Customer Reviews

Hysteria

5 star:		(127)
4 star:		(17)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

The road to Hysteria was paved with nightmares. First, longtime producer "Mutt" Lange decided to pursue other ventures and opted out of working on the album. This culminated in extreme friction with Def Leppard and the first initial producer, Meat Loaf veteran Jim Steinman, who was unable to cement the band's signature sound into something tangible. Their second attempt with Nigel Green was no more successful, and to make matters worse, drummer Rick Allen lost his arm in a vicious car crash, leading to months of rehabilitation. By the time Robert Lange had changed his mind and returned to produce the album, the band had been battered and bruised. Things didn't proceed as smoothly as anticipated, however. Lange's penchant for perfection culminated in over 3 years of studio production time, making Hysteria one of the most drawn out and difficult recordings of all time.

The proof however, is in the pudding. Leppard's songwriting and Lange's ultra-sleek production skills made Hysteria one of the greatest hard/pop rock albums of all time. Utilizing a vast array of studio effects, unorthodox recording techniques, and painstaking attention to detail, Hysteria is a sonic nuke of epic proportions. The album starts off slow with 'Women,' an ode to the long-legged, plush-lipped fairer sex, which pulsates like the engine of a car just turned on. 'Rock It' accelerates out of the park with a bombastic drumline, backmasked vocals and a 1-2 bassline intermixed with dozens of classic rock references in lead singer Joe Elliot's lyrics. Clocking in at 6:37 seconds, the song switches between standard rock formulas and an eerie, pulsing bridge section that builds back up to penultimate release. 'Animal' brings on the reverb and effects pedals to craft a sultry, sexy tale of lust personified. "I need your touch, don't need your love..." sums up the delivery vehicle for the band's first true semi-ballad. However, the following song 'Love Bites' is truly the breakout ballad of the entire album, mixing sweeping guitars with an exploding chorus and tragically sweet lyrics about yearning, love, and commitment.

Things immediately jump into heavy swing from hereon out, starting with the earth-shattering 'Pour Some Sugar On Me,' which has gone on to become one of the most recognizable rock anthems of all time. Swaggering sexual references rebound off of a fist-pumping "HEY!" verse section before launching into the ultimate song-along chorus. 'Armageddon It' is a bluesy feel-good song with somewhat oblique lyrics, but is most certainly one of the most unique and catchy rock songs ever produced. The chunky attack of the song flows seamlessly into a dreamy bridge section with Steve Clarke's wonderfully messy guitar skills bouncing perfectly off of axe-mate Phil Collen's precise technicality. The album turns political with 'Gods of War,' a follow-up to Pyromania's 'Die Hard The Hunter.' An anti-war anthem, the song rises to a strong crescendo while layering audio clips of Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher over stereo'ed missiles, Apache gunships and "Solidarno''" chants, creating a chilling atmosphere with a strong (albeit often ignored) message.

The album corners right back into rock anthem territory with 'Don't Shoot Shotgun' and 'Run Riot;' the former a silly but incredibly catchy girl/boy number, and the latter a big middle finger to rules, laws, regulations, conformity, and routine. Both are difficult not to headbang to, or at the very least tap your foot along. The title track 'Hysteria' is a touching, heartfelt ballad about the urgency and absolute need to be with someone you love so strongly. In typical "Mutt" Lange fashion, the album plays several tricks on the listener during the bridge section, which, for a brief moment, is almost haunting in intensity. The album throws one more hard rocker at the listener with 'Excitable,' the most glaringly sexual song on the entire record. "...a little...X-rated...a little bit...EXCITIN'..." is but one of the more tame references to the horizontal mambo in this adrenaline fueled number. The album closes with the semi-ballad 'Love And Affection' which brings the listener down after almost an hour of hefty rock craziness. It's the weakest song on the album by far, but that's quibbling.

'Hysteria' isn't Heavy Metal. It's barely Hard Rock. What it is however, is Pop Rock of the highest caliber. It turns its back on the straight-laced British Heavy Metal of 'High N' Dry' and 'Pyromania' in favor of more commercially accessible Rock with heavy cross-gender appeal. In the hands of lesser musicians and a producer, it could have spelled absolute disaster. But the dynamic team of Def Leppard and Robert "Mutt" Lange proved without a doubt that there is a RIGHT way to go mainstream without losing integrity, passion, or songwriting skill. Any Hard Rock or Metal fan who doesn't have 'Hysteria' in their collection is missing out on what is one of the most important Rock albums ever created.

