Def Leppard - Photograph vs. Whitesnake - Still of the Night?

[HOF]

I really like Hysteria (and don’t really care for early Def Leppard).

[TAC]

HOF, what I've noticed over the past year that you have been here is that we are complete opposites.

[HOF]

HOF, what I've noticed over the past year that you have been here is that we are complete opposites.

I’m here to restore balance to the forum.

[KevShmev]

Hysteria was so overplayed that it was impossible to avoid if you were anywhere near a radio or MTV in late '87/all of '88, but I doubt most of the songs are ones I would have sought out on my own had they been vastly underplayed, except for maybe Rocket which was always the one hit from it that I loved from the start.  Love Bites has aged well for me, too, after being pretty blah about it for decades.  The deep cut Gods of War is money as well.  I can't say I ever listen to anything else from it on purpose.

[TAC]

Gods Of War is excellent. Believe it or not, I like the title track as a song, but the album version is an overproduced schlop.

The Hysteria B sides are better than the actual album.

[HOF]

God’s of War is great. Hysteria is a gorgeous track. Probably my favorite Def Leppard song, schlop and all.

[Cool Chris]

Hysteria was my 2nd "favorite album," from its release till I heard Images and Words. It was the 1st or 2nd CD I ever bought with my own money. The nostalgia factor is still high after all these years, and I'll still reach for it periodically. I had to backtrack to get High N Dry and Pyromania, I was a little young to hear them at release, and I loved them as well. I appreciate all three for their respective greatness.

[bosk1]

Def Leppard was my first favorite band, and it wasn't until Queensryche released Empire that that changed.  I was HUGELY into Pyromania, and love Photograph.  Such a great song.  That said, Still of the Night is just about the perfect, quintessential hard rock song, as far as I'm concerned.  As much as I like Def Leppard and Photograph, Still of the Night gets my vote.

[pg1067]

Both great songs, but Still of the Night is a beast!

Pretty much this.

My first real girlfriend LOVED the self-titled Whitesnake album, so it holds some fond memories for me.

[Stadler]

Gods Of War is excellent. Believe it or not, I like the title track as a song, but the album version is an overproduced schlop.

The Hysteria B sides are better than the actual album.

I LOVE the Hysteria B-sides.  I still have the 45's.   I was pissed when the band dickered with them for the Retrospective release, but was fired up when the originals were restored for the Deluxe Reissue.   

[jingle.boy]

Hysteria is 1/2 killer; 1/4 decent; and 1/4 tripe.  And yes, the b-sides are most excellent.

[TempusVox]

WH by a mile for me. Photogrpah was one of my least favorite DL songs. Far to commerical/pop rock for my tastes, even when it came out.

[hefdaddy42]

I don't get the comparison, really, but that's nothing new.

Photograph is a good song, no doubt, but Still of the Night is badass, so I went with that.

Oh, and I absolutely think that Hysteria is a fantastic album, and for sure Def Leppard's best.  Not a lot of filler there for me.

[bosk1]

I never thought Photograph sounded "too commercial."  But while I liked it a LOT, I never felt that it was anywhere near the best on that album.  I had heard of the song and the band long before I ever actually heard the song.  Then my first exposure to the band was the video for Rock of Ages, and I LOVED it.  I was excited to hear Photograph, thinking that, due to the hype, it would surely be better.  While I liked it a lot, I was surprised that it didn't quite rise to that level.

[kirksnosehair]

Honestly, it's not the drums that separate Pyromania for me, it's the vocals.   On the first two, Joe is a rock singer, screaming and screeching (in the best possible way).  Very Bon Scott.   On Pyromania, the vocals started to become very processed (not the word I want, but you'll get my meaning) and it's been that way ever since.   Compare the chorus to "Let It Go" and "Photograph".   Even the ballad - Bringin' On The Heartbreak - wasn't as processed.   I saw Def Leppard with Kiss in 2014 and Rick Allen KILLED it.   Yeah, he may not be playing the same way as Mike Mangini, but he played every note in real time, and that's all I can ask of my rock bands.

I don't blame them one bit for going the way they went.  I mean they're all obnoxiously rich now.  And it's one of those cases where, in my mind, they worked for it.  I went to see them with Mrs. NoseHair, had to be about 5 years ago now, one of those summer concerts at Great Woods - an outdoor venue near me.  As much as I don't care for 90% of their music, I have to admit that the show was actually pretty damned good.  They had an awesome mix, one of the best I've ever heard at that venue which can be kind of boomy sometimes. 

Unfortunately, they only did like 2 or 3 songs from those first two albums, which to me both stand FAR above the rest of their catalog and I think bosk1 nails the reason why too, or at least one of the reasons why, for me the highly-processed sound they morphed to just wasn't my thang.  "High -n- Dry" is a desert island disc for me and their debut is fucking solid especially when you consider that the band's average age at that point was something like 18 or 19.  I know the drummer was only 17 when they started playing gigs opening up for bands like Van Halen.


 

[Dream Team]

2 more songs I'd never heard (I like these polls you make WildRanger, they're creative). Having now listened to both I went with Def Leppard (I own one of their albums - Adrenalize, a childhood favourite; I know nothing of Whitesnake).

It’s statements like this that constantly remind me how old I am.