On the plus side, the group is one of only five rock bands to sell more than 10 million copies of two separate albums (1983's "Pyromania" and 1987's "Hysteria"). On the other, Def Leppard survived the overdose death of guitarist Steve Clark and a 1984 car crash that cost drummer Rick Allen his left arm.
Two decades after its heyday, the band is back - the one-armed Allen is still banging away on the drums - with a new album of cover tunes from the late 1960s and 1970s. Titled "Yeah!", the record contains respectful versions of songs by the Kinks, Badfinger, David Bowie, Faces, Blondie, Mott the Hoople and other glam-rock artists.
The Salt Lake Tribune caught up with Def Leppard guitarist Vivian Campbell by phone during a recent break in the band's 2006 summer tour, which they're co-headlining with '70s pop-rockers Journey. This two-headed show alights in Utah on Wednesday at the Usana Amphitheatre in West Valley City.
So where was Campbell on this Thursday afternoon? A rowdy bar? A thrashed hotel room filled with hungover groupies? No. He's calling from Sea World near San Diego, where he's with his two daughters, ages 7 and 5. (The girlish shrieking in the background was definitely not for him.)
Salt Lake Tribune: So why an album of covers?
Campbell: This record has been reviewed in one of two ways: Either people think we're all washed up because we decided to do the covers . . . or they think it's a good idea because nobody really wants to hear new Def Leppard. We toyed with the notion of doing a cover song, and Joe Elliott, our lead singer, quickly parlayed that into the concept of doing an entire covers album. So we decided to make a record that reflects where we come from. These songs, for the most part, represent our formative musical years. People are always pegging us as a heavy metal band, which we're really not. Our first and primary influences are pop music. Ultimately we're a sheep in wolf's clothing. If you stripped away the bombast of Def Leppard, there actually are pop songs with choruses underneath.
SLT: How did you choose the songs that would be on the record?
Campbell: There was a lot of politicking. Some people are more fond of certain acts than others. We covered an ELO song. I wouldn't say I was a big ELO fan, but Rick Savage, our bass player, was, so he lobbied for that. And Joe was a huge Bowie fan. When we were setting up the ground rules for the record, we tried to avoid for the most part the obvious songs. We didn't want to do The Beatles. We didn't want to do the Rolling Stones. We should have done a song by Queen. They were a massive influence.
SLT: Are you doing many of these songs on the tour?
Campbell: We rehearsed six of them before we started. But because we're doing a co-headline tour with Journey . . . there's only so long you can play. Most of these buildings have curfews. So Journey plays 80 minutes, and we play 80 minutes. When people come to a Def Leppard show, they expect to hear . . . "Rock of Ages" and "Pour Some Sugar on Me."
SLT: How's it going playing with Journey? Is it easier because you don't have to shoulder the whole burden for the show, or do you wish you could play longer?
Campbell: I wish we could play longer. I think we all do. But it's great to be with Journey. They're a phenomenal band. They go on before us every night . . . and they really get the audience going. It makes our job a little bit easier. And they're also great guys to work with.
SLT: Do you have any memories of Utah from any of your previous tours?
Campbell: SLC is a good rock town. I don't know why. I even remember it from the '80s. It's one of those places where people would go really wild at a show.
SLT: There's been so much drama and tragedy in the band's history. Does that ever overshadow the music and become a distraction?
Campbell: Not at all. We in the band don't concern ourselves with any of that stuff. It's absolutely not an issue. We don't consider ourselves cursed or unlucky. If you take any group of people and track them over 27, 28 years, there's gonna be some good times and some bad times.
SLT: I would think that playing in a band with Rick Allen would be pretty inspiring.
Campbell: It is. Rick's an absolute marvel. He may be a better drummer now than when he had two arms, in terms of his timekeeping. He's so locked into the groove. He's very, very inspirational to us and to a lot of people in the audience. We're very lucky to have him.
SLT: Def Leppard has been going for more than 25 years now. You've survived when a lot of bands from that time have faded away or broken up. Do you have any explanations for the band's longevity and popularity?
Campbell: When you think about bands from the '80s, you think of bands like Motley Crue and you think of Nikki Sixx and Tommy Lee and Vince Neil. They were all sort of bad-boy characters. Or you think about Van Halen and David Lee Roth. But when you think about Def Leppard, most people really didn't know the guys in the band. Leppard has always been more about the music. It's the quality of the songs. We're very, very good at what we do. We work very hard.
SLT: And now you're all sober and in shape.
Campbell: Yeah, that's the other thing. We go to the gym. In any hotel in any city, you can find us at the gym. And nobody's got any drinking or drug problems. We're such a family band now - everyone's got kids. It ain't the '80s anymore, you know?
Pour some Leppard on me
Def Leppard and Journey play Wednesday night at Usana Amphitheatre, 5150 S. 6055 West in West Valley City. The show starts at 7:30 p.m., with Journey playing first. Tickets are $30 and are available online through http://www.usana-amp.com or http://www.tickets.com. As of Monday, only lawn seats remained, although better seats may become available the day of the show.
