High N Dry

This album is absolutely unique in Def Leppard's carrier. It's their only classic of heavy metal ranking in the new wave of british heavy metal. The previous one was softer and more friendly, the next is more pop-rock. The songs are not polished at all, on the contrary to "Pyromania".

For the "High and Dry" album, Def Leppard has taken advantage of services of AC/DC's producer Robert John "Mutt" Lange, which is not nothing. This album is also marked by guitarist Pete Willis, who will be fired after this album for coming drunk to some record sessions. This will be the first big mistake of Def Leppard.

Personal ratings :

Let it go - A+
This was the other single of the album with "Bringin' on the heartbreak". It has some amazing guitar riffs, it's sometimes soft, sometimes hard. It has a good chorus, with Joe Elliott's screams as backing vocals.

Another hit and run - A+
This one has also some excellent guitar riffs and an excellent intro. Great guitar solos can be heard.

High 'n' dry - B-
I'm not too much into this song.
Drinking all day, drinking party, saturday night, that's not my style.

Bringin' on the heartbreak - A+
Def Leppard's best ballad. Typically my point of view. I agree with this song.

Switch 625 - A
This is an instrumental that follows directly "Bringin' on the heartbreak", on which you can hear the begining at the end of the song. Best of Vault wasn't well made for that !
Some screams can be heard on this instrumental.

You got me runnin' - A
I find this song sounds a lot like the Rolling Stones. It's really pure rock 'n' roll.

Lady strange - B+
Strange song. Sounds quite immature, but it's still a pleasure to hear this. It has a good chorus.

On through the night - C-
On my opinion, the weak point of the album. Although it's the title of the previous album, it's on this CD. Strange.
Nothing really catches me, the chorus is mediocre, it's annoying.

Mirror, Mirror - A+
One other high point. Sounds like a strong ballad, though the word 'ballad' isn't really appropriate. The chorus is catchy and powerful.

No no no - B-
I don't like this song very much, it's very immature. Just for fun, when you need something strong.

Finally, this is a great album of heavy metal, an album Def Leppard won't make again. There's almost no production, which some don't appreciate and therefore prefer "Pyromania" and "Hysteria". My opinion is that "high 'n' dry" and "Pyromania" are the best Def Leppard albums.

Line-up :
Rick Allen - Drums
Pete Willis - Guitar
Joe Elliott - Vocals
Steve Clark - Guitar
Rick Savage - Bass

Now that Pyromania, Hysteria and Adrenalize have been remastered and reissued with bonus tracks, it is High 'N' Dry that needs to be remastered next, for several reasons that I will discuss. It boggles my mind that the back catalogue of bands like Def Leppard and Alice Cooper have yet to be remastered, while Ozzy and Sabbath's has been redone at least twice each. It makes no sense.

High 'N' Dry was first issued on CD, the sound was rather tinny. That has yet to be dealt with on CD, although this CD does include two songs not on the original LP: Remixes of "Bringin' On The Heartbreak" and "Me and My Wine" (the versions that were used for the music videos). However, the track "No No No" has been edited for length, cutting short the outro. For that, you have to pick up an old vinyl copy (which I did). When will this, and the weak sound, be corrected?

It's especially a crime since High 'N' Dry may well be Def Leppard's best album to some. Personally I will always hold Hysteria up to that lofty spot just due to the sheer magnificence of sound and and songwriting. High 'N' Dry, which featured Pete Willis on guitar instead of Phil Collen, is a raw, rough, AC/DC sounding rock album. This is the heaviest album Leppard ever made. Joe Elliot's vocals cords shred the high pitched raunch on every song. Truly, this is the best album AC/DC has never made.

Not one weak song on the entire disc. Not one! My personal faves:
"Lady Strange"
"Mirror, Mirror (Look Into My Eyes)"
"High 'N' Dry (Saturday Night)"
"You Got Me Runnin'"
"Another Hit And Run"
"Switch 625"

Unlike modern Def Leppard, this album was all about the riffs and the screaming! Hard to believe it's the same band. But, of course, they now have two new guitar players so the meat of this band is also not the same.

Really, every Leppard fan should own High 'N' Dry. I would recommend, until they get it properly reissued on CD, to pick this up for the two bonus tracks, and then track down an old vinyl copy at a cheap price. That way you'll also get it sounding the way it should, on warm black vinyl, and also the unedited "No No No".

5 stars, but come on, we need a reissue!

A year after releasing their debut, Def Leppard teams up with successful record producer Mutt Lange and "High `N' Dry" comes out in 1981. "High `N' Dry" will be much more enjoyable to those who are fans of metal and hard rock and are less into the more pop and polished "Pyromania" and "Hysteria" albums (even if I love both of these album). This was the first Def Leppard album producer Mutt Lange did with the band who would have a huge influence on the band, so much as to even be called "the sixth Def Leppard". Lange definitely has had a impact on the band and was a big part of their eventual success by helping define the sound they would become famous for. Joe Elliot's voice has changed since the first album, it's higher here and noticeably different. "High `N' Dry" is also the last album to feature guitarist Pete Willis who would be replaced by Phil Collen. This album shows improvement over the last album, I really like "On Through The Night" because it shows the earlier and raw Def Leppard that sounds like NWOBHM (that's New Wave Of British Heavy Metal for the uninitiated) and the band at its early stage and sounds almost nothing like their trademark sound. With "High `N' Dry" it was time for the band to change a little and make themselves different from the other NWOBHM bands and they did. Def Lepp sound more melodic on this one and they started to develop their trademark sound here. The best way to describe the album is that it still has a very hard-rock/metal feel and sound but with some prominent melodies and more gang (and pop like) choruses.

On "High 'N' Dry" the band still sounds somewhat raw, energetic and rocking. Granted the band's debut On Through The Night (a very underrated album in this reviewer's humble opinion) is heavier, rawer and to the point but I feel that "High `N' Dry" is overall a stronger and better album. The band sounds better for one, Joe's voice shows improvement from the debut and the musicianship is better as well. Lange did plant the seed for what the sound of the band would become which is evident from the very first song "Let It Rock" with the trademark back vocals the band would become famous for. I'm not going to go through every song but I'll give my comments on a few of them.

There is the powerful and amazing (yet still rocking) ballad "Bringin' On The Heartbreak" which was probably at this point the first power ballad and to me this is the best ballad Def Leppard has done, rivaled only by "Love Bites" and "Hysteria". It's really with their follow-up, "Pyromania" that the band went into a more commercial and pop direction, this one has teeth and edge to this and it's a lot more metal sounding. The title track "High `N' Dry" is a highlight, this one is very AC/DC sounding (what did you expect? Mutt Lange also produced AC/DC and besides the Aussies were a big influence on Def Leppard), pure classic rock. Those who think Def Leppard is a little too "clean" on latter albums might be pleasantly surprised with those lyrics, great song. "Switch 625" is an instrumental song, now I'll admit that I'm usually not a fan of instrumentals (with exceptions like Iron Maiden's "Transylvania" and Rush' "YYZ") but I love this one, the playing is so tight and it's just a killer rocking song. "Lady Strange" is an excellent song with a terrific riff and a catchy chorus, works for me I really like this one. "On Through The Night" sounds like it could have been on (you guessed it!) the band's debut, also called "On Through The Night". "Mirror, Mirror (Look Into My eyes)" is one of the more aggressive songs, the pop-ish chorus is back by a solid guitar riff, one of my favorite songs from "High `N' Dry".

Later releases of "High `N' Dry" featured two bonus songs: two remixes of "Bringin' On The Heartbreak" (This one has added keyboard which does make it sound slightly different, especially during the chorus) and a B-Side "Me And My Wine"(always cool to get unreleased stuff, solid rock `n' roll, not bad at all).

I would consider "High `N' Dry" one of Def Leppard's best albums. As mentioned earlier, here they still have a hard rock edge but it's blended nicely with more melody and pop-ish choruses which makes for an excellent Def Lepp album. Maybe I enjoy it more because the songs didn't receive nearly as much airplay as "Pyromania" or `Hysteria" did and the band sounds better than on their debut album. "High `N' Dry" is not one the band's most successful albums but it's certainly one of those I enjoy the most. If you're less into the glam/pop-metal sound the band is usually known for I think you would enjoy the band's first two albums a lot more. To me this is where Def Leppard really became Def Leppard, and I've got to give credit to Mutt Lange as he was very involved. "High `N' Dry" is an excellent album and one that should not be overlooked or ignored because of the band's more famous albums, I highly recommend this one 5/5.