With sales topping more than 15 million, Hysteria is one of the best metal albums of all-time and I know it has been 19 years since the release of this metal classic. This album is brilliant and simply the best album from Def Leppard. Love Bites reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles. Pour Some Sugar on me reached #2. Armageddon It reached #3 and Hysteria reached #10 (which should have been Def Leppard's second #1 single on the Hot 100 countdown). Rocket and Animal are stand-outs from this album.

Def Leppard's Hysteria is one of the best metal albums of all-time. The success of this album proves that it is one of the best metal albums of all-time.

The commercial success of this album was amazing.

Love Bites is the best song from Def Leppard.

Well I should say this band is innovative with a distinctive sound! It is one of the greatest bands from the 80s...

Released in 1987 four years after their breakthrough t album, Pyromania , Hysteria remains UK band Def Leppard's peak commercially. The band may have thought it was impossible to have a more successful album than Pyromania was but they outdid themselves and Hysteria went on to sell more copies than its predecessor. Producer Mutt Lange wanted Hysteria to be a rock version of Michael Jackson's Thriller album; every track had to be a potential single. After the events following Pyromania which was a very successful record in its own right, the band came back and was now bigger than ever selling over 12 million copies in the U.S. alone, marking a truly magnificent comeback. Some listeners may feel that this album was overproduced, especially compared to the band's earlier albums On Through The Night and High `N' Dry but back then Hysteria was current and what was cutting edge. Hysteria is a softer, not so distant, but natural evolution of Pyromania an at that point many bands had gone softer with a more commercial and pop-like direction at this point. With its seven singles (that's right, seven) Hysteria was simply inescapable if you were alive in the late 1980's and many of those songs continue to receive considerable airplay on classic rock radio.

Hysteria is an achievement for the band. In 1984 drummer Rick Allen lost an arm in a vehicle accident making the 3 years between Pyromania and Hysteria difficult ones for the band. The band could've went on with another drummer but they supported Rick and the young drummer developed a new technique with the help of electronic foot pedals that allowed him to reproduce sounds he would usually play with both arms. It's really incredible that Rick was determined enough to continue when he could have been devastated and quit. The band being behind him and supporting him all this time says a lot about them. In fact Joe Elliot has been quoted as saying that Allen was a better drummer with one hand than two. It took the band 3 years to release the follow up to Pyromania but after a very welcomed comeback at Donington 1986 the band knew their fans would still be there for them, and they were. The process for Hysteria took longer than albums generally do and the band went over budget. Was it worth it? You tell me.

"Pour Some Sugar On Me" remains the song Def Leppard is most popular for, say what you want about this song being commercial and radio-friendly but try, just try not to sing along or have that chorus stuck in your hand, chances are both will eventually happen. I probably heard it too many times for my liking but it's still a great song and one of Lepp's signature songs. "Rocket" is another classic, one of the highlights of the album and one of the hardest rocking. "Animal" remains one of my favorite song from this album, it's just a fantastic song with a terrific chorus and simply put, it's the band doing what they do best. "Armageddon It" is pure Leppard, its rocking, it's catchy and its highly effective, what more could you want? Hysteria has plenty of good time rock'n'roll but it also has its soft moments:"Love Bites" is one of the best ballads Def Leppard has done, it's intense and sounds very heartfelt, it's one of my favorite songs by the band and it was a huge hit for them. The title track "Hysteria" is less a ballad than it is an anthem, it's a slow and powerful song with meaningful lyrics unlike many of the Hair/Glam bands that were popular during the 1980s.

In 2006 a deluxe edition of Hysteria was released with an extra disc of unreleased content like B-Sides, extended versions, remixes as well as bonus and lives tracks. If you're a hardcore fan of the band or if you love this album then it might be worth it to upgrade for the deluxe edition. It's always cool for fans to get bonus unreleased content and this one has more than an entire CD devoted to them. Hysteria was well deserving of this "Deluxe" treatment!

