Def Leppard

Just when I thought it was safe to ignore anything Def Leppard released post-Hysteria, I ran across Retro-Active, the band's 1993 collection of b-sides, covers, and alternate versions. I was a little wary of this collection at first, since the only tracks that I was familiar with were the ballads, but as soon as I heard the opening Desert Song I was transported back to when Def Leppard was the biggest band in the world.

There are some really impressive rockers on this album, including Ride into the Sun and She's Too Tough, which bring you back to the old school Def Leppard sound. The Hysteria b-sides I Wanna Be Your Hero and Ring of Fire are as good as anything you would find on that album, and the spirited cover songs (Sweet's Action and Mick Ronson's Only After Dark) are more interesting than anything on the band's recent covers album). I'm not sure we really needed two separate versions of the ballads Miss You in a Heartbeat and Two Steps behind, but even I have to admit that as ballads go, those are pretty good ones.

The quality of Retro-Active doesn't change my opinion of the watered-down albums Def Leppard has released over the past 20 years. In fact, it just makes me depressed that a band that is capable of putting such impressive songs together - as b-sides! - can't figure out how to make a rocking album that honors their past history instead of running as fast as they can in the other direction.
August 2, 2008

Remembering Steve Clark

The ONLY downside to this entire CD is that with the exception of Desert Song, Fractured Love, & Two Steps Behind....each of these tunes had original releases as B-sides. For the most part, those songs have been tweaked here and there for reasons only the band can answer. I am a Leppard fan through the Adrenalize album. Aside from the song Promises, Euphoria and each release afterwards has gone farther away from the Leppard I grew to love. When Love & Hate Collide was even a track which had it's start long before it was released and the "demo" version contained the "last" recorded Steve Clark guitar solo from the studio.

This release culminaates alot of loose ends for the Lepps when it came to the legacy of Steve "Steamin" Clark. As others above have said, it is MORE than worth the price and is probably the last of the "old" Leppard sound. I love this disc because it pays homage to a guitar-man who had a short time on Earth to share his gift of passion and music.

In short, if you LOVE the old Leppard you will MORE than enjoy this everytime you play it.

Rock ON!!!! R.I.P. Steve, you ARE missed.

:)

Shawn

May 22, 2008

This Should Have Been Adrenalize

It's amazing to think that instead of releasing Adrenalize they could have released these songs along with "Tear It Down" and had the album out in 1990 instead of 1992. "Ring of Fire" and "I Wanna Be Your Hero" were much too good to just be B-Sides for Hysteria. "Desert Song" and "Fractured Love" are also great as is "She's Too Tough". This really is more of a complete album than a rarities collection and these songs stand up to anything else they've released. If you're a Def Leppard fan you need to own this album. May 2, 2008

Def Leppard remembers what it means to rock

For those of us who remember Def Leppard from the early 80's, they were a METAL band - kind of a mix of Iron Maiden and AC/DC. Then Hysteria came out and they drifted more into a rock direction (although back then we still considered that metal). The 90's and so forth would see them slide even more from their hard-rockin' guitar-based roots, reaching a pop nadir with X.
However, Retroactive showed they could still do guitar-based rock while trying new things. Songs like "Desert Song" and "From the Inside" sound like nothing they'd done before, yet still had the Def Leppard magic. They were, in fact, progressing as a great band should - this is what Slang should've been (but instead, Slang was Def Leppard almost completely rejecting their own sound for a second-rate grunge alternative wannabe sound). Suffice to say, Retroactive shows a band that can rock, with some of the Def Leppard polish (but not as highly produced as Hysteria or Euphoria), and a batch of good and diverse songs. The only weak point(s) of the CD for me are the cliche ballads (Two Steps Behind and Miss You In A Heartbeat - both offered in multiple versions here!), which are weak and sound like they could be by any second-rate hair metal band, not even having the Def Leppard ballad sound. (I Wanna Be Your Hero is a good Def Leppard ballad track).
Anyway, if you like any Def Leppard album from the 80's or just classic hard rock/metal, you should like this. December 1, 2007

Active music

This CD is packed with fast pace music gems (cept for two acoustic spots) that come from the earlier Hysteria sessions. So there are some Clarke goodies here too. You can hear the distinctive Pyromania-Hysteria style here that was their bread and butter for the 80s. Miss You in a Heartbeat and Two Steps Behind have acoustic and electric versions (of which I think the electric is better). Desert Song, Fractured Love, Ride Into the Sun and Ring of Fire (compares a bit to Run Riot) are just awesome pieces. September 10, 2007

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