NEW YORK (By Sujata Murthy/ UMe Records) - Coming hot on the heels of their Platinum-certified 2-CD hits package, "Rock of Ages: The Definitive Collection,"
Def Leppard - Joe Elliott (vocals), Vivian Campbell (guitar), Phil Collen (guitar), Rick "Sav"
Savage (bass) and Rick Allen (drums) - have announced that they will release their 12th studio album "YEAH!" (Island/UMe) on May 23, 2006. As previously announced, following the release of "YEAH!,"
Def Leppard will be turning up the temperature this summer with a U.S. tour scheduled to kick off on June 23rd. Presented by VH1 Classic and Live Nation, the band will be hitting cities across the country with
Journey through August 31st.
On their highly anticipated new album, Def Leppard have created a heartfelt and hard rocking tribute to their musical heroes of the late 60s and 70s -- the Kinks, Badfinger, T. Rex, David Bowie, Sweet, Roxy Music, Mott the Hoople, Free, Faces, and Thin Lizzy. Recording essential versions of the music that influenced their youth, the band have brilliantly merged the "Now" with the "Then" to create a buzz that can only be summed up in one word: "YEAH!"
Said Joe Elliott, "I thought it was about time we showed the world what our true roots were ... British pop rock from the early to mid 70s. The songs on this album are at least partly responsible for us making the kind of music that we do."
Added Phil Collen, "We didn't want to make the standard covers album and gave this a lot of deep thought as Joe has been going on about doing this sort of project for 26 years. We wanted to express ourselves through these songs and approached the recording process as if they were our own."
The track listing for "YEAH!" is as follows:
10538 Overture (originally recorded by Electric Light Orchestra in 1972)
20th Century Boy (originally recorded by T.Rex in 1973)
Don't Believe A Word (originally recorded by Thin Lizzy in 1976)
Drive-In Saturday (originally recorded by David Bowie in 1973)
Hanging On The Telephone (originally recorded by The Nerves in 1977, and Blondie in 1978)
He's Gonna Step On You Again (originally recorded by John Kongos in 1971)
Hell Raiser (originally recorded by Sweet in 1973)
Little Bit Of Love (originally recorded by Free in 1972)
No Matter What (originally recorded by Badfinger in 1970)
Rock On (originally recorded by David Essex in 1973)
Stay With Me (originally recorded by Faces in 1971)
Street Life (originally recorded by Roxy Music in 1973)
The Golden Age Of Rock & Roll (originally recorded by Mott the Hoople in 1974)
Waterloo Sunset (originally recorded by The Kinks in 1967)
Def Leppard is without a doubt Great Britain's premiere arena rock band. Their spectacular live shows filled with powerful melodic rock anthems have become synonymous with their name, and they are an institution in the touring industry as they continue to sell out arenas worldwide. The band's world tour will kick off in Italy on June 3rd with U.S. dates commencing at Camden, N.J.'s Tweeter Center on June 23rd.
With more than 65 million albums sold worldwide, Def Leppard is one of the most continuously exciting and important forces in rock music. Over the course of their career, the band has produced a series of classic groundbreaking albums that set the sound for generations of music fans and artists. The release of "YEAH!" begins a remarkable new chapter in Def Leppard's 28-year recording career, emerging with an album that captures the raw and high energy brand of hard rock for which they are universally known.
Def Leppard was honored in the U.S. by the RIAA with two prestigious Diamond Awards for their albums "Hysteria" and "Pyromania." The Diamond Award recognizes sales of over 10 million, a feat not many bands and only a handful of British artists have been able to achieve (The Beatles, Pink Floyd, Elton John, Eric Clapton).
For more information and list of upcoming tour dates, please go to www.defleppard.com.
