Customer Reviews

Adrenalize

5 star:		(50)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(15)
2 star:		(12)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

`Andrenalize' was released 4 years after the mega-successful `Hysteria' and in many ways it is often compared to it's predecessor to it's own detriment. I however can't see why people think less of this album than they do of `Hysteria' because to me it just sounds like `Hysteria' Part II, yet that may be part of the reason. There were great songs on `Adrenalize' from the power ballads of `Heaven Is' and `Have You Ever Wanted Someone So Bad' to hard rockers like ` Tear It Down' and the smutty `Make Love Like A Man' and `Tonight' the socially conscious `White Lightning' to throw away fun like `Let's Get Rocked'. For me Def Leppard represented what rock was supposed to be about: Fun. Def Leppard also had great artwork at the time, something that they seem to have lost sight of (see X) which annoys me terribly because I believe in the whole package.

1992 was a terribly uncertain time for a band like Def Leppard when they released `Adrenalize', the previous year had seen the emergence from the underground of Nirvana with their `Nevermind' album. Seismic changes would be put into effect as a result of the emergence of what would be called alternative rock or grunge. It really difficult to pinpoint exactly why things changed, but the fact remains that 80's style hair metal within a year would become a dirty word. However at the time it was not unusual to see bands like Mr Big and Guns `n' Roses alongside Nirvana and R.E.M. in the charts. Def Leppard would later feel the effect of these changes and alter their sound in a bid for survival. Not only Def Leppard but also colossal giant of thrash metal like Metallica and Megadeth would follow suit and as a result 1994 - 1996 will always for me be the years of sell-outs. What they failed to recognise is that at the time fans would happily listen to Nirvana, Def Leppard, Metallica, Deicide, R.E.M., U2, Ice Cube, Culture Beat, Madonna and Snap all on the same day. It wasn't the fan that brought about the changes but the industry jumping on bandwagons, so don't blame fans for your falling fortunes, blame yourself. 1992 was the year that the buying public began to have more choice when it came to music, music was expanding and fracturing into a myriad of genres and sub genres until what we have to today, where what is in the chart is complete crap because what is bought is bought by the musically lazy with no real interest in music. The good stuff is still there, one just has to look for it and that is why the Internet is a vital tool and Amazon a godsend.

As noted in the booklet, "Adrenalize" was dedicated to the late Def Leppard guitarist, Stephen Maynard Clark. His death was, in fact, Def Leppard's "starting point" for this CD. Although "Adrenalize" isn't one of my favorites by them (that would probably be "Hysteria"--which, of course, I have somehow lost), it's still one of their best earlier CDs, opening with a fluffy angst song for the young male crowd, "Let's Get Rocked." Like this first track, most of the songs on "Adrenalize" are fast and pop-oriented, but there are few good ballads thrown in, like my two favorites on here: "Tonight" and "Have You Ever Needed Someone So Bad." This CD is certainly worth a listen if you're a Def Leppard fan and/or like '80s/'90s pop rock.

For what the band went through to make this album, it sounds fantastic. I know, some of you think without Mutt and Steve, a Def Leppard album just isn't so. Well, that's not the case here. It still sounds like the classics that preceeded it. End of story.

Long before the overpoppy "X" came out, there was a record called Adrenalize by Def Leppard. Rated by many as a failed successor to Hysteria, I think that isnt completly right. Adrenalize isnt incredible as Hysteria, but it is pretty damn close.
It starts off with a bang, "Lets get Rocked", which is a awesome rocker, perfectly in the veins of Hysteria.
"Heaven is" isnt great, but still, it works as a great filler.
"Make Love like a Man" is a weird song, and the title kinda scares me, but it shows that Def Leppard still plays around with their music, and it is a catchy chorus.
"Tonight" Reminds me of the music on Pyromania, listen to it because it is hard to describe it very clearly.
It goes over to "White Lightning", a song built up on Guitars. Not that great really, but it makes way for my favoritesong on the album,
"Stand up(Kick love into Motion)" Ohhh...for those who have read my reviews of other things, you are aware of my knack for power ballads. This song fits perfectly. Wonderful verse and chorus, a great song for lovers. If Animals had this chorus, Animals would have been the perfect song. They really sound alike.
After a repeat, its time for song number 7, "Personal Property", and this song isnt any special. Its what they call another Rocker, ala Def Leppard.

Then, to my all time favoritesong of Def Leppard, the most wonderful song they have made.
"Have you ever needed someone so Bad". The Sole reason I bought this record, is this song. I cannot describe the feeling I get when listening to this song, a lot of girls I know have borrowed this cd over and over just for this song. Its pretty much the best song they have written, with a text that resembles the problems with love everyday. The melody is haunting and beautiful, yet powerful with its guitars and heavy drums. You want a real powerballad? Here it is.

Oh well, back to reality and the rest of the Record. "I wanna Touch U" is an uplifting rocker, with a good chorus, one of the better songs on the record.
And the last song, "Tear it Down" is just decent.

So whats this I see? Adrenalize not being a good record? Wake up people, Adrenalize is a great record, maybe due to the fact that some of its songs are much better than on Hysteria, but the whole isnt, so its not better. If you can forget about Hysteria, or start with this one, Adrenalize is a great rockrecord from one of the best bands out there!

To me, this album as a whole sounds like the softer half of Hysteria, which is certainly not bad at all. The thing is, there is very little that is heavier than the lead track and first single from the album, the catchy, tongue-in-cheek "Let's Get Rocked". This is a very fun song for sure but not very heavy. While nice pop rockers like "Heaven Is" and "Stand Up (Kick Love Into Motion)" are sprinkled throughout, the true hard rock rarely hits. Even the one song that I would call an "anthem", the tribute to Steve Clark "White Lightening", is not all that heavy--although it is a fine song.

"Have You Ever Needed Someone So Bad" was the ballad that was the biggest single on this album, but to me the much better ballad here is "Tonight", as it has much better harmonies as well as lyrics.

The one true rocker on this album is the last track--the epic "Tear It Down", which was originally heard on rock radio back in the "Hysteria" days as a B-side to one of that album's singles. I loved that song when it came out and was glad they decided to include it here.

This album is quite simply not as epic as all of its predecessors, but it is still a very worthy entry in this band's catalog. I bought this the week it came out over 10 years ago and played it all the time like with most Lep albums. It is still a very fun album to listen to. It just doesn't rock all that hard compared to the '80s stuff.

Def Leppard's Adrenalize is far from being their best album, but it doesn't have to be, it's still good. It contains the hits "Let's Get Rocked" and "Have You Ever Needed Someone So Bad." The rest of the songs for the most part are pretty good. Some of them such as "Stand Up (Kick Love Into Motion)" and "White Lightning" sound like they should've been hits. There's not any terrible songs on Adrenalize, though some are better than others.

I recommend anybody who likes Def Leppard to get Adrenalize. However, if you're just a casual fan and you only want to get one of their albums, get Hysteria or their Vault: Greatest Hits instead.

To me, Def Leppard's ADRENALIZE is so underated and every song on the album is a hit. I think more people would like the album if it came out a lot earlier than what it did back in the spring of 1992. I have been listening to this album recently and it just gets better, and once again when it comes to Def Leppard every song is a hit from the beginning of the album to the end of the album.

I wrote a review for the original Adrenalize album and so I won't make this too long. I will say that this CD is very underrated and it deserves a lot more respect than people give it. This is REAL ROCK people!!! Songs like Let's Get Rocked, Make Love Like A Man, White Lightning, Have You Ever Needed Someone So Bad (the 2nd best rock ballad ever next to Love Bites), Stand Up (Kick Love Into Motion), Tonight, Tear It Down and every other song is awesome!!! I love this CD and it will always be one of my fav's!!! Def Leppard ROCKS!!!!

I watched the VH1 special "Ultimate albums" on pyromania a little while ago. In the interviews they talk about how music in 1983 was stale and people were looking for something new. Def Leppard took a chance with Pyromania and it paid off big time. When it came time to record their next album, they took their music in another direction with Hysