DEF LEPPARD’s Hysteria celebrated another birthday on Aug. 3, so what better way to usher in the latest Classic Albums than with the record that vaulted the band from big stars to megastars?
The summer of 1987 didn’t give me much to be happy about. My father had just passed away, and my relationship with my mother was strained at best. Consequently, we fought — a lot.
During one of my groundings, I realized that Hysteria was coming out that day. My cousin Franc had stopped by about a month earlier with the 12-inch single of “Animal,” and I remember not exactly being blown away. But when MTV unveiled the video for “Women,” the first single here in the States, I thought, “Well, now we’re gettin’ somewhere.”
I wanted the album, and nothing was going to stop me — not even the DRC. There was just one problem: I had neighbors to the right and across the street who kept an eye on things and would rat me out in a New York minute if they saw me leave.
As soon as I saw Mrs. Sullivan’s car pull away for her beauty parlor appointment, I knew I had my window. I slipped through the back gate, hopped onto my 10-speed, took off in the opposite direction of the Spellerbergs’ house, and hauled ass to Record Collection.
There it was, on display and begging me to take it home like a dirty, dirty girl.
I grabbed the album, along with a used CD copy of JUDAS PRIEST’s Defenders of the Faith, and biked home as fast as my little legs could carry me. All told, I was gone for 15 minutes, tops.
I snuck back inside and waited for the phone to ring with the telltale sound that meant I’d been caught.
Nope. Not today.
I like to think Dad was looking out for me.
Now it was time to put the record on.
“Women” sounded even better the second time around, and “Animal” had me from the opening note. I guess I hadn’t been paying enough attention the first time. “Love Bites” was the ultimate syrupy ballad, something 14-year-old me was all about.
But then I heard it.
What exactly was it?
It was the landmark song that catapulted DEF LEPPARD into the stratosphere: “Pour Some Sugar on Me.”
Sheer pop-metal genius. It was then, and it still is now. There are few — if any — among you who don’t still love this song and turn it up just a little louder when it comes on in the car. Am I right?
Hot on the heels of that f**king gem comes “Armageddon It” to close out side one. Back when we were the Kings of USA Roller Rink, everybody had to get out on the floor and rock when these two came on. No excuses!
Side two opens on a more serious note with “Gods of War,” followed by more up-tempo fare such as “Don’t Shoot Shotgun” and “Run Riot” — Joe’s favorite song! The latter is heavier than most of the record, which is saying something, and is easily the track most reminiscent of the Pyromania era.
Next comes another personal favorite in the title track. There’s a longing in both the music and Joe Elliott’s delivery that makes “Hysteria” stand out on an album filled with standouts.
Yet another entry from my mixtape love-song collection follows with album closer “Love and Affection.” It isn’t the way you’d expect a record of this magnitude to end, and that’s one of the things I love most about it.
When the 65-minute opus finished, I immediately flipped the record over and started again. I repeated that process for weeks, eventually making a tape to bring on vacation to Puerto Rico a few weeks later.
This tour also gave me my first concert on Oct. 18, 1987. The band played its ass off at Nassau Coliseum despite an empty 300 level. Fast-forward one year, and DEF LEPPARD was selling out the Meadowlands.
A lot happened to the band during the four years leading up to Hysteria, and unfortunately, the gods weren’t finished testing them. On Jan. 8, 1991, guitarist Steve Clark died at just 30 years old while DEF LEPPARD was at the height of its popularity.
I still have so many great memories — not only of Clark’s guitar work, but of that summer and of all my friends squeezing onto my sofa during winter break in 1988. We’d watch one video after another from this record while Mom was at work, then frantically clean everything up before she got home.
Man, that was a great time.
And that’s why, to me, Hysteria will always be a Classic Album.
—THE MAESTRO
