Def Leppard - Mirror Ball - Live & More
Mailboat Records
www.defleppard.com

Rating: B

FINALLY...after all these years the consummate studio band, Def Leppard, has released a live recording.  They released it in style as well, two discs featuring 21 songs live in concert and three new studio tracks, plus a DVD that includes a behind the scenes bonus feature, four songs live and two concert videos.

Okay, Def Lep has released live VHS and they have had a bonus disc on the remastered Pyromania but they have never released a live offering that compares to this one. 

Mirrorball  is a celebration of the Sparkle Lounge tour of 2008-2009.  This was a tour where the band was firing on all cylinders.  The set list is pretty damn special.  For fans of Hysteria, you get "Rocket," "Animal," "Hysteria," "Armagedoin It," "Love Bites," "Pour Some Sugar On Me" and "Let's Get Rocked." 

For fans of Pyromania check out "Rock! Rock! (Till You Drop)," "Too Late For Love," "Foolin'," "Rock of Ages"  and "Photograph." 

Sadly, fans of High N Dry will be disappointed as only "Bringin' on the Heartbreak/Switch 625" is included.  Fans of On Through the Night, well, did you really expect anything?  Probably not.  Since you expected nothing then you will not be disappointed to learn that no songs from the debut album are included here.

There is a killer version of The Sweet's "Action" included here as well as "Nine Lives," "Bad Actress" and "C'mon C'mon" from Sparkle Lounge.  We can't forget the killer remake of the David Essex classic "Rock On" either. 

The best thing about Mirrorball is that the band sounds damn good.  For all of the naysayers who have spouted the reason Def Lep never put out a live album was because they could not pull the songs off live....we can now say, "Shut the *&*# up!"  The band sounds great.  Phil Collen and Viv Campbell tear it up from beginning to end.  The rhythm section of Rick Savage and Rick Allen keep it going strong.  Joe Elliot survives the album despite his penchant for smoking cigarettes and drinking while on tour.  The rest of the band cover him well with the classic Def Leppard background vocals that have become their trademark. 

The three new studio tracks, "Undefeated," "Kings of the World" and "It's All About Believin'" are all great tracks with "Undefeated" sounding like classic Def Lep and "Kings of the World" sounding like Lep meets Queen.  "It's All About Believin'" is the best of the bunch, however, as this sounds like something that would have fit nicely on Hysteria. 

This one should actually get a B+ or even an A- but I am one of those Rock Nerds that just loves High N Dry and On Through the Night.  Since they are not well represented, this one gets a B...just because I can!  That said, this one will be played loud and often...guaranteed.

By Jeb Wright