Def Leppard - Retro Active (CD)

good followup to the dismal Adrenalize

By Yahoo! Shopping User  Mar 18, 2002

I was surprised that the Lep's released an album so soon after 'Adrenalize.' But it was a good move because the over pop, bubblegum of 'Adrenalize' was not what I would call the Lep's best release:)Taken from B sides from studio songs that didn't mak...e albums(most are from the Hysteria sessions), this is a great album and has the Lep's cranking out rockers reminiscent of 'Pyromania.'The album opens with the dark rocker 'Desert Song', followed and dubbed in very nicely for effect: 'Fractured Love.' Both B sides from the Hysteria sessions and you can tell the quality of songs being written back then by this band. Both are standouts. Other highlights would be 'Ring of Fire', 'Ride into the Sun'(version #3 for those counting), and 'Miss You in a Heartbeat.' This song was a big hit in Canada(where I'm from), they even thanked Canada on the greatest hits album. There are actually three versions of the latter track on this album.Overall, while not over produced like their earlier work, 'Retroactive' shows that Def Leppard still like to write hard rock songs. Also of note, Steve Clark actually plays on most of the cuts which was a very nice gesture from the band, showing how they still miss him. Read more Less