Album Review: Def Leppard - Songs From The Sparkle Lounge
A good musician friend of mine told me once that if I were ever in a liquor store (or a wine cellar for you connoisseurs), always look for a bottle of red wine made in California in 2001. Regardless of what wine it’d be, 2001 in his mind was considered a great year and has never been disappointed with a bottle. Much like a fine wine, if stored properly and over time, it will continue to taste great upon first open. However the flip side results if the wine is left out to go stale and taste like bland vinegar. Def Leppard’s newest offering, Songs From The Sparkle Lounge, feels like a fine wine that was left under the gaslight quite a bit too long.
Its been six years since the famous English metal’ers released their previous effort, 2002’s X. Right off the bat, the first song “Go” shows quite a bit of promise, as the band dabbles with some electronica-inspired moods. Phil Collen and Vivian Campbell’s guitar tones are chunky and thick and Joe Elliot’s vocals reach way back to their classic album Pyromania. However, the gaslight flicks itself on here and slowly begins to drain the soul of the album. The Tim McGraw duet “Nine Lives” follows afterwards and much like Tim McGraw, feels very country laden. After the promise of “Go,” “Nine Lives” seems to jump a little too far and miss it’s target. It does have potential to be a good crossover hit, but in the sense Def Leppard is musically known for, it’s too much of a departure from the rest of the album. Expect a line dance to it though, that aspect will be truly obvious.
“C’mon, C’mon” really brings the spirit of the band back and proves to be one of the catchiest, strongest songs on the album. Old fans will rejoice and newcomers will enjoy this one as the spirit of Steve Clark is alive and well on this track, bringing back memories of Hysteria. The tired ballad “Love” follows and quickly hits a low thud, especially following “C’mon C’mon.” If it were towards the bookend of the album it would work, but right after a killer rocker, it’s somewhat of a letdown.
The next few numbers “Tomorrow”, “Cruise Control,” “Hallucinate” and “Only The Good Die Young” (no not the Billy Joel song) all are average offerings at best, but nothing too special here. They’re a bit too cookie-cutter pop rock, and certainly no “Photograph.” The album ends with a pretty good kick-the-door-down rocker “Bad Actress” but quickly finds itself in the belly of the whale with “Come Undone.” The final track “Gotta Let It Go” sums up the entire album: Def Leppard should let this one go.
In a sense, there are some pretty cool ideas and tunes on Songs From The Sparkle Lounge, but for the most part, it seems to be a return to the band’s glory days in the mid-80’s. While there is no argument that their earlier stuff is awesome, this effort seems a bit forced. This is a good album to put on in the background; in other words, the soundtrack to a nice highway cruise, but unfortunately, that’s about it.
Rating: 
Def Leppard - “Nine Lives”
Thank YOU… As someone that spent my high school years in the 80’s, songs from Def Leppard and from groups like Boston and Scorpions helped us survive the 80’s and are GREAT to hear NOW. The best thing about it, is the album above that some people want to complain about is the reason why my 16 & 17 year old can’t wait for Def Leppard to tour here again so they can see them…. THEY ARE GREAT…..
If you love deaf leppard, check a band called the music out. I guarantee you will not be dissapointed.
While i cant claim to be a hardcore leppard fan, i do know a solid rock album when i hear one. Im 33 years old and remember hearing deff leppard mentioned numerous times as a kid growing up in the eighties. So i purchased their 2cd greatest hits which most of you already know showcases their arguably greatest stuff from the 80s and some cruelly underrated stuff from the 90s and onwards, Awesome.Makes me wish i could have been a teenager in the 80s instead of the turgid grungy 90s, but thats life i guess.To be honest, i cant quite comprehend for the life of me why people do not seem to like this album. is it their best work, no possibly not. Does it scale the dizzy heights of their earlier work, yes it occasionally does actually.Go, and hallucinate being prime examples. The song love[And its piano counterpart] sound like deff leppard immitating queen in their heyday. Believe me when i say its no bad thing.What you are left with is one solid balls to the floor rock album which deserves to sit along any of their albums. In an era of deppresingly crap indie bands and reality tv rejects claiming to be the saviours of english music, its good to see proper musicians remind us that all is not lost.So do yourselves a favour and get this album and shove the cd into your car, hi fi, whatever and let deff leppard rock your world and be bloody grateful.
I changed the order when I put these songs on my MP3 player YES I bought the Disc… Nine lives, Hallucinate, Cmon Cmon, Gotta Let it Go then the rest of the disc!! This album is totally sweet couldn’t stop playing it for the first month I got it!
Sparkle lounge is an awesome album! Another underrated overlooked album just like slang. Blame it on poor promotion and terrible single choices by the record co. Come undone, bad actress and go are great hard driving tunes.
yeah! i agree with above, this album is great!
Nicely put, by the way! XD
Fuck you,this is def leppard’s best album since hysteria start to finish.You stupid fucks would’nt know music if it was water and you fell out of a fuckin boat.