It seems like they knew they were going to break through...

...in America.

 

I liked the first 2 albums, after that not so much, and they are still playing the crap out of them here SoCal

 

Love some old Lep!

 

They went ballistic in America, far bigger, even now still, than the UK.
They are from Sheffield, in the Midlands of the UK. A good concert to catch is the one at Sheffield United's football ground, in the 90s.....massive crowd of strong home support.
The great thing about the band, they can all sing so well, and harmonize beautifully. No doubting the long time honed skills of Phil Collen and Viv Campbell's a decent axeman.
They have been prolific too.....the Hysteria album super-produced by Mutt Lange, is packed full of hits.
The Classic Albums video of the album, is well worth catching.

 

First 2 albums for me as well. After that they kind of lost me. High n Dry is imo the best record they made. I still put it on the turntable from time to time. The best guitar tone they recorded as well.

 

I thought their first two were OK but nothing great, a little to pop style for me. And yes, they still play the hell out of them around here and thats when I turn the station.

 

The Leppard I dug was with Pete Willis and Steve Clark when they were pretty much kids. That was their gimmick when they first hit..they were pretty much high school age. I saw them with Priest and the Scorpions, I think in 79-80..crazy they were about our age at the time which back then seemed pretty cool..then after they booted Pete while commercially successful, imo started to sound over processed and terrible.

 

not to mention that, shortly after that, the drummer lost his arm, which changed their style dramatically more towards straight pop...

 

but they got rich after that too.

 

well, they did Pyromania, w/ Mutt Lange & that put them on top. Then, they had a bit of trouble getting a recording team together for what would be Hysteria, but then Rick got in the accident. (which put their album further out - a lot further).

After all the delays, Mutt was available again & they did it...

Pyromania: 1983
Hysteria: 1987

 

That is a valid point.

 

i was watching Mtv when Loader reported the accident.

 

Mutt produced High n Dry as well.

 

First two albums were pop? They were straight up rock I thought. The following albums were waaaay more poppy.

 

I agree.. First 2 Rocked. Pyro on Popped.

 

Whatever they are classified as its not for me.

 

I saw them years ago with Blackfoot here in Seattle. When they started touring.

I call them bubblegum rock. Not for me but a lot of chicks dig their version of rock including mine and I find it obvious the target audience and desired result...which is R&R. And you dudes think they were rocking for you? No. They weren't.

 

Yep. It did "modernise" their sound. So probably worked in their favour. He had a lot of finesse as a two armed drummer, but the one arm years of triggered drum samples worked in the 90's.

 

2 distinct sounding versions of that band. The early version wasn't pour sugar (barf) bubblegummy.

 

There were only two bands worth signing in England at that time, Leppard and Maiden. It's pretty obvious who was the pick of the litter.