On Through the Night - Def Leppard (CD 1988)

On Through the Night is Def Leppard's debut album, released in 1980. It's probably their most overlooked release, it did break them through to a minimal degree internationally but their next two albums shot them through the stratosphere.

On Through The Night is an atypical Def Leppard album in many ways. First, and most apparent, is that the labored studio perfection of Mutt Lange that would mark their albums for most of the rest of their career isn't present yet; Tom Allom (Judas Preist, et al) handles the knobs here. Secondly, the 'curse' that Leppard seems to be afflicted with hasn't stricken yet; this album took about 3 weeks to make, as opposed to upwards of 3 years like later releases. Rick Allen has both arms. The original two guitarists (Pete Willis, Steve Clark) are present. All this adds up to a very raw, heavy, in-your-face debut.

Somewhere along their paths, Def Leppard stopped truly kicking a** and became much more of a pop band. On Through the Night keeps the pop sensibilities to a minimum, and the straight-ahead rockers to the maximum. This is arguably their heaviest album. Even here, however, Leppard showed a knack for keeping their songs melodic, catchy, and with plenty of hooks; proving that ultimatley, they were more than a Mutt Lange puppet band all along.

Rock Brigade kicks the album off; it's one of the best cuts on the album, with a killer guitar riff. Noticably, Joe Elliot is singing in a much lower register than he would throughout the glory days; his shouting yelp obviously hasn't been perfected yet, but for those who were weaned on Hysteria and Adrenalize, this is a great change of pace. Other highlights of On Through the Night include the ode to heroin (Def Leppard writing heroin songs?! You'd never see this on Adrenalize) 'Wasted', a song that kicks live (even if they rarely, rarely play it anymore) as well as the instrumental showcase 'Answer to the Master', which features an off-kilter drum bit by the two-armed Allen and some killer guitar leads by Pete Willis and Steve Clark. Hello America, their first single, isn't perfect but the trademark overdubbed harmonies of their later work are already in place here, foreshadowing things to come. And the band turns in their early draft of 'Foolin', a song called 'Sorrow is a Woman', which works quite well.

The final track is the real highlight of this album; The Overture is a 7-minute epic, the likes of which Leppard would never write again. It starts off with gentle acoustic guitar and a few hi-hat rolls by Allen, and then it kicks into a galloping bassline (Yes, on this album you can actually HEAR Rick Savage's bass playing) and a jangly rhythm, with lyrics about as deep as Leppard ever got. It changes pace and time a few times, ending as it began. It's the best track here, bar none.

If the rest of the material on On Through the Night is forgettable, it does at least merit a listen to see how this band used to be. The songs don't quite have the huge hooks of their later work, but a definite rawness, an edge is present here that only surfaced occasionally down the road. These kids were still having lots of fun (at the time of this album's release the average age of the band was barely 18) and it shows on this release, yet they demonstrate surprising skill and maturity for their age. On Through the Night won't appeal to you if the Def Leppard you like is the Def Leppard of 'Have you Ever needed Someone So Bad', but if you like songs like 'Run Riot', 'Stagefright', 'Tear it Down', 'Demolition Man', 'Let it Go', etc, their harder rocking tracks, and wished that that style would surface much more often, On Through the Night may be a pleasent surprise.