 
Def Leppard have just re-released their classic
1996 album ‘Slang’ on their own Bludgeon
Riffola Record Label, the album was the first
album the band recorded with guitarist Vivian
Campbell following the death of Steve Clark in
1991 and it has always gone on to be classed as
one of their most underrated albums due to poor
reviews and poor record sales and now the band
are hoping that people who missed out on the album
first time around will be wanting to pick it up.
The re-release of ‘Slang’ features
the 11 tracks of the original album but there
is also a second disc which features plenty of
bonus material in the form of an extra 14 tracks
which is made up of demos, alternative versions
of songs, new songs and various unheard of moments
that are fully exclusive to the re-release of
the album.
Now a lot of people might be wondering why Def
Leppard have decided to re-release one of their
most under rated albums and only the band themselves
have the real answer but at the same time ‘Slang’
was a big turning point for Def Leppard as they
were already riding high with solid releases of
‘Pyromania’, ‘Hysteria’
and ‘Adrenalize’ under their belts
and ‘Slang’ saw them totally depart
from the sound of these albums and go for a more
hard hitting rock sound it was a big gamble for
them and it may not of paid off at the time but
since then they have gone on to release 3 more
studio albums and play to sold out Arenas, stadiums
and festivals all across the world.
I do feel that the re-release of ‘Slang’
is going to please the hardcore Def Leppard fans
rather than people who may be new to the band
after seeing them at festivals as the band hardly
ever play any songs from ‘Slang’ on
the live circuit and the album is a lot harder
to get into than their big hit songs like ‘Photograph’,
‘Pour Some Sugar On Me’, ‘Hysteria’,
‘Animal’, ‘Rocket’ etc.
The bonus tracks on ‘Slang’ are once
again aimed at the hardcore fans they are going
to appreciate the tracks more than anyone else
and let’s face it they have been waiting
a long time for them as the talk of the re-release
of ‘Slang’ first came about way back
in 2011 so it has been on the cards for a fair
amount of years.
It is an interesting decision for Def Leppard
to re-release ‘Slang’ in the hope
that people who never heard it the first time
around pick it up and give it a listen but I personally
think that there will be more hardcore Def Leppard
fans purchasing it than first time listeners and
I personally wish that the band would work on
a follow up to their 2008 ‘Songs From The
Sparkle Lounge’ studio album as it has been
a massive 6 years since the release.
3/5
Review by Trigger
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