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Def Leppard - Diamond Star Halos


auslander

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Interesting comments regarding the preferred songs on this one. For me, 'Take What You Want,' 'SOS Emergency' and 'All We Need' (only just) were the only decent songs, and ones that reminded me how good this band can be. 

The rest, I must confess, I don't really care for at all. If I think about it, it almost sounds like they've taken all the worst sounding songs off an album like 'Euphoria' and made a whole album full of them, with only the occasional shout out to the better songs. 

Even the ballads are just shit, and Def Leppard can usually pen a pretty decent ballad. 

Yeah, I dunno, I just find myself really underwhelmed and disappointed. Even though two of the first three singles were terrible, I still had a lot of hope for the album. Sadly, as it stands, I see this one sitting very, very low in their discography.  

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1 hour ago, Geoff said:

Yeah, I dunno, I just find myself really underwhelmed and disappointed. Even though two of the first three singles were terrible, I still had a lot of hope for the album. Sadly, as it stands, I see this one sitting very, very low in their discography.  

Bottom 2 or 3 easily.

Terrible album. They should just disband.

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12 hours ago, Dead Planet said:

Yeah, very average stuff compared to their older music....

It's dangerous to make comments like that because undoubtedly you'll get someone telling you that you need to accept that it's not 1984 and embrace their new shit, my sincere apologies I mean music. 

Another pet hate of mine on this forum, but that's a story for the unpopular opinions thread. 

But yes, I agree completely. We're all aware of what this band has done and can do (which has still been excellent in very recent years), and it is far better than what is provided on this very poor album. 

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My first impression was pretty disappointing, too. 

A few days ago I said, I'd prefer the current DL over the 80's DL. Is it still like that?

I listened to the new album a few times now and I think it's on the same level as their last album. What was disappointing to me was especially that the first two singles were so strong. Easily the best songs on the album - so I expected a step up from their last album. Didn't expect that less steam. Still I like many songs on it (gimme a kiss is fantastic). I love Joe's voice but not how it is produced in some of the songs. 

It's great they are still making music and I hope they'll continue for a few fun tracks on every album.

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So they had a s/t album in 2015, ay? I can't for the life of me remember that. Looks like I rated it 71% which I guess means it was okay, and far better than this one. I must put it back in my ears for a comparison, but it's weird that I can't remember a Def Leppard album whatsoever... 

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I liked the first single with it's retro feel, but listened to this yesterday for the first time and it will be the last, terrible album.

They should stop releasing new music and just roll out a greatest hits arena tour every summer as that's all people really want to hear.

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1 hour ago, Mr.AOR said:

They should stop releasing new music and just roll out a greatest hits arena tour every summer as that's all people really want to hear.

Yeah,its pretty much what they have been doing the last 10 years or so...even the tour for the self titled(when it came to Belfast at least) only featured 1 song from that album.

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I actually like that they're releasing new albums. It's a bummer when they don't hit the mark, but I've loved 'Euphoria' and 'X' in recent years. Granted, they're both over 20 years old themselves (that is a mad realisation) but if you compare it to what Poison are doing, I'd rather see Poison at least give a new album a crack than nothing at all for decade upon decade of still being an "active" band. 

It's shit that the album's really poor, but worst case scenario, you get three new Def Leppard songs that you can happily slot into the collection. And each album still has a few keepers. Beats 0 from 0 from a band like Poison. Blows my mind that a band could release an album like 'Hollyweird' and potentially leave that pile of garbage as the last mark they leave on the musical landscape. Surely there'd be a determination to not make it end like that. 

But, I'm getting side-tracked, as per. 

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8 hours ago, Geoff said:

It's dangerous to make comments like that because undoubtedly you'll get someone telling you that you need to accept that it's not 1984 and embrace their new shit, my sincere apologies I mean music. 

Another pet hate of mine on this forum, but that's a story for the unpopular opinions thread. 

But yes, I agree completely. We're all aware of what this band has done and can do (which has still been excellent in very recent years), and it is far better than what is provided on this very poor album. 

Unlike yourself, my dislike for their 'new' music goes back to 96, my admiration for the band's music died after Retro Active from 93 and this release is actually one of their best since 93 which is still not saying much....

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As much as I agree w/ what Alphamale said...I do have to say that bands like Def Lep' should continue on as long as they d@mn well feel like.Who the f--k am I to tell them or any other band how long  they should do whatever or make their $ ?....I hear the endless Vince Neil'...Don Dokken'...Jon Bon Jovi' stuff...:these guys can't sing they suck blah blah they should just retire".....etc People still go to the shows...they still draw a crowd....good for them!

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This is Def Leppard being their middle aged selves, they are not the teenage rockers we knew with High 'n Dry [actually my favorite album of theirs], so their sound has naturally matured, mellowed, and they've become open to collaborations. Personally, I am enjoying this album; have been listening to it steadily the past few days.  

