Euphoria
Studio album by
Def Leppard
Released8 June 1999 (US)
RecordedMay 1998 – March 1999
Studio
  • Joe's Garage, Studios 1 and 2
  • (Dublin, Ireland)
Genre
Length51:07
LabelMercury
Producer
Def Leppard chronology
Slang
(1996)		 Euphoria
(1999)		 X
(2002)
Singles from Euphoria
  1. "Promises"
    Released: May 1999 (US) [upper-alpha 1]
  2. "Paper Sun"
    Released: 1999
  3. "Goodbye"
    Released: September 1999
  4. "Day After Day"
    Released: 2000
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Entertainment WeeklyB+[3]
Q[4]
Rolling Stone[5]

Euphoria is the seventh studio album by English rock band Def Leppard, released on 8 June 1999 in the United States and on 14 June 1999 in the United Kingdom by Mercury Records. The album aimed to return to their signature sound made famous by the band in the 1980s. It was produced by the band with Pete Woodroffe. The album charted at No. 11 on the Billboard 200 and No. 11 on the UK Albums Chart. It includes the song "Promises", which hit the number one spot on Billboard's Mainstream Rock chart.

Overview

Following Slang, the band was initially unsure of which direction to take upon reconvening in April 1998. "We just let ourselves go in any way we wanted," recalled Joe Elliott. With Slang we did: we said we're not gonna do the typical Def Leppard things. But with Euphoria we didn't rule them out… because it had been eight [sic] years since Adrenalize. That's a long time to have abandoned your main style of music. So we embraced it."[6]

Former producer Robert John "Mutt" Lange returned for four days. "It was a bit weird, because he wasn't working the same way," recalled Elliott. "He wasn't hands-on. He was more observant. He'd say, 'Stop,' and make a suggestion… We also wrote another song where we did kind of start from scratch. We said, 'Let's do something really off the wall.' That ended up being the song 'All Night' – all groovy noises and orgasmic songs."[6] Three songs were co-written with Lange, who performed backing vocals (as he had on other albums): "It's Only Love", "All Night" and "Promises".

A song first recorded by Vivian Campbell's side band Clock, "To Be Alive", received a Leppard makeover. For the first time since 1981's High 'n' Dry, an instrumental was included: Phil Collen's "Disintegrate". This instrumental was known before as "Spanish Sky", a ballad that evolved into this track.

1996 Formula One racing champion Damon Hill, a neighbour of Rick Savage, would contribute a guitar solo to the track "Demolition Man".

In its first week of release, Euphoria sold over 98,000 units in the US and just missed the Top 10 of the Billboard 200, reaching No. 11. First single "Promises" topped Billboard's Mainstream Rock chart in June 1999, a spot the band had not held in six years.

Euphoria would later be certified gold in the US, Canada and Japan. The album-supporting tour stretched from May 1999 to September 2000.

The album was released for the first time on vinyl on 21 June 2019, as a part of The Collection: Volume 2 box set.[7] It was then issued on its own in 2022.

Reception

Euphoria received fairly positive reviews. Rating the album 4 out of 5, Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic notes in his retrospctive assessment that despite the band returning to their signature sound "no longer guarantees a hit at the close of the '90s", Euphoria is "a tight, attractive album with more than its share of big hooks, strong riffs, and memorable melodies." He concludes by saying that "what's best about Euphoria is that it's utterly not self-conscious. Def Leppard feels free to try straight pop, appropriate Gary Glitter riffs, or play straight metal, without caring whether it's hip or commercial. That doesn't mean Euphoria is a classic, but it does mean that it's their most appealing effort in over a decade."[8]

Greg Kot of Rolling Stone, however, was more critical. He notes that "the defining characteristic of Euphoria is its bloodlessness, from the robotic drum tracks to the disconcertingly inhuman tone of those trademark massed vocal choruses", concluding that "the flesh-and-blood Def Leppard apparently never made it out of the Eighties alive."[9]

Track listing

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Demolition Man"
3:24
2."Promises"
4:00
3."Back in Your Face"
  • Elliott
  • Collen
3:22
4."Goodbye"
3:36
5."All Night"
  • Collen
  • Lange
3:38
6."Paper Sun"
  • Collen
  • Campbell
  • Elliott
  • Savage
  • Pete Woodroffe
5:27
7."It's Only Love"
  • Elliott
  • Lange
  • Savage
  • Campbell
4:06
8."21st Century Sha La La La Girl"
  • Collen
  • Elliott
  • Savage
4:07
9."To Be Alive"
  • Campbell
  • P.J. Smith
3:53
10."Disintegrate" (instrumental)Collen2:51
11."Guilty"
  • Collen
  • Savage
  • Elliott
  • Campbell
  • Woodroffe
3:47
12."Day After Day"
  • Collen
  • Elliott
  • Campbell
4:36
13."Kings of Oblivion"
  • Elliott
  • Collen
  • Savage
4:22
Total length:51:07
Japanese bonus track
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
14."I Am Your Child"
  • Elliott
  • Collen
  • Savage
3:27
Australian bonus tracks
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
14."Worlds Collide"
  • Elliott
  • Savage
3:45
15."Under My Wheels" (Alice Cooper cover)
3:21

