Anybody Got Water; Because I'm High And Dry.

Unleashed on the buying public in 1981, this is the Lep's sophomore release. The album features a striking cover by Hipgnosis (these guys were EVERYWHERE during the 70's and 80's). Produced by John "Mutt" Lange (of AC/DC fame), this record is an improvement from their first release, but they are still trying to get out of the shadow of AC/DC. Do they succeed, or do they try to cash in on the AC/DC sound? Here are my reviews of the songs based out of 5 *****:

"Let It Go" - Wicked guitar intro introduces the melody and song. A thick, thumping bass kicks in followed by Joe's vocals and surging guitars. Joe sounds great! A fast paced rocker that hits on all cylinders. Nice harmonizing during the bridge, and then the song kicks into overdrive. A furious guitar solo. Joe has some great wails. A great hard rock tune. "So stop your stallin' and your bitchin'"! Perfect! Classic! This song received alot of FM airtime and was a modest hit for the band. Rating - *****

"Another Hit And Run" - Starts with a midtempo guitar, but builds steam as the bass and drum kick in. Strong bass from Rick Savage (this song was co-written by him). Strong vocals from Joe Elliott. Another rocking guitar solo from Clark and Willis (sounds alot like Angus Young of AC/DC). A great song with tempo changes and a catchy melody. A very good tune. Rating - *****

"High-N-Dry(Saturday Night)" - Opens with guitar intoducing the melody followed by drum and then Joe's vocals. Bass and rhythm guitar then help drive the song into AC/DC territory. Joe again shines on this song with some great singing. Cool lyrics help make the song a winner. Great beat! Many a times I was indeed high-n-dry on a Saturday night! This was another hit for the band that received alot of airplay. A true classic! Rating - *****

"Bringin' On The Heartbreak" - The biggest hit of off this album. A ballad ala Scorpions "Still Loving You" (definitely NOT AC/DC). Strong chugging guitars and bass help to make this a hardrock tune. A very nice guitar solo from Willis and Clark. Joe really sings with alot of emotion "NO! NO! NO OOO!". Another terrific rock-n-roll song. Great! Rating - ***** Leads directly into:

"Switch 625" - An instrumental (written by Clark). Has some nice vocal harmonizing as well as very thick bass and galloping guitar. A pretty decent instrumental as far as these things go. You don't get bored listening to it. Would make a great song if there were lyrics written for it. Rating - ***

"You Got Me Runnin'" - Power chords to open the song (AC/DC big time) followed by a thumping bass line and "Hey hey hey" from Joe. Strong rhythm helps give it a hardrock feel. Great vocal harmonizing by the band really helps to give it a poppy feel. The great vocal harmonizing is what separates them from AC/DC and the other 'metal' bands at the time. Guitar solo is blistering (sounds way too much like Angus Young). Joe once again sounds great. Rating - ****

"Lady Strange" - An unheralded gem of a song. I really love the way Joe sounds on this cut. Strong rhythm and bass helps lay a solid foundation for the vocals and harmonizing. A great, haunting melody really gives this song some color. Joe does some of his finest singing. A very fast bridge really kicks the song up a notch. A very solid guitar solo. A fantastic song! Rating -*****

"On Through The Night" - I can't understand why this wasn't on their first album, but it's fine with me because this song ROCKS! Joe has a voice made by the rock-n-roll Gods! He can't help but turn anything into a rockin' treat. A fast paced rocker. Tempo slows during the bridge but picks up into a galloping speed. Cool guitar solo. Once more a GREAT song! Rating - *****

"Mirror, Mirror(Look Into My Eyes)" - Guitars introduce the melody and a strong, thumping bass comes next followed by Joe's vocals. Joe again is great here. A fantastic rhythm. Strong, insistent. ANOTHER flat out great song. Rating - ****

"No No No" - Punk meets hardrock! A very fast paced hard slammin' song. Easily the heaviest song on the album. Drums are very predominant as well as the strong bass by Savage. Sounds a litle like Judas Priest during the chorus (maybe Victim of Changes). Furious guitar solo! Joe really belts it out here! Ends with a repeating "NO NO NO NO.."

Joe's screaming "NO" at the end of the album lets us know that they are NOT AC/DC clones! Sure they have elements of AC/DC that are very obvious but that's not a bad thing! Def Leppard is able to take that sound and give it their own twist with their very strong vocal harmonizing and melodies. Overall, this was a CLASSIC, TERRIFIC, MINDBLOWING second release. The inside credits for the album gives a "Special thanks to Phil Collen". This is interesting because Mr. Collen would take the place of Pete Willis during the recording of Def's next album. Also, Mr."Mutt" would have an even bigger influence on the Lep's sound for their next album. Was this a good thing or not? See my review to find out.

Greatest Def Leppard Album of All Time

Pyromania comes in at a close second, but High N' Dry is one of those hidden gems you just don't hear much about.



High N' Dry captures the early rawness of Def Leppard in their growing stage, and in their most exciting form. All of the guitars are raw, defined, and heavy. The solos cut through like a hot knife through butter, and with each snap of the snare drum, you're tempted to get up and bang your head to the music.



John Robert "Mutt" Lange did such a stellar job on producing and engineering this album. It's too bad that Def Leppard had to change their musical style to the pop-candy rock that you hear on the radio so often these days.





This is the Def Leppard you don't hear anymore. Pick this album up now.

Move Over, AC/DC

The first time I heard this, I thought, "It's apparent they were touring with AC/DC." As I listened more and more, I became addicted to this album. The beat is driving and the guitars rock. Joe isn't quite in his element yet (he's still emulating his heavy metal idols) but the raw quality to his voice is fun. The guitar work is excellent and the drums drive it all the way through. Mutt Lange knew he'd found a money maker with these guys. 25 years later, I still love 'em and can't wait to see them in concert the summer of '05!