DEF LEPPARD Guitarist: 'Heavy Metal Is An Area We Don't Like To Go Into'

August 13, 2005

Allan Wigney of the Ottawa Sun recently conducted an interview with DEF LEPPARD guitarist Vivian Campbell.

On the subject of being labeled a "heavy metal" band, Campbell said, "We sit on the fence between hard rock and pop. We can take 'hard rock,' but the heavy metal thing is an area we don't like to go into.

"It's a mantle we don't deserve. That's not what we're about. We do big pop songs with bombast — and it's the bombast and the production thing that allude to being metal more than it really is."

"There was a very clear point— it was actually [1987] when DEF LEPPARD released 'Hysteria' — when it went away from being just a hard rock or heavy metal influenced band," Campbell continued. "The songs were much better crafted and the production was 100% unique.

"By the time 'Hysteria' came out that sound had absolutely been refined into being pop. There are a lot of guitars going on there, but it's not anything like a JUDAS PRIEST or IRON MAIDEN record, with big slabs of guitar. There are very, very subtle, nuanced guitar things going on and very production savvy subtleties all over LEPPARD's records. And stacks of vocals. DEF LEPPARD is about three-part harmonies in the chorus."

Read the entire interview at this location.

Find more on

Prev More News Next

Comments Disclaimer And Information

BLABBERMOUTH.NET uses the Facebook Comments plugin to let people comment on content on the site using their Facebook account. The comments reside on Facebook servers and are not stored on BLABBERMOUTH.NET. To comment on a BLABBERMOUTH.NET story or review, you must be logged in to an active personal account on Facebook. Once you're logged in, you will be able to comment. User comments or postings do not reflect the viewpoint of BLABBERMOUTH.NET and BLABBERMOUTH.NET does not endorse, or guarantee the accuracy of, any user comment. To report spam or any abusive, obscene, defamatory, racist, homophobic or threatening comments, or anything that may violate any applicable laws, use the "Report to Facebook" and "Mark as spam" links that appear next to the comments themselves. To do so, click the downward arrow on the top-right corner of the Facebook comment (the arrow is invisible until you roll over it) and select the appropriate action. You can also send an e-mail to blabbermouthinbox(@)gmail.com with pertinent details. BLABBERMOUTH.NET reserves the right to "hide" comments that may be considered offensive, illegal or inappropriate and to "ban" users that violate the site's Terms Of Service. Hidden comments will still appear to the user and to the user's Facebook friends. If a new comment is published from a "banned" user or contains a blacklisted word, this comment will automatically have limited visibility (the "banned" user's comments will only be visible to the user and the user's Facebook friends).