Def Leppard’s ‘Hysteria’: A tale of friendship, tragedy, and triumph

In my last album retrospective, I signed off by advocating that while Oasis’ Definitely Maybe (1994) and (What’s the Story) Morning Glory? (1995) are two fantastic records, the greatest ever consecutive album releases in music are Def Leppard’s Pyromania (1983) and Hysteria (1987).

Now, all you eagle-eyed readers out there may notice that neither Pyromania or Hysteria are celebrating a major anniversary this year to warrant a commemorative, retrospective piece. And that’s true. Yet, of all albums, Hysteria was defined not the date of its release, but by the three whole years it took the band to make the damn thing.

A journey of ultra-resilience, rediscovery, and triumph against unthinkable odds to record one of the defining records in music history – the most expensive album ever at the time

Indeed, forty years ago, when drummer Rick Allen spun his Chevrolet Corvette and lost his left arm, it seemed for all the world that Hysteria would never be made at all. What followed would be a journey of ultra-resilience, rediscovery, and triumph against unthinkable odds to record one of the defining records in music history – the most expensive album ever at the time.

Hysteria began life in Windmill Lane studios, Dublin in February 1984 as vocalist Joe Elliott, guitarists Phil Collen and Steve Clark, bassist Rick Savage, and drummer Allen returned from the band’s Pyromania tour. The album was to be designed as a hard rock version of Michael Jackson’s Thriller (1982), in which every song was a potential hit single on the mainstream charts. This vision, then, was to be an even greater departure from the band’s raw early sound from their debut two albums, On Through the Night (1980) and High ‘n’ Dry (1981), than Pyromania had been.

Disruption marred the creation of Hysteria from the very off. As early as sessions began, famed producer Robert John “Mutt” Lange, fresh off producing the band’s last two records as well as AC/DC’s defining Back in Black (1980), dropped out due to exhaustion. In August, the band hired the available Jim “The wolf with the red roses” Steinman, himself fresh off of chart success producing for Meat Loaf and Bonnie Tyler. Steinman, though, lasted all of two months, being ousted by October that year over creative differences between him and the band. The band soon scrapped all their material from the Steinman sessions, trying their luck with Lange’s engineer Nigel Green. Yet, as guitarist Clark recalled, the band struggled without “any sort of headmaster” or direction in the studio.

Allen helped develop an entirely new hybrid electronic/acoustic drumkit, using electronic foot pedals to trigger sounds he would’ve otherwise played with his left arm

Producer troubles, though, were about to be dwarfed by an even bigger one. Despite doctors initially being able to save Allen’s arm following his Sheffield accident on New Year’s Eve, the drummer ultimately saw the limb amputated through infection. In most other bands, a drummer losing their arm would surely spell the end of their tenure. Def Leppard were different. There was never any thought over continuing without Allen, who soon returned to the studio. Allen helped develop an entirely new hybrid electronic/acoustic drumkit, using electronic foot pedals to trigger sounds he would’ve otherwise played with his left arm.

Lange was eventually convinced to return in the summer of 1985, but felt that the material recorded to that point needed reworking – which would mean another eighteen months in the studio. The band’s determination would see them overcome Lange’s own traffic accident and Elliot suffering a bout of mumps, both further delaying production in late 1986. Recording finally concluded soon after. Given Lange’s visions for Hysteria to emulate Thriller, it was quite a strange decision for the track ‘Women’ to lead the album’s offensive as the lead single in the United States – in my books probably Hysteria’s most skippable song. Rather unsurprisingly, ‘Women’ barely even broke the Billboard mainstream charts, stalling at number eighty.

Its painstakingly recorded guitar tracks, beautiful vocals from Elliott, and subtle, thumping drums from the one-armed Allen are still performed perfectly to this day

Yet, despite this early misfire, the three gruelling years spent in the studio and the hospital wards would all pay off. Four of Hysteria’s singles (‘Pour Some Sugar on Me’, title track ‘Hysteria’, ‘Armageddon It’, and ‘Love Bites’) would reach the mainstream top ten in the United States, with ‘Love Bites’ hitting number one. ‘Rocket’ and ‘Animal’ would also just miss out, reaching number twelve and eighteen, respectively.

‘Hysteria’ was christened by Allen to describe the media response to his accident, and is one of the album’s (many) highlights. Its painstakingly recorded guitar tracks, beautiful vocals from Elliott, and subtle, thumping drums from the one-armed Allen are still performed perfectly to this day.

Airplay demand for the rock/rap infused ‘Pour Some Sugar on Me’ would eventually propel the album all the way to the summit of Billboard’s album charts in the summer of 1988. What’s more, given the huge success of Hysteria’s singles, the quality of the tracks not chosen for release including ‘Run Riot’ and ‘Excitable’ is often understated, a testament to Lange’s creative vision. The album’s release was accompanied by a mammoth, 237-date tour in North America and Europe. Unfortunately, Hysteria was the last album to fully feature guitarist Clark, who died in January 1991 through alcohol poisoning.