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For me it is still to early for full review. I would say that the top songs here are not so good as the top 4-5 songs on self titled. But I think the less good songs here are more interesitng and demand more effort then the less good songs on prevoious one. But I just dont get reviews that say...Allison Kraus songs I just skip ? Back in the day when you waited months to buy just one LP or CD, there was no skipping. You listned to the songs you didnt like for days, weeks until you hopefully liked them more. So if you have an open mind and listen to song  like Lifeless, it has one of the more catchy pop choruses they wrote recently. I struggle more with piano ballads, not because of arrangments or piano but because they have not really memorale verses or choruses.I like rockers more, all are nice listen but almost nothin stands really special. Top tracks maybe Kick, and then From here to Eternity.

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14 hours ago, lecko said:

For me it is still to early for full review. I would say that the top songs here are not so good as the top 4-5 songs on self titled. But I think the less good songs here are more interesitng and demand more effort then the less good songs on prevoious one. But I just dont get reviews that say...Allison Kraus songs I just skip ? Back in the day when you waited months to buy just one LP or CD, there was no skipping. You listned to the songs you didnt like for days, weeks until you hopefully liked them more. So if you have an open mind and listen to song  like Lifeless, it has one of the more catchy pop choruses they wrote recently. I struggle more with piano ballads, not because of arrangments or piano but because they have not really memorale verses or choruses.I like rockers more, all are nice listen but almost nothin stands really special. Top tracks maybe Kick, and then From here to Eternity.

It's kind of the opposite for me lol.  I honestly struggle to pick 5 songs combined from their last 2 albums that I like as much as my top 5 songs here.  

My top 5 here are Take What You Want, Kick, SOS Emergency, Gimme A Kiss and Fire It Up.  I just really dig these tunes and they're exactly what I want from Def Leppard....just fun, catchy, melodic tunes with some Def Leppard sounding harmonies and guitars.....They all just work for me and really like all these songs.

On their last album, I had Dangerous and Wings of An Angel that I loved and that was it.  In fact, those are the only 2 songs that have survived into my playlists.  And from Sparkle, I have the Joe only version of Nine Lives and Tomorrow in my playlist currently.  I kind of like Go too but that's really about it. 

I'm struggling with the piano ballads mightily though for the same reasons as you.  I just basically find the songs boring and they're definitely missing something.  First of all, only need 1 piano ballad like that on an album.  And I wish they would've just expanded one of those songs into something like a November Rain from GNR where it sort of explodes a bit more.

As for the Krauss tunes, they just aren't for me.  It's not her that I don't care for as I think she sounds perfectly fine in the songs and she does add to the tunes.  But the arrangements are just too Country for me and turn me off almost immediately. There's decent tunes there but they both needed to be "rocked" up a bit with more electric stuff going on or something for me.

Overall, I'm enjoying the album though and IMO it still feels like some combination of the Slang, Euphoria and X albums to me.  

 

 

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I took the tracks from the last few albums (going as far back as Euphoria) that I liked (inc Mirrorball bonus tracks) and made a compo of them...so I really won't be listening much to the albums that spawned them much... if at all ever.

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  • 7 months later...

Finally got around to buying the deluxe version now it has dropped in price. I am a big Lepp fan but I struggled to get through this. No real rockers and way too many ballads. Now don't get me wrong, this album is nowhere near as bad as the last Bon Jovi album, but it's still very weak and may even be worse than X for me. At least X had a couple of memorable songs on it.

Shame they could not put out something more akin to Joes collaboration with Ghost. That sounds more like classic Lepp than this album.

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10 hours ago, Captain Howdy said:

Finally got around to buying the deluxe version now it has dropped in price. I am a big Lepp fan but I struggled to get through this. No real rockers and way too many ballads. Now don't get me wrong, this album is nowhere near as bad as the last Bon Jovi album, but it's still very weak and may even be worse than X for me. At least X had a couple of memorable songs on it.

Shame they could not put out something more akin to Joes collaboration with Ghost. That sounds more like classic Lepp than this album.

Yowser. I love 'X' and wouldn't even begin to compare this to it, personally. Completely different plains of excellence, imo, of course. So many great songs on 'X.' Not so much on this one...  

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32 minutes ago, Geoff said:

Yowser. I love 'X' and wouldn't even begin to compare this to it, personally. Completely different plains of excellence, imo, of course. So many great songs on 'X.' Not so much on this one...  

I agree, 'X' was very good. It's like the opinion about "Pyromania' vs. 'Hysteria', some think 'Pyromania' is better. I prefer 'Hysteria'.

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Thoroughly enjoyed X when it came out, and revisited it this year when DSH dropped, and found myself actually loving it even more.  Four Letter Word, Torn to Shreds, and Scar are some of the best songs they've ever done.  :drink:

With that said, DSH obviously resonated more with me than many here on the board; after a few listens, everything just started to "click", and I've played it over and over since it's release. :headbanger:

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2 hours ago, whiplash1972 said:

Thoroughly enjoyed X when it came out, and revisited it this year when DSH dropped, and found myself actually loving it even more.  Four Letter Word, Torn to Shreds, and Scar are some of the best songs they've ever done.  :drink:

With that said, DSH obviously resonated more with me than many here on the board; after a few listens, everything just started to "click", and I've played it over and over since it's release. :headbanger:

Yeah, 'Torn to Shreds' is on par with my favourite Def Leppard songs indeed. There's a fair few contenders, but that's right up there. 

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