Def Leppard

My next look at the 2019 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees is Def Leppard. There isn't much to say about them. I think when they were at their hey-day the only thing I knew about them was that they had a one-armed drummer. Now I kind of think of them as the British version of Bon Jovi.

I listened to some of their greatest hits (it was a two-disc collection with 30 (!) songs) and was not struck dumb by any innovation or creativity. Def Leppard, like Bon Jovi, produced a generic light-metal sound that was perfect for arenas full of teenagers who didn't know any better.

I was surprised to find that I recognized a few of the songs: "Photograph," "Pour Some Sugar," and "Foolin'," which all are radio friendly and not objectionable. What becomes numbing is to hear song after song that sound the same. They have two types: the rocker, and the ballad, which allowed kids to wave their lighters around (today it would be their phones).

There doesn't seem to be anything authentic about Def Leppard. If rock and roll came in a can, this would be it. I suppose they deserve to be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame because they sold an incredible amount of records, but if that's the case then innovative groups who didn't sell squat, like MC5 (who I will be writing about next) also deserve entry. Room should be made for the strictly commercial and the artistic.