DEF LEPPARD's PHIL COLLEN Talks MAN RAZE On 'Maximum Threshold' (Audio)

Phil Collen of DEF LEPPARD talked about his MAN RAZE project — also featuring Simon Laffy from GIRL and Paul Cook of THE SEX PISTOLS — during an appearance on the April 2, 2011 edition of the "Maximum Threshold" show. The chat is now available for streaming using the audio player below.

Interview (audio):

MAN RAZE's debut album, "Surreal", was re-released in June 2009 via VH1 Classic Records as a deluxe edition with five previously unreleased bonus tracks.

"Surreal" came out in the U.K. on November 17, 2008 through Surrealist Records. The U.K. version of the CD came with a special European-edition bonus disc.

Mixing the raw energy of the PISTOLS mixed with the immaculate pop rock of DEF LEPPARD, MAN RAZE is a unique clash of '70s simplicity with '80s excess, punk clubs with stadium rock.

"The fun part about MAN RAZE is that musically we can go off in any direction from rock to alternative the next," Phil Collen previously said.

With regards to the band's sound, Collen — who also handles lead vocals — told Rolling Stone magazine, "It's a mix. We go from really hard rock, with obviously big guitars, to dub. I was always into the alternative stuff, a very big fan of THE POLICE. And this is edgy — a lot more aggressive than DEF LEPPARD."

Before joining DEF LEPPARD, London-born Phil Collen played in GIRL, who were one of the great unsung U.K. rock acts of the early '80s (singer Phil Lewis would later front L.A. GUNS — who were at the vanguard of the L.A. sleaze rock scene that eventually produced GUNS N' ROSES). While Phil went on to join DEF LEPPARD he maintained a strong friendship with Simon Laffy, GIRL's bassist. Reconnecting in 2004, and joined by SEX PISTOLS drummer Paul Cook, MAN RAZE was born. Eschewing their illustrious past, the band have spent the past two year getting back to basics, writing and recording — they also played a sold-out show at London's Spitz Club and released a limited-edition EP "Skin Crawl" in October 2005 on their own label, Surrealist Records, in the U.K.