Often overlooked by the music press, who seem to prefer Hysteria, I think that Pyromania may be the best thing Def Leppard ever did. Don't get me wrong, Hysteria is amazing but this, for me just steals it by a shade. At this stage Steve Clarke was still alive and Rick Allen still had not had that awful car crash. During the making of this album second guitarist Pete Willis was to leave to be replaced by the dazzling talents of Phil Collen.
This is the album that said "Hello world, we are Def Leppard, take notice!", especially in America where "Photograph" made them household names. Produced by Mr. Shania Twain, (Mutt Lange)it features the excellent rockers Comin' Under Fire, Foolin' Rock Rock Til You Drop, Billy's Got A Gun and Stagefright. All these tracks are mint and sadly apart from Foolin' seldom seem to feature in the live sets nowadays. Photograph is up there with Love Bites as one of the only songs to start me blubbing.
Action Not words, Die Hard and of course Rock of Ages (unter glieben glauben globen, what an intro!)add to the rockers making this one of the few albums in the world to not have any bad tracks. Guitar playing, singing, everything about this album is spot on. If you do not own this and like classic rock you need your head examined! If you want to get into Def Leppard start here, buy everything but Slang and be hooked for life!