Def Leppard announce 'Pyromania' 40th anniversary boxset with unreleased music
It boasts a whole disc of unheard tracks
Def Leppard will release a deluxe expanded edition of their blockbuster third studio album ‘Pyromania’ as a (belated) 40th anniversary celebration.
Executive produced by Joe Elliott and Ronan McHugh with mastering by Andy Pearce, the 4-CD / Blu Ray boxset costs £75.99 and it’s released on Friday 26th April 2024. You can pre-order it here.
'Pyromania' will also be released on the following formats - 1LP Half Speed Master, 2LP Black Vinyl, 2LP Coloured Vinyl (D2C Exclusive), 2CD and digitally.
Originally released in January 1983, ‘Pyromania’ featured the singles ‘Photograph’, ‘Rock of Ages’, ‘Foolin’ and ‘Too Late for Love’, and it sold more than 10 million units in the United States alone.
The expansive boxset opens with the remastered original album on the first disc.
CD2 is a whole disc of unheard demos recently re-discovered by Joe Elliott while combing through the vaults, including unreleased track ‘No You Can't Do That.’
The third and fourth discs immortalise a December 1983 live show at Westfalen Halle in Dortmund, Germany, and a concert at the LA Forum two months earlier.
The Blu Ray disc contains an Atmos mix of the album (overseen by Giles Martin) as well as 5.1 / Stereo and instrumental mixes. Also included are five promo videos from the time.
The boxset is completed with a book containing the history of the album written by Mojo and Classic Rock writer Paul Elliott, as well as rare and unseen photos by Ross Halfin.
Planet Rock’s very own Joe Elliott says: “A labour of love and I loved every minute of it!!…. Rediscovering dusty old cassettes which were brilliantly restored by Ronan and finding the long lost unfinished “11th track” was a journey only few of us are lucky enough to take … what a trip !!”
Phil Collen adds: “Pyromania is a really special album for obvious reasons. It was the first time we all worked together with Mutt Lange, and I was able to play with my incredible friend Steve Clark - who was such a gifted and wonderful guitarist. I am incredibly proud of the album and what we collectively achieved.”
Rick Savage enthuses: “Right from the very early days we had a specific idea of how we wanted to sound. A massive wall of guitars and drums supporting huge vocals and melodies. That vision came to fruition with the making of Pyromania.
“Even now it still has that special quality that made it such a ground-breaking record. It’s a testament to the songs that they remain the fans’ favourites and true cornerstones of any Leppard show. 40 years?? It doesn’t even seem like 40 days.”
The childhood homes of famous rock stars:
Joe Elliott’s childhood home
Def Leppard frontman Joe Elliott was born and raised at 61 Crookes Road in Sheffield. Ahead of Def Leppard's homecoming gigs at The Leadmill and Bramall Lane in May 2023, Joe visited the property. He wrote: "The house I was born in, grew up in, met Sav & Tony Kenning for the very time in that upstairs room you can see above me …. Sigh …. Memories!!"
Ozzy Osbourne’s childhood home
One of six children, Ozzy Osbourne spent his formative years in this small two-bedroom terraced house on Lodge Road in Aston. Ozzy told Huffington Post in 2014: "I've been back to that house a few times over the years and I can't believe there were eight of us living in a two-and-a-half-bedroom house. It is tiny! I have wardrobes bigger in my house."
John Lennon’s childhood home
Now a lovingly restored Grade II listed building preserved by the National Trust, John Lennon lived at 251 Menlove Avenue in Liverpool with his Aunt Mimi from 1945 to 1963. It featured on the cover to Oasis single 'Live Forever' in 1994 and in 2000 it was adorned with an English Heritage blue plaque.
Paul McCartney’s childhood home
Sir Paul McCartney's childhood home at 20 Forthlin Road in Allerton, south Liverpool. It became a listed building in 2012 and is owned by the National Trust. The Trust markets the house as "the birthplace of the Beatles" as it was where McCartney and Lennon penned the earliest Beatles songs.
Ringo Starr’s childhood home
Ringo Starr (aka Richard Starkey) spent his very early childhood years at a terraced house on Madryn Street in Liverpool but moved to at two-up, two-down house 10 Admiral Grove in Dingle when he was 3 with mum Elsie when his parents separated. He lived there for the next 20 years. Pictured is 10 Admiral Grove in 1964.
David Bowie’s childhood home
40 Stansfield Road in Brixton where a young David Jones - aka David Bowie – lived until he was six years old. The house became a shrine for Bowie when the music legend died in January 2016.
Kurt Cobain’s childhood home
Kurt Cobain's childhood home in Aberdeen, Washington. Nirvana fan Lee Bacon bought the house in 2018 for $225,000 (around £170,000) and told Rolling Stone: "My goal is to preserve and restore it for my generation and for my kids."
Kurt Cobain’s childhood home
Kurt Cobain's Led Zeppelin graffiti is still on the walls in his attic bedroom.
Little Richard’s childhood home
The late rock and roll pioneer was brought up alongside his eleven siblings in this detached home in the Pleasant Hill neighbourhood of Macon, Georgia in the 1930s and 40s. Now named The Little Richard Resource Center, the home is now open to the public and hosts a number of community events.
