DEF LEPPARD Guitarist Talks About Upcoming 'Covers' Album

April 22, 2005

DEF LEPPARD guitarist Phil Collen has told Billboard.com that the song list for the group's yet-to-be titled all-covers set has yet to be finalized, as the group decided to record more cuts than it originally planned. Collen admits that the idea for the project was first hatched years ago. "Joe [Elliott, vocals] has been wanting to do it for like 20 years," he says. "He's like, 'Oh, it'll be great, like [DAVID BOWIE's] 'Pin-Ups'!' Someone mentioned it at the label and we just jumped on it. We kind of had a list for years anyway."

Collen confirms that the album will include "A bunch of stuff — all '70s stuff. Most of it is songs that we grew up with in England. 'No Matter What' by BADFINGER is going to be the leadoff single. We've done 'Waterloo Sunset' by THE KINKS, T. REX, MOTT THE HOOPLE, ROXY MUSIC and THIN LIZZY. And a lot of it is obscure; it's not the standard stuff. It's not like STONES or BEATLES songs."

As for the musical approach, Collen says, "They vary. Some of them are like we've kept almost karaoke versions, [while] other ones are completely different. It's not any one thing; it's however we felt for each song, really."

Here are tracks that have been recorded for the all-covers album:

"10538 Overture" (ELO)
"20th Century Boy" (T. REX)
"Don't Believe a Word" (THIN LIZZY)
"Drive in Saturday" (DAVID BOWIE)
"Hanging on the Telephone" (BLONDIE)
"Hellraiser" (SWEET)
"He's Gonna Step on You Again" (JOHN KONGOS)
"No Matter What" (BADFINGER)
"Little Bit of Love" (FREE)
"Rock On" (DAVID ESSEX)
"Stay With Me" (THE FACES)
"Street Life" (ROXY MUSIC)
"The Golden Age of Rock & Roll" (MOTT THE HOOPLE)
"Waterloo Sunset" (THE KINKS)
"American Girl" (TOM PETTY & THE HEARTBREAKERS)
"Heartbeat" (JOBRIATH)
"How Does It Feel" (SLADE)
"Kick Out the Jams" (MC5)
"Roxanne" (THE POLICE)
"Dear Friends" (QUEEN)
"When I'm Dead and Gone" (MCGUINNESS FLINT)
"Winter Song" (LINDISFARNE)

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