Personnel

Def Leppard

Additional musicians

  • Robert John "Mutt" Lange – additional vocals (on "Promises" and "All Night"), additional guitars (on "All Night")
  • Damon "Demon" Hill – end guitar solo (on "Demolition Man")
  • Ciaran McGoldrick – hey's & claps (on "Back in Your Face")
  • Gary Sullivan – hey's & claps (on "Back in Your Face")
  • Ricky Warwick – hey's & claps (on "Back in Your Face")

Technical personnel

  • Pete Woodroffe – producer, engineer, mixing engineer (at The Townhouse, London)
  • Ronan McHugh – engineer
  • Ger McDonnell – engineer
  • Bob Ludwig – mastering engineer (at Gateway Mastering, Portland, Maine)
  • Andie Airfix – artwork
  • Andy Earl – photography

Charts

Singles

Year Single Chart Position
1999 "Promises" Mainstream Rock (USA)[24] 1
UK Singles Chart[25] 41
"Paper Sun" Mainstream Rock (USA)[24] 11
"Goodbye" UK Singles Chart[25] 54
2000 "Day After Day" Mainstream Rock (USA)[24] 22
"21st Century Sha La La La Girl" Billboard Heritage Rock[26] 40

Certifications

Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)[27] Gold 50,000^
Japan (RIAJ)[28] Gold 100,000^
United States (RIAA)[29] Gold 500,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

  1. ↑ Double A-side in UK
  1. 1 2 3 4 Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. Def Leppard: Euphoria > Review at AllMusic. Retrieved 26 August 2018.
  2. ↑ "Def Leppard | Biography & History". AllMusic. Retrieved 30 May 2021.
  3. ↑ Lanham, Tom (11 June 1999). "Review: Euphoria". Entertainment Weekly. New York City. Retrieved 26 August 2018.
  4. ↑ Blake, Mark (July 1999). "Review: Euphoria". Q. No. 154. EMAP. p. 106.
  5. ↑ Kot, Greg (8 July 1999). "Review: Euphoria". Rolling Stone. New York City. Retrieved 26 August 2018.
  6. 1 2 Wall, Mick (May 2018). "A wild ride over stony ground". Classic Rock. No. 248. p. 39.
  7. ↑ "DEF LEPPARD TO RELEASE LIMITED EDITION BOX SET -'VOLUME TWO' ON JUNE 21, 2019". 26 April 2019.
  8. ↑ "Def Leppard Euphoria Album Reviews, Songs & More | AllMusic". AllMusic.
  9. ↑ "Euphoria". Rolling Stone. 8 July 1999.
  10. ↑ "Australiancharts.com – Def Leppard – Euphoria". Hung Medien. Retrieved 2 April 2019.
  11. ↑ "Austriancharts.at – Def Leppard – Euphoria" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 2 April 2019.
  12. ↑ "Top RPM Albums: Issue 8176". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 25 September 2021.
  13. ↑ "Le Détail des Albums de chaque Artiste – D". Infodisc.fr (in French). Archived from the original on 22 October 2014. Retrieved 9 June 2012. Select Def Leppard from the menu, then press OK.
  14. ↑ "Def Leppard: Euphoria" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved 26 August 2018.
  15. ↑ "Offiziellecharts.de – Def Leppard – Euphoria" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 2 April 2019.
  16. ↑ Oricon Album Chart Book: Complete Edition 1970–2005 (in Japanese). Roppongi, Tokyo: Oricon Entertainment. 2006. ISBN 4-87131-077-9.
  17. ↑ "Norwegiancharts.com – Def Leppard – Euphoria". Hung Medien. Retrieved 2 April 2019.
  18. ↑ "Swedishcharts.com – Def Leppard – Euphoria". Hung Medien. Retrieved 2 April 2019.
  19. ↑ "Swisscharts.com – Def Leppard – Euphoria". Hung Medien. Retrieved 2 April 2019.
  20. ↑ "Def Leppard | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved 2 April 2019.
  21. ↑ "Official Rock & Metal Albums Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 26 May 2023.
  22. ↑ "Def Leppard Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 2 April 2019.
  23. ↑ "Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 1999". Billboard. Retrieved 28 January 2021.
  24. 1 2 3 "Billboard Mainstream Rock". Billboard. Retrieved 2 September 2021.
  25. 1 2 "UK Official Charts". Official Charts. Retrieved 2 September 2021.
  26. ↑ "Billboard Heritage Rock". Billboard. Retrieved 16 September 2021.
  27. ↑ "Canadian album certifications – Def Leppard – Euphoria". Music Canada.
  28. ↑ "Japanese album certifications – Def Leppard – Euphoria" (in Japanese). Recording Industry Association of Japan. Select 1999年8月 on the drop-down menu
  29. ↑ "American album certifications – Def Leppard – Euphoria". Recording Industry Association of America.
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