{"id":93553,"date":"2022-05-27T00:00:15","date_gmt":"2022-05-26T23:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/?p=93553"},"modified":"2022-05-30T13:04:57","modified_gmt":"2022-05-30T12:04:57","slug":"album-review-def-leppard-diamond-star-halos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/album-review-def-leppard-diamond-star-halos\/","title":{"rendered":"DEF LEPPARD – Diamond Star Halos (2022) | Album \/ EP Reviews @ Metal Forces Magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"

DEF LEPPARD
Diamond Star Halos<\/strong><\/span>
\n\"\"
\nUMC \/ Mercury (2022)<\/span>
Rating: 6.5\/10<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\n\n\n
<\/td>\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n
\n
<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n

British rockers Def Leppard are not the sort of band I\u2019ve had a love affair with, but I\u2019ve never had any real disagreements with them either. With each album released I\u2019ve been welcoming, seeing them in like a friend I\u2019ve had respect for but never really wanted to hang out with too much. So maybe it\u2019s a blessing then that each album over the last few decades has emerged around seven years apart.<\/p>\n

Firstly, Diamond Star Halos<\/em> is a poor album title. Although paying homage to legendary glam rock superstar Marc Bolan \u2013 and there are a few T-Rex flirtations on this 15-cut opus \u2013 it just doesn\u2019t sit right with me\u2026 but it is what it is.<\/p>\n

The album kicks off with the hard rockin\u2019 \u2018Take What You Want\u2019 with its robust glam riffage. The pre-chorus bridge is a tad airy but the chorus is infectious in its straight-forward groove. \u2018Kick\u2019 is another sturdy, yet glammed up stomp featuring joyous n\u2019 glittery hand claps and overt Bolan-esque wisps, particularly in Joe Elliot\u2019s sneer and the whole \u201cnah nah nah nah\u201d<\/em>. It\u2019s uncomfortable yet infectious, gloriously 70s and star-spangled\u2026 but awkward.<\/p>\n

And that\u2019s the theme throughout here as the generic \u2018Pour Some Sugar\u2019 styled \u2018Fire It Up\u2019 comes cascading like a lukewarm shower, while \u2018Liquid Dust\u2019 has a lazy psychedelic swirl, almost Oasis-esque circa the Manchester bands \u2018The Hindu Times\u2019 track \u2013 a syrupy plod if you will. <\/p>\n

There\u2019s further evidence of glam rock shenanigans on \u2018Gimme A Kiss\u2019 which features some nice bass trundles and sugary pomp circa late 80s hair metal and even some Steve Harley \u201cooh la la la\u2019s\u201d<\/em>. Now, although the album is too fat it\u2019s nice that the Lepp\u2019s are treating us to such a barrage of big, fleshed out tunes.<\/p>\n

\u2018This Guitar\u2019, featuring Alison Krauss, smokes and stirs as a twangy ballad better suited to a Bryan Adams record, but \u2018SOS Emergency\u2019 ramps up the T-Rex-cum-Mott The Hoople glam fuzz musically before unravelling as a rather standard plodder. Meanwhile, \u2018U Rok Mi\u2019 is a typically sizzling Leppard sing-along that remains tepid throughout.<\/p>\n

Elsewhere, \u2018Goodbye For Good This Time\u2019 gushes as a piano-lead yearning ballad, as does \u2018Angels (Can\u2019t Help You Now)\u2019, but both are forgettable in their sweeping weepiness as is the slushy and clinical \u2018Open Your Eyes\u2019. Thank goodness (well almost) then for the rockin\u2019 tap of \u2018Unbreakable\u2019, because the second half of the platter is all rather slow-moving and lightweight.<\/p>\n

\u2018Open Your Eyes\u2019 unravels nicely, but refuses to expand from its slushy, modernistic pop-rock stance, \u2018All We Need\u2019 is a predictable foot-tapper, \u2018Lifeless\u2019 (again featuring Krauss) runs a mediocre route, and closer \u2018From Here To Eternity\u2019 is moody without ever getting mean while hinting at a Beatles \u2018I Want You (She\u2019s So Heavy)\u2019 vibe, particularly in the axe work.<\/p>\n

Diamond Star Halos<\/em> peters out rather quickly, the band almost refusing to rock out on an album that appears uneven in its attempts to diversify. It\u2019s these quieter, languid moments which make the 70s-styled glam fizz seem uncharacteristic, almost as if the band had an idea to make a fiery record but got bogged down by mush and sentiment.<\/p>\n

My on and off relationship with Def Leppard continues.<\/p>\n

Neil Arnold<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

DEF LEPPARDDiamond Star Halos UMC \/ Mercury (2022)Rating: 6.5\/10 British rockers Def Leppard are not the sort of band I\u2019ve had a love affair with, but I\u2019ve never had any real disagreements with them either. With each album released I\u2019ve been welcoming, seeing them in like a friend I\u2019ve had respect for but never really […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,4804],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-93553","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-album-ep-reviews","category-def-leppard"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93553","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=93553"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93553\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":93554,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93553\/revisions\/93554"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=93553"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=93553"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=93553"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}