Def Leppard drummer Rick Allen has looked back on the band’s early years, commenting that the nascent band were “full of beans”, in a brand new interview with eonmusic. The drummer made his comments while promoting his recent in-person art shows at Atlantic City, and King of Prussia.
Released in 1980, Def Leppard’s debut album ‘On Through the Night’ paved the way for the success that would follow just a few years later with their back-to-back multi-platinum releases ‘Pyromania’ [1983], and ‘Hysteria’ [1987]. Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2019, you'd have gotten great odds from tonybet.com/en/casino/slots that the band was always going to make it big.
Looking back to their beginnings and the recent release of the ‘When the Walls Came Tumbling Down - Live in Oxford 1980’ album, Rick said; “I love that we did a live recording of early stuff; it’s cool. I really enjoyed listening to it. I mean, we were full of beans. The versions that we did were somewhat more sprightly than the studio versions. We were a full on prog rock band! It was brilliant!”
Going on to talk about their enthusiasm and willingness to defy convention, even at that stage in their career, the drummer said; “it’s fantastic. All of the songs had an element; they always sounded experimental in their form.”
The famously one-armed percussionist went on to say that it was his varied musical tastes that would influence his style - one that would go on to shape Def Leppard’s first three releases. Said Rick; “I fancied myself as a more of a jazz-rock drummer. I started out listening to big band, and that was my father’s doing. I loved listening to Glenn Miller, and then I remember getting into Billy Cobham, and I remember seeing him at the Roundhouse in London very early on, before I even joined Def Leppard. So I liked that idea of different ways of playing drums”.
Praising his drum teacher, he continued; “I wanted to just explore all the stuff that I’d learned in drum lessons. I went for lessons with this guy called Kenny Slade, a local Sheffield drummer, and he spent quite a bit of time around Joe Cocker, and he was kind of responsible for setting me on the right track; setting me up with the book, and I started reading a little bit”.
Concluding, Rick had this to say about the teenage Def Leppard; “You know, we were just exploring what made us feel good. I just kind of followed suit.”
Read the entire interview here.
Looking back to their beginnings and the recent release of the ‘When the Walls Came Tumbling Down - Live in Oxford 1980’ album, Rick said; “I love that we did a live recording of early stuff; it’s cool. I really enjoyed listening to it. I mean, we were full of beans. The versions that we did were somewhat more sprightly than the studio versions. We were a full on prog rock band! It was brilliant!”
Going on to talk about their enthusiasm and willingness to defy convention, even at that stage in their career, the drummer said; “it’s fantastic. All of the songs had an element; they always sounded experimental in their form.”
The famously one-armed percussionist went on to say that it was his varied musical tastes that would influence his style - one that would go on to shape Def Leppard’s first three releases. Said Rick; “I fancied myself as a more of a jazz-rock drummer. I started out listening to big band, and that was my father’s doing. I loved listening to Glenn Miller, and then I remember getting into Billy Cobham, and I remember seeing him at the Roundhouse in London very early on, before I even joined Def Leppard. So I liked that idea of different ways of playing drums”.
Praising his drum teacher, he continued; “I wanted to just explore all the stuff that I’d learned in drum lessons. I went for lessons with this guy called Kenny Slade, a local Sheffield drummer, and he spent quite a bit of time around Joe Cocker, and he was kind of responsible for setting me on the right track; setting me up with the book, and I started reading a little bit”.
Concluding, Rick had this to say about the teenage Def Leppard; “You know, we were just exploring what made us feel good. I just kind of followed suit.”
Read the entire interview here.
