10 Things You Might Not Know About Def Leppard's Pyromania

Def Leppard

On January 20th, 1983, Def Leppard released their epic album Pyromania. Here are 10 things you might not know about Pyromania:

1. Former guitarist Pete Willis appears on every track. The album was partially recorded with him but he was fired midway through the sessions because of excessive alcohol abuse. Phil Collen replaced him.

2. “Rock! Rock! (Till You Drop)” was originally called “Medicine Man” and had different lyrics.

3. Joe Elliott once described “Photograph” as being about “something you can’t ever get your hands on.”

4. The four words that start “Rock of Ages,” “gunter glieben glauten globen,” sound German but are actually just gibberish. They mean nothing but the band jokes that it means “running through the forest silently.”

5. The “gunter glieben glauten globen” came from producer MuttLange growing tired of starting each take with “one, two, three, four” so he said nonsense words instead. The band was so fond of this one that they kept it on the song.

6. The title for “Rock of Ages” came from a hymn book Joe found in the recording studio. It was left there by a member of a children’s choir that used the space before them. Joe saw the words in the book and was inspired to write the song.

7. There’s a Neil Young reference in “Rock of Ages.” When Joe sings, “All right/I’ve got something to say/It’s better to burn out/Than to fade away,” the latter part is from Neil’s song “Hey Hey, My My (Out of the Blue).”

8. If you play the guitar solo in “Rock of Ages” backwards, you can hear the phrases “F**k the Russians” and “Brezhnev’s got herpes.”

9. The Leppardettes are credited for background vocals on the album. It’s actually just Joe Elliott, Mutt Lange, PhilCollenRickSavage and RockyNewton.

10. Thomas Dolby, best known for his song “She Blinded Me With Science,” played keyboards on the album. He was credited under the name Booker T. Boffin.

iHeartRadio is celebrating the totally awesome 80s all weekend long and counting down the 80 biggest hits of the decade. So, break out your leg warmers, tease up that hair and jam out to all of your favorite 80s songs this weekend by tuning into iHeart80s Radio on your iHeartRadio app.

Photo: Getty


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