Def Leppard is the latest act to take the orchestral plunge, teaming with London's Royal Philharmonic Orchestra for an album of re-recordings titled Drastic Symphonies.
Singer Joe Elliott says, “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 catalog with the Royal Philharmonic was presented to us, 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.”
Recording at the famed London studio, they intertwined audio from the original tapes and performed alongside the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. At different points you can hear Joe Elliott singing with his younger self. The album also includes new vocals and guitars.
Guitarist Phil Collen says, “When the offer of doing an orchestral album with the RPO was suggested, we were honored. 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 songs rarely heard before, 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.”
Drastic Symphonies will out on May 19th on CD, black vinyl, colored vinyl, picture disc, CD/Blu-Ray (Atmos) and digitally.
Drastic Symphonies track list:
- "Turn to Dust"
- "Paper Sun"
- "Animal"
- "Pour Some Sugar on Me" (Stripped version)
- "Hysteria"
- "Love Bites"
- "Goodbye for Good This Time"
- "Love"
- "Gods of War"
- "Angels (Can’t Help You Now)"
- "Bringin’ on the Heartbreak"
- "Switch 625"
- "Too Late for Love"
- "When Love & Hate Collide"
- "Kings of the World"
- "Have You Ever Needed Someone So Bad" - vinyl & Atmos versions
With this announcement they released their new version of "Animal."