Hysteria is Def Leppard at the height of their success, try they would but Def Leppard would never get to this level again. Hysteria is not my favorite Def Leppard album but this was the band at the peak of their popularity and most successful. I think Hysteria remains one of the best things the band has ever done and the music is still as good today as it was back then, it stood the test of time and those songs are now classics. Interesting enough at the time of its release Hysteria was the longest rock album ever made at little less than 63 minutes, this has since changed but it was an impressive feat back then. The band would try to match the success of Hysteria with 1992's Adrenalize and subsequent releases. Hysteria marks a high point in Def Leppard's career and is an overall, excellent and very solid album continuing what they had begun a few years earlier with Pyromania. 5/5 Recommended.

After listening to my 80's copy of this recording (Vinyl) I was so turned on by the sound but unfortunately the record itself was noisy and needed replacement. I purchased a new copy which was billed as an English release. These have in the past been very good. When I received my copy the outside was stickered made in Chech Republic I opened it anyway and was disappointed after two minutes. Again the music was compressed and inferior to the earlier copy.

Do not buy this CD expecting it to sound like Pyromania. Why you ask? Because it's completely different than Pyromania. Of course this still goes under the genre of rock but this is big-time POP metal. Different drums and vocals which any teenage chick living in the 80's would die for. No wonder there were 7 singles off of this 12 song CD. Pyromania is straightforward kickass rock and roll. Hysteria is vastly different. Longer songs, more complex song structures, and insanely good production which is why you manage to hear everything going on in the background in songs like "Rocket". I listened to it a couple times and have to admit that it was pretty good....considering it was POP. BUT, this was the 80's so rock was pop. Unlike today with crap bands and all the losers who dream of being like Usher or Alicia Keys. Get this CD. Does not disappoint.

It's true that this album wasn't as "metal" as those before it, but that didn't stop it from being their best and most popular album. I like the early stuff too, right back to "On Through The Night", but this is easily tops. Half of this disc is pretty much singles, hence six of these songs are on their "Greatest Hits" album. Included is "Women", "Animal", "Love Bites", and the still often heard "Pour Some Sugar On Me". One of my favorite tracks by far, which never seems to be mentioned by anyone, is "Gods Of War". That song is awesome. Only a few albums from this genre are close to being this great, those are "5150", "Dr. Feelgood", and "Appetite For Destruction". All of them should make you "Def".

Coming after the long and admittedly tragic delay, I wasn't terribly impressed with this album. Considering the circumstances, I can understand if the drum sound is a little off, but after listening to this album all I could really hear was the Leps tickling the purse strings of the prom obsessed female population. There's very little actual hard rock on this album, and a nauseating amount of insincere power ballads. I don't hate power ballads per se, but I sure didn't want the bulk of the follow up to Pyromania to use them as a marketing crutch. Aside from Love Bites, this album didn't prove to be worth the wait. Based on the other reviews I've read, there seems to be very little middle ground among those who care to review it. You either like the new direction or you hate it.

Great album,one of best album of def leppard.splendid music very picturesque like album.
i hate those elements don't appreciate this cd,this cd is the best of 80'years.i love in a fanatic manner this work.i turn to fishhead def leppard after Pyromania are not more that hateful metal but hard rock.
Remember it and try to say less bad things.
Excellent work again

Producer Robert John "Mutt" Lange is really a rich man, because he can turn things into gold. He got the Midas Touch. This guy produced BACK IN BLACK for AC/DC, then COME ON OVER (by his wife Shania Twain), two of the best selling albums of all times, and also PYROMANIA and HYSTERIA, the best selling albums by Def Leppard. So, it's clear that this guy knows his business.

The trouble with Hysteria is that, in my opinion, the catchy songs featured here would still sell millions of copies if they were recorded with heart, not with total commercialism. As it was, this is a robotic album, devoid of any feelings in the approach to the songs, not the songs themselves. Ok, we must acknowledge the fact that the band kept drummer Rick Allen after he lost his arm, demonstrating they are supportive and generous men.

After Hysteria, Def Leppard went into the "love songs" market, and never looked back...