Bruce Springsteen’s childhood home
Bruce Springsteen grew up in this home at 39 1/2 Institute Street in Freehold, New Jersey from the years 1955 to 1962. It was while living at this house aged 7 in 1956 that Springsteen witnessed Elvis Presley on The Ed Sullivan Show and decided he wanted to be a musician himself.
Johnny Cash’s childhood home
Meticulously restored in 2014 thanks to funds from Arkansas State University, Johnny Cash's boyhood home is in the tiny town of Dyess, Arkansas.
Jim Morrison’s childhood home
Jim Morrison's home in Albuquerque, New Mexico where he lived in his teens while his dad worked at the nearby Kirtland Air Force Base.
Bono’s childhood home
Paul 'Bono' Hewson's parents bought this house on Cedarwood Road, Dublin seven weeks after his birth in 1960 and he spent his entire childhood here. The U2 song 'Cedarwood Road' on their 2014 album 'Songs of Innocence' is a nostalgic musical celebration of Bono's boyhood abode.
Freddie Mercury’s childhood home
Aged 17, Freddie Mercury and his family fled the Zanzibar revolution to live at 22 Gladstone Avenue in Feltham, West London. Pictured is Queen's Brian May and Freddie's younger sister Kashmira Cooke at the unveiling of a Blue Plaque at the house in September 2016.
Lars Ulrich’s childhood home
Lars Ulrich lived in this uniquely designed property in Hellerup, Denmark with his family until he moved to America aged 17.
Mick Jagger’s childhood home
Sir Mick Jagger was brought up in this semi-detached house in Dartford, Kent. His future bandmate Keith Richards lived just around the corner.
Keith Richards’ childhood home
Keith Richards spent the first six years of his life living in this two-bedroom flat above a florists in Dartford, Kent.
Axl Rose’s childhood home
Axl Rose lived at this humble Lafayette, Indiana house from 1962 to 1982 before moving to Los Angeles in his early twenties.
Marc Bolan’s childhood home
The young Mark Field (Marc Bolan) lived at this terraced property on Stoke Newington Common, London from his birth in 1947 to aged 15 in 1962. In 2005, the London Borough of Hackney honoured Bolan with a plaque outside the property.
Elvis Presley’s childhood home
The humble two-bedroom house in Tupelo, Mississippi where The King himself Elvis Presley was born on 8th January 1935. It was built by his father Vernon after he successfully secured a $180 loan.
Jon Bon Jovi's childhood home
John Francis Bongiovi Jr.'s childhood home in Sayreville, New Jersey. Astonishingly, MTV bought the home in 1989 and gave it away in a competition. Jon Bon Jovi was reported to be "angry" at the publicity stunt and the competition winner soon sold the property.
Noel and Liam Gallagher's childhood home
Soon after Liam's birth, the Gallaghers moved to Ashby Avenue and then to Cranwell Drive in Burnage (pictured). With a violent and alcoholic father, Noel and his brothers had an unhappy childhood before mum Peggy left Thomas in 1982 with her three children.
Def Leppard’s ‘Pyromania’ 4-CD / Blu Ray Box track-listing:
CD One: Album Re-Mastered:
Rock Rock (Til You Drop)
Photograph
Stagefright
Too Late for Love
Die Hard the Hunter
Foolin'
Rock Of Ages
Comin' Under Fire
Action! Not Words
Billy's Got a Gun
CD Two: Rarities:
No You Can't Do That - Out-Take
Untitled 1 - Demo
Untitled 2 - Demo
Untitled 3 - Demo
Untitled 4 - Demo
Untitled 5 - Demo
Untitled 6 - Demo
Rock Rock Till You Drop - Demo
Too Late for Love - Demo
Comin' Under Fire - Demo
Billy's Got a Gun - Demo
No You Can't Do That - Demo
Rock Rock (Til You Drop) - Rough Mix Version
Photograph - Rough Mix Version (Unfinished Vocal)
Stagefright - Rough Mix Version
Too Late for Love - Rough Mix Version
Die Hard the Hunter - Rough Mix Version
Foolin' - Rough Mix Version
Rock Of Ages - Rough Mix Version
Comin' Under Fire - Rough Mix Version
Action! Not Words - Rough Mix Version (Chorus Only)
Billy's Got a Gun - Rough Mix Version
CD Three: Live Westfalen Halle, Dortmund, Germany / 18th December 1983:
Rock! Rock! (Till You Drop)
Billy's Got a Gun
Foolin'
Rock of Ages
Let It Go
Wasted
CD Four: Live at the LA Forum / 11th September 1983:
Rock! Rock!! (Til You Drop)
Rock Brigade
High And Dry (Saturday Night)
Another Hit and Run
Billy's Got a Gun
Mirror Mirror (Look into My Eyes)
Foolin'
Photograph
Rock Of Ages
Bringing Back the Heartache
Switch 625
Let It Go
Wasted
Stage Fright
Travellin' Band
Blu Ray: Atmos / 5.1 / New Stereo / Instrumental:
Rock Rock (Til You Drop)
Photograph
Stagefright
Too Late for Love
Die Hard the Hunter
Foolin'
Rock Of Ages
Comin' Under Fire
Action! Not Words
Billy's Got a Gun
Videos
Photograph - Official Video
Rock Of Ages - Official Video
Foolin' - Official Video
Too Late for Love - Official Video / Supersonic (Historia)
Rock! Rock! (Till You Drop) - Official Video / Japanese Show (Historia)