DEF LEPPARD is planning to embark on a special tour in 2018 during which it will perform its classic "Hysteria" album in its entirety.
The news was confirmed last week by DEF LEPPARD's Phil Collen during an appearance on SEX PISTOLS guitarist Steve Jones's radio show, "Jonesy's Jukebox", on the 95.5 KLOS station in Los Angeles.
Asked if DEF LEPPARD is planning to tour in support of the thirtieth-anniversary "Hysteria" reissue, which came out on August 4, Collen said (hear audio below): "We are. I know it'll be next year we're gonna go on tour… We're getting some offers to play the whole album all the way through. So yeah we'll be doing that."
One of the best-selling and most influential releases in music history, "Hysteria"'s remastered anniversary edition was released in various formats via Bludgeon Riffola/Mercury/Ume — Super Deluxe Edition, Deluxe Version, 1 CD Vanilla Version, 2-LP Black Vinyl Version, and limited-edition 2-LP Colored Vinyl Version. The reissue boasts B-sides and live tracks, plus the audio for "In The Round In Your Face (Live)" on CD for the first time.
Essential listening for fans across the board, "Hysteria" indisputably ranks as one of the most decorated and revered rock albums of all time. As the group's second consecutive RIAA Diamond-certified record (ten million sales in the U.S.), it would go on to sell over thirty million copies worldwide and twelve million in the U.S. Moreover, the record staked a spot in the U.S. Top 40 for ninety-six weeks matched only by "Born In The U.S.A."Rolling Stone touted it on the prestigious "500 Greatest Albums of All Time" list, and a poll in Q placed it among the "100 Greatest Albums of All Time". Dominating multiple charts, it captured No. 1 on the Billboard Top 200 and U.K. album charts, bolstered by immortal Top-5 anthems such as "Pour Some Sugar On Me", "Animal", "Love Bites", "Hysteria", "Rocket" and "Armageddon It".
"Hysteria" left an indelible mark on rock 'n' roll. Powered by stadium-filling drums, rapturous guitars, and unshakable choruses, the record saw DEF LEPPARD rightfully claim their place among rock's divinities forever. As a result, its influence now reverberates through three generations of artists to follow. It also historically marked their third straight collaboration with producer Robert John "Mutt" Lange.
In a recent interview with Forbes, DEF LEPPARD singer Joe Elliott stated about "Hysteria": "Having an album like 'Hysteria' is kind of like having a tattoo — you make that decision and we lived this album pretty much every day of our lives since then. There are twelve songs on the album. Off the top of my head, three, four, maybe five of them we played every show since because they're just so important in the live environment. We don't buy into this school of, 'I'm not playing the hits.' Some of the songs off the A list are mostly off 'Hysteria' 'cause it's an important statement by the band at this time and luckily for us it remains one. That's the great thing about it — it's not one of these records that sold really well, then fell off the planet. It stayed alive, the way 'Hotel California' or 'Rumours' or 'Led Zeppelin 4' did. It's still, I wouldn't say an active record, but actively part of our audience's life as much as ours. They buy the shirts for it. It's the go-to record for both of us."
