Def Leppard Team Up With The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra For New Album 'Drastic Symphonies'
Monday, 20 March 2023
Written by Jon Stickler
Def Leppard have joined forces with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra for a new album.
'Drastic Symphonies' is due out on May 19 and features reimagined versions of some of the Sheffield rock icons' best known songs. After deconstructing and rebuilding some of their most popular tunes, as well as rarer cuts, the band intertwined the audio from the original tapes and performed them alongside music from the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at the famous Abbey Road Studios.
Among the symphonic arrangements there's new guitar lines and vocals, and at various points listeners can hear frontman Joe Elliott duetting with his younger self. He said:
"Def Leppard has always enjoyed veering off the expected path - working with the likes of Tim McGraw, Taylor Swift and Alison Krauss for example. So, when the offer to revisit some of our back catalogue with the Royal Philharmonic was presented to us, to a man we all jumped at it. Although we’re far from the first band to ever do this, working directly with an orchestra at Abbey Road on some of our more orchestrated songs seemed too good of an opportunity to pass up."
As a preview, the band have shared a striking orchestral interpretation of their track Animal, from their 1987 LP 'Hysteria'. Press play below, alongside the album's cover art and tracklist. Guitarist Phil Collen added:
"When the offer of doing an orchestral album with the RPO was suggested we were honoured. But we didn’t just want an orchestra plonked over our previous recordings. We decided to create something special where we would have something classic but present it in a brand new way that would involve making everything work in the context of 'Drastic Symphonies'.
"Recording new parts, remixing previous sounds, taking some of our instruments out so the orchestra could breathe and literally making a new album. It was an amazingly inspirational process culminating in the live recording of the RPO at Abbey Road studios in London. An absolute team effort that took a good part of a year. It’s a new Def Leppard album, it’s a greatest hits plus album, with some rarely heard songs, it’s a live RPO album and we think it’s perfect. We’re so proud of how 'Drastic Symphonies' turned out and can’t wait to share it to the world."
Def Leppard will kick off the European leg of their Stadium Tour with Mötley Crüe on May 22, at Bramall Lane stadium in their hometown. In 2022, they put out 'Diamond Star Halos', their first new LP in seven years.
'Drastic Symphonies' tracklist:
1. Turn To Dust
2. Paper Sun
3. Animal
4. Pour Some Sugar on Me (Stripped version)
5. Hysteria
6. Love Bites
7. Goodbye For Good This Time
8. Love
9. Gods Of War
10. Angels (Can't Help You Now)
11. Bringin' On the Heartbreak
12. Switch 625
13. Too Late for Love
14. When Love & Hate Collide
15. Kings Of the World
Def Leppard Upcoming Tour Dates are as follows
Mon May 22 2023 - SHEFFIELD Bramall Lane
Sat July 01 2023 - LONDON Wembley Stadium
Sun July 02 2023 - LANCASHIRE Lytham Proms Arena
Tue July 04 2023 - DUBLIN Marlay Park
Thu July 06 2023 - GLASGOW Glasgow Green
Thu May 25 2023 - MONCHENGLADBACH SparkassenPark (Germany)
Sat May 27 2023 - MUNICH Koenigsplatz (Germany)
Mon May 29 2023 - BUDAPEST MVM Dome (Hungary)
Wed May 31 2023 - KRAKOW Tauron Arena Kraków (Poland)
Fri June 02 2023 - PRAGUE Prague Rocks (Czech Republic)
Sat June 03 2023 - HANNOVER EXPO Plaza (Germany)
Wed June 07 2023 - SOLVESBORG Sweden Rock Festival (Sweden)
Fri June 09 2023 - HYVINKAA RockFest (Finland)
Sun June 11 2023 - TRONDHEIM Trondheim Rocks (Norway)
Wed June 14 2023 - COPENHAGEN Copenhell (Denmark)
Sun June 18 2023 - DESSEL Graspop Metal Meeting (Belgium)
Tue June 20 2023 - MILAN Ippodromo SNAI San Siro (Italy)
Fri June 23 2023 - LISBON Passeio Maritimo de Alges (Portugal)
Sat June 24 2023 - RIVAS VACIAMADRID Auditorio Miguel Ríos (Spain)
Tue June 27 2023 - THUN Stockhorn Arena (Switzerland)
Sat August 05 2023 - SYRACUSE New York - Carrier Dome (USA)
Tue August 08 2023 - COLUMBUS Ohio - Ohio Stadium (USA)
Fri August 11 2023 - FARGO North Dakota - Fargodome (USA)
Sun August 13 2023 - OMAHA Nebraska - Charles Schwab Field Omaha (USA)
Wed August 16 2023 - TULSA Oklahoma - H.A. Chapman Stadium (USA)
Fri August 18 2023 - EL PASO Texas - Sun Bowl Stadium (USA)
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