DEF LEPPARD – On Through The Night [Japan SHM-CD new remaster / Limited Release] (2023) *HQ*

A few days ago Universal Music Japan started a new reissue campaign of DEF LEPPARD albums pressed on SHM-CD, a Limited Edition release on miniLP reproducing the album first edition LP in miniature and the original Japanese OBI. This reissue differs from the previous (now sold out) SHM-CD reissues, as features a new remastering.
“On Through The Night” is the memorable debut studio album by the English band, produced by Tom Allom (Judas Priest, Krokus), for many fans their best moment musically.
It all starts back in 1979, when an inexperienced but ambitious Def Leppard became one of the very first New Wave of British Heavy Metal bands (even though they never felt a particularly strong kinship to the movement) to release some a record — the immensely collectible Def Leppard EP.
Then, little more than a year later, the young Sheffield quintet made up of singer Joe Elliott, guitarists Steve Clark and Pete Willis, bassist Rick Savage and drummer Rick Allen — unleashed its first full-length album, “On Through The Night”.

With an average age of eighteen, the five members of Def Leppard were barely old enough to remember the first Neanderthal rumblings of Black Sabbath and Deep Purple. Yet “On Through The Night” shows they not only respect their elders, they’ve taken cues from their New Wave peers, too.
Ignoring heavy-metal’s unwritten law requiring long guitar solos in every other tune, guitarists Pete Willis and Steve Clark shoot from the hip, packing their licks into tight, three-minute hard rock / pop arrangements.
The anthem-like “Rock Brigade” and “Hello America,” with its Queen-aphonic harmonies, are apt examples.

Even when they dare to wax poetic in such apocalyptic sagas as “When the Walls Came Tumbling Down” and the seven-minute, Rush-style “Overture,” Def Leppard rarely let their ambition outstrip their rock & roll sense.
Bassist Rick Savage and drummer Rick Allen apply the same youthful muscle to a breast-beating ballad (“Sorrow Is a Woman”) as they do to the Thin Lizzy-like raver “Wasted” with an awesome riff, great chorus, and great solo. It’s a real underrated little gem.
And while Joe Elliott isn’t yet a lead singer on the sanctified level of Robert Plant, he wails decently in a resonating tenor, fortified by backup harmonies and Tom Allom’s battering-ram production.

Still with its faults, “On Through The Night” is a quite good album from a young band which was making a name in the British Rock scene. This remastered version sounds fabulous on SHM-CD.
Highly Recommended

ＵＮＩＶＥＲＳＡＬ ＭＵＳＩＣ ＪＡＰＡＮ / ＵＩＣＹ～80343
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01 – Rock Brigade
02 – Hello America
03 – Sorrow Is a Woman
04 – It Could Be You
05 – Satellite
06 – When the Walls Came Tumbling Down
07 – Wasted
08 – Rocks Off
09 – It Don’t Matter
10 – Answer to the Master
11 – Overture

Joe Elliott – lead vocals
Steve Clark – lead and rhythm guitar
Pete Willis – lead and rhythm guitar
Rick Savage – bass
Rick Allen – drums
additional musicians:
Chris M. Hughes – synths on 2
Dave Cousins – voice on 6

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cdjapan.co.jp/product/UICY-80343