Def Leppard's Phil Collen: 'I've never felt this good'
Phil Collen isn’t tired of performing classic Def Leppard songs. He’s tired of rehearsing them.
“It’s like pulling teeth when you’re watching paint dry,” Collen says.
But all of that changes when an audience gets involved.
“All of a sudden, you’re performing, whether you like it or not,” Collen says. “The ham in you that goes off, you’re performing for an audience … that dynamic changes. That doesn’t get tiring at all.”
Def Leppard will perform with REO Speedwagon and Tesla at Hersheypark Stadium Wednesday.
Collen joined the group in 1982 during the recording of “Pyromania,” which is largely considered the album to launch the band into stardom with songs such as “Photograph.” He’s played guitar for the band since, and was an integral part of the songwriting process on the band’s 2015 self-titled album.
Collen says the album began when he and lead singer Joe Elliot went into the studio intending only to record a single.
The ideas kept flowing, and they didn’t try to fight it.
“We got so excited,” Collen says. “Before we knew it, by the end of the week, we had 12 songs on the go, partially.”
The album remained true to Def Leppard’s musical thumbprint with aspects such as plentiful harmonies, chugging guitar riffs and anthem-style melodies. Despite this, Collen says the new songs weren’t immediately greeted with warmth by longtime fans.
Even the album’s opener, “Let’s Go” — a song seemingly crafted specifically for beginning a live show — wasn’t an instant hit with the audience.
“People looked at us like we were from Mars,” Collen says about the first times playing the album’s opener live. “But now, it’s going down great.”
When the band embarked on tour in support of the album, Elliot tried to push through a battle with laryngitis during the first show on Jan. 29, prompting Tesla’s lead singer, Jeff Keith, to step in when Elliot’s voice gave out. The remaining dates were postponed as Elliot healed.
Rick Allen, the band’s drummer, tweeted about the decision in January.
Read the full article here.