Def Leppard - Diamond Star Halos

So good it can't be legal

I was surprised earlier this year when Def Leppard dropped Kick, the first single from their then announced upcoming album, Diamond Star Halos. Kick didn’t grab me on the first couple listens, but once it “kicked” in, I’ve been listening to it non-stop. I love it. It’s got a great catchy chorus and sticks in your head.

The 2nd single was Take What You Want. This is a bit harder-edged and I liked it right away.

The 3rd single was Fire It Up, which I don’t really love. The band were going for a stadium anthem here, but the chorus is too generic. It’s not bad, but it could have been great.

The full album was released on May 27. The songs mentioned above are also the first three of the album. There are another 12 for a total of 15 songs and 1h1m of run time. Def Leppard is my favorite band and this is their new first album since the self-titled Def Leppard album in 2015, which I really liked. To say I was looking forward to Diamond Star Halos is an understatement.

First, I need to talk about the album title. I know it comes from a lyric in T. Rex’s Get it On, but this is a bad title. I also know it’s intended to evoke their love of 70s glam rock, but it is just too weird. It makes Songs from the Sparkle Lounge, another terrible album title, seem OK by comparison. But they also titled an album X and Yeah! and their last album didn’t even have a title at all. To be honest On Through the Night and High ‘N Dry are not great titles either. Pyromania, Hysteria and Adrenalize are all great album titles, though. The album cover itself is fun, though.

Anyway, bad album title aside, let’s go through the songs as that’s what really matters.

The first non-single we arrive at is This Guitar which features Allison Krauss. I’ve never heard of Ms. Krauss because I guess I’m out of the loop, but apparently she is a country-bluegrass singer. Def Leppard’s last foray into country with Nine Lives and Tim McGraw on the aforementioned Songs from the Sparkle Lounge is not a favorite of mine. I was however pleasantly surprised with This Guitar. It’s essentially a slow song and it does have a country-tinged vibe to it, but Allison Krauss has a great voice and it really helps to contrast with what’s left of Joe’s wail. I think I would have been OK with her having a more prominent vocal presence since she is primarily relegated to backup duty here.

SOS Emergency comes next and this is a typical Def Leppard rocker. It is great.

Liquid Dust is another slow song, somewhat plodding song. The chorus is weak, just repeating “liquid dust”. This is not a bad song, but not great either. It sounds like it might have been a leftover from Slang.

What is up with the spelling of U Rok Mi? This is dumb. DL are not Prince and it is not the 80s any more. I’m all for Def Leppard having a song with “rock” in the title as they have done that a lot (Rock Brigade, Rock Rock, Rock of Ages, Rocket, Let’s Get Rocked). I think the song itself is pretty good, even if it seems to start with what sounds like a ukulele.

Goodbye For Good This Time is an enjoyable ballad with some orchestration, somewhat unusual.

A mid-tempo tune somewhat reminiscent of Hysteria, All We Need is smooth and easy to listen to.

Open Your Eyes opens with a cool bass groove that I really like. The groove caries through the song. The chorus is simple, but effective.

Gimme A Kiss is a rocker and I love it. 1000% Def Leppard here. This will be big in live shows!

A ballad, Angels (Can’t Help You Now) is another Def Leppard big ballad. It may not be as good as some of their earlier ballads, but I find it enjoyable.

Lifeless is another song featuring Allison Krauss. In this mid-tempo song she also performs more as a backup to Joe’s vocals, but it really adds some weight to things. I actually like this song a lot, much more than I expected, given its slightly country flavor. I think this might be even better as a true duet, giving Ms. Krauss a verse or two.

Unbreakable is my favorite song on the album. It has that classic Def Leppard sound but with a modern touch. The drums are funky, the guitars crunchy. I love everything about this! “So good it can’t be legal!”

At over five minutes, album closer From Here to Eternity is the longest song. It starts off slow and then kicks into gear a bit. I really like this song as well. It is a great ending to the album.

That’s a lot of songs! I appreciate any new Def Leppard music I can get, but from an album perspective, I agree with some other reviewers that this would have been better presented as a 10 song album with 5 bonus songs.

But I’ll be honest, I’m biased. I love all of Def Leppard’s albums and I’m sure I’ll be listening to this a lot this summer!