Retro Active - Def Leppard (CD 1993)

Retroactive, released in 1992, is actually an 'odds and sods' collection of B-sides and rarities from as early as Pyromania up to the Adrenalize sessions.

Def Leppard, after the continuing, chart topping success of albums like Adrenalize, Hysteria, and Pyromania, were in somewhat of a rut after 1991. Adrenalize was riding high, but a changing of the guard was looming with Nirvana taking hold of the music scene. Their founding guitarist Steve Clark had died during the recording of Adrenalize, and they were looking to change their direction somewhat. In order to do that, however, they felt they needed to 'clear the slate', and Retroactive was the result, publicly releasing most of the B-sides they had cut to date.

A b-side collection from any artist is usually very hit-or-miss, but this collection is very surprising in it's consistency and it's catchiness of every single track. Any of the songs on this album would have easily been a hit in the band's heyday. In fact, some of these songs, it's a wonder why they wern't on the albums they were cut for.

Desert Song, an unfinished song from Hysteria, kicks the album off, and it's quite different from most Leppard songs; an overall dark feel and a haunting chorus. Fractured Love, another unfinished song, this time from Pyromania, immediatley follows, with an almost tribal drum beat from Rick Allen. Fractured Love is similar to Too Late for Love in structure, and one almost can't tell that the song was pasted together, partly from 1983, partly from 1991.

The remainder of the album is B-sides, from Leppard's covers of Sweet (the high-speed Action) and Mick Ronson (Only After Dark) to impromtu jam sessions with other musicians that resulted in the very non-Leppard (but still very good) 'From the Inside'. There were hits off the album too but they came in the form of ballads (naturally), 'Two Steps Behind' (from the Last Action Hero soundtrack) and the piano-driven 'Miss You in a Heartbeat'. Both of these songs are remixed in 'electric' versions later in the album too, which is a little unneccesary. Miss you in a Heartbeat even has a THIRD, piano only remix (it's a hidden track). The band could've done without these remixes, it would've been nice to hear High n Dry / On through the Night B-sides in their place.

The real highlights of Retroactive are the re-recording of their very first demo (Ride into the Sun), and the stellar B-sides from Hysteria that could've been on the album instead of songs like Love and Affection and Don't Shoot Shotgun. These songs are 'She's Too Tough', 'I Wanna Be Your Hero' (originally titled Love Bites, but obviously, another song took it) and probably the album's best track, Ring Of Fire, featuring a killer guitar riff, a firey solo from Phil Collen, and a rhythm that just makes you want to do 105mph on the highway.

Retroactive is a very enjoyable, diverse collection that any Leppard fan needs to own. The material is consistent, and some of the songs are stronger than the songs of the albums they were tossed off of. The liner notes are very informative, and you won't find this much musical diversity on most other Leppard releases (Slang nonwithstanding).