Forgotten Favorites: High 'N' Dry

Some albums are just too good to let slip away beneath the sands of time, so each week Bill Melville pulls one out, dusts it off and offers it up for your renewed consideration ..

When a band produces two albums that sell 10 million and 20 million copies, respectively, it's easy to ignore the preceding platinum-seller which set the template for their success.

Despite one major hit in the U.S., High 'N' Dry doesn't earn many mentions in Def Leppard conversations these days. The band's sophomore record found it settling in with an all-star producer and giving its sound more breathing room without totally giving into its pop-rock side.

Leppard was a different animal then, with guitarist Pete Willis yet to get the boot for his drinking, the late Steve Clark yet to uccumb to his demons, and Rick Allen pounding the skins with two-armed fury. But the biggest contributor was the man behind the board - Mutt Lange, still fresh from producing Highway to Hell and Back in Black. Lange would also produce Pyromania and Hysteria, but his stamp on the band's successes starts here.

Beginning with Let It Go, this incarnation of Leppard sounds more spirited than they would on later releases. The band often draws comparisons to '70s glam rockers like T. Rex and Mott the Hoople, but scrape away the pop edges, and there's plenty of power chord riffs that veer close to AC/DC. Later, on High 'N' Dry (Saturday Night), Joe Elliott sheds some of the pop sensibilities for the grit of Mick Jagger and even Bon Scott at moments.

The guitar interplay really keeps the music flowing; Willis and Clark know when to shred and when to tamp it down within a space of one song. That is most evident on Another Hit and Run, where a string of guitar octaves become the song's signature amid impressive harmonies and bass-driven bridges (lest we forget Rick Savage's contributions).

You Got Me Runnin plays with a simple, pulverizing guitar riff while Elliott deftly displays his vocal range.The harmony vocals rarely get their due in Leppard, but Lady Strange shows how pivotal a role they play. Elliott owns the mic in the band, but all these guys shoulder their share of backing vocals.

Enough has been said about Bringin' on a Heartbreak, Leppard's gateway song (and video) into the American market. The mix of clean guitar arpeggios that build up to the crunchy chords draw the map for every hit ballad the band would later offer.

Some versions from the mid-1980s include remixes of Bringin' on a Heartbreak and Me and My Wine. Don't envision Trent Reznor or Moby tearing down and re-splicing these songs. They're entirely superfluous, adding little more than keyboards and chintzy flourishes to Heartbreak.

Forget the title's implications - Def Leppard mined an early-career gem with High 'N' Dry, with its youth and exuberance casting a different light than the band's mega-sellers.

Got memories of your own from this hidden gem? Share them in the comments section below ...