Def Leppard On Jimmy Kimmel - Off Air Peformance

I saw Leppard any number of times with Steve Clarke back in the 80s.

Live Joe was never the strongest but he’s aged well.

I feel, much as I‘m a massive Viv fan, that Phil has become too dominant without Steve and has gone down a cul-de-sac in his playing.

And I think the sustainiac does him no favours.

But then neither he or his bank account asked me!
15 years ago saw them at Continental in NJ. There was a distinct point in their set where Joe’s voice kinda fell off a bit.
Pretty sure our brother's comments above were about someone (you perhaps) making blanket generalizations about the character
of people who had some critique of the tone, the note choices, and the style.

Critique doesn't have to be personal, or an attack, or loaded with insults. It can be simple thumbs up or down. It can also be a
100 page essay breaking down the entire history of a band and why one moment on Kimmel just highlighted why Def Leppard
is more of a legacy act whose best days or behind them. Kind of like many of us here on the downhill side of life. ;)
I said something about someone’s character? I said something about MY character. Everyone brings their thoughts from their own life’s experiences, preferences and vantage points. Explaining those things helps others in the discussion understand where the poster is coming from. There IS an off ramp in my post. doesnt change the fact some critics are critics simply because they cant/wont/never did. We can do this the 2022 way and just say everyone is special. Im used to it by now. Fact is THIS particular band was hugely successful and will unquestionably have haters because of that. If a reader applies that statement inward, what can I do? Change the facts?
 
Bruce, you hated all 90s music and said so in that thread, and no one called you "jealous" or a just an
"hater." No one questioned your ability or taste in music either--as I recall. It's all cool. :)

That's really the only difference between that thread and this one that I think is worth discussing
any further. ;)
 
Bruce, you hated all 90s music and said so in that thread, and no one called you "jealous" or a just an
"hater." No one questioned your ability or taste in music either--as I recall. It's all cool. :)

That's really the only difference between that thread and this one that I think is worth discussing
any further. ;)
I also owned I have a hardon for the decade IIRC. I’m intellectually honest enough to own it. I think I also thoroughly explained why I didn’t care for 99.99999999% of what came out of the 90s. I’ll go re read.
 
Bruce, you hated all 90s music and said so in that thread, and no one called you "jealous" or a just an
"hater." No one questioned your ability or taste in music either--as I recall. It's all cool. :)

That's really the only difference between that thread and this one that I think is worth discussing
any further. ;)
Ummmmm……you called me a DICK for not liking 90s music 😂
 
Man, startin’ to look like a Blabbermouth comment section in here….. o_O

Way too much tearing of other people down in the world lately. It’s like a percentage of the population went “Fuck it, everything sucks, everyone sucks.”

We’re also hearing a mix mostly certainly not done by anyone working for the band, meant for the room, not for a video. :rolleyes:
Yup
 
I couldn’t disagree more. Your comment is implying that music criticism is invalid, because it can be negative. What you’re really saying is that you just don’t agree with the negative criticism of these videos. I’m sure there are plenty of videos of bands that you could offer negative critique for, and that would be totally fine, and part of honest and intelligent discussion.

It’s also like saying forums are properly like a self-affirmation group or something, where any writing that offers a critique that is negative is improper, gosh, misunderstanding, or malevolent in some kind of way. I offer the counter thought to to this, that a critique may in fact be based on values, not trolling. What I saw in the live performance and the music video promoting their new song stirred genuine feelings that I’ve dedicated my life to, and sacrificed a lot to, and this forum is a place where we’re here to talk about our thoughts and feelings about all aspects of music. I’m sure if the right topic arose for you you’d be just as critical.

Cool.

The only thing I’m critical of is politicians and companies. If I don’t dig something, I have no comment, there’s ample people in this world willing to provide a negative response, no one needs mine. Always happy to be supportive, though.
 
I think it is Fair to say that Phil Collen has and always will be an integral part of the Def Leppard "Sound", he has composed many memorable Solos and Songs as well, and has stayed in his Comfort Playing zone. Viv came in to fill that needed Dual Guitar "Sound" and Approach as well as bring in those high pitched Background Vocals recorded by Mutt Lange, however and needless to say, he is an awesome Player all on his own, but Def Leppard has given him that comfort stability like someone has said previously here, and the opportunity to be able to step out and do his thing. I think it has worked out pretty well for Def Leppard, and still does! its Rock n Roll played entirely bu humans, and with Bridges, and Choruses, and Guitar Solos, ... I am not complaining, most of todays music is just 3 Chords over a Drum loop, the Lepps are still Rocking!! I went off on a ranttrhere... sorry!
 
is it still Dunlop that owns the Rockman rights? seems a shame whoever owns that now does not leverage it into some pedals/amps/sims ... as it's a sound many players want. I have the Amplitube X100 sim which is kinda cool but I've never played any real rockman stuff so dunno about how accurate it is.
yes Dunlop owns the rights now and If I was them I would bring out the original X100. That would be a big hit right now.
 
Here's a photo of the rigs from backstage at Kimmel!

View attachment 102595
The left rig is Sav's with the Gallien Krueger MB FUSION 800 Heads, the middle one is Phil's, and the one with the Marshall Power Amp is Viv's cause he uses the Dunlop Wah. If both Phil and Viv are using live Cabs onstage, they could both be using the Marshall EL34 Head (100Watts per side) one on the left channel and the other on the right channel, cause I think they run their guitars mono and then they send Phils' (Left) and Viv's (Right) to FOH.
 
Last edited:
Just not a fan of their JMP-1/Fractal tone. Nothing beats their Adrenalize live tone. Also, their version of Hysteria during the Adrenalize tour was the best version. Their current versions of songs hasn’t changed in 25 years and it’s just gotten old.
Yeha their tone on their live concert in Sheffield back in 1993 on the Adrenalize tour was x10 times better than their ultra gain tone that they are using now. Also the use of super think strings now doesn't help either... can someone just tell them to use the AxeIII to recreate the original tones or at least their previews live tones? We will all loke that better!
 
I just think is sad that they are not trying to recreate those old tones of them because they are just SOOOO timeless and special that to this that we all are trying to recreate it and can't do it... maybe they can't either and that should make me feel better when I get frustrated trying 🤣.
 
I think it's fair to say that they got the gig on Kimmel because they have better things to do than come on a forum and argue about a video they saw on YouTube. More power to them. It's a rough business and takes something special to enjoy the long-term success they have had.
 
I think it's fair to say that they got the gig on Kimmel because they have better things to do than come on a forum and argue about a video they saw on YouTube. More power to them. It's a rough business and takes something special to enjoy the long-term success they have had.
Nothing like watching nightclub/bedroom players call a legendary touring band "sad" because they arent jumping around like high schoolers at a talent show the 10 millionth time theyve played a song live, you know, because they have toured 150 days a year for the last 40 years. 🤦‍♂️ Only thing better is reading them dissect some live guitar tone ddirect from the board and compare it to some other band or a tour from 25 years ago, etc. Ffs just enjoy the song, everything isnt a contest to see who plays the best or has the best sound.

Its totally fine to not like a band, a tone, whatever. But to act like there is a wrong and a right, on a completely subjective topic is just assinine. 99.9% of people would watch that video and hear music, at the end of the day isnt that what were doing here? Or are we trying to win the grammy for best gnarly guitar tone?
 
I saw Def Leppard when they co-headlined with Whitesnake and remember thinking that I’d never heard anyone use as much gain as Phil Collen, and he seems to have that sustainer feedback thing permanently on. I’m a big Def Lep fan, they performed a great set, but Whitesnake blew them away, back when Reb Beach and Joel Hoekstra were on guitar, not sure who is in their current line-up.

In my opinion, Phil’s fast picking technique is slightly lacking to put it politely, and years of hiding behind gain, gain and more gain seems to have made his technique quite sloppy. I guess you get a bit bored of playing the same licks in the same songs for 40 years, but it kind of detracts a bit from the song and the melody. He never really went full on shred mode on the classic albums, and I remember being surprised by that fast run in the Let’s Get Rocked solo. The songs are classics though and he’s earned the right to play how he wants.

I bet if you turned Phil down a bit, you’d find that Vivian Campbell’s tone is much more appealing.
Phil shredding technique is simply isn't exist or there he always was unefficient and sloppy.
 
The record is an interesting one and I'm glad someone authentic is still doing Rock music. The obvious call backs to the era came off more like an old friend than a copycat. Now I am inspired to revisit Earth, Wind, and Fire and the Georgia Satellites.. among others.
 
Back
Top Bottom