It’s not the most common phenomenon for Def Leppard to release a new album in such a short period of time from their previous work as the excellent “Diamond Star Halos” was on the shelves of the record stores in May 2022. Of course, “Drastic Symphonies” is not exactly a new album in the absolute sense of the word but still…
It was a well-kept secret. Def Leppard have been working with London’s Royal Philharmonic Orchestra for about a year now at the legendary Abbey Road Studios on “Drastic Symphonies” which, I gotta say, is not your typical symphonic album. In other words, it is not a reinterpretation of the band’s best known songs based on symphonic forms. Here we have the original versions from which many key parts have been removed (mainly guitars and of course drums), replaced by strings, violins and horns, changing or giving another dimension to each song. Also, Joe Elliott’s vocals have been kept in their original form except that in several parts vocals have been added by him as his voice is today. The result is listening to an album that immediately stands out for its unique quality. After all, we are talking about the most important Philharmonic Orchestra in the world, aren’t we? And don’t think that Leppard only chose the hits. Not even close. The album opens with “Turn To Dust” (from “Slang”), continues with the incredible “Paper Sun” (from “Euphoria”) which has brings in mind something out of a James Bond soundtrack and then we have “Gods of War” and “Switch 625” among others. These are the 4 highlights, for me personally, of an album that is worth listening to although I must emphasize that it is mainly aimed at the Leppard fan base.
Highlight: the only odd moment on the album is the slow version of “Pour Some Sugar On Me” with Emm Gryner as special guest on lead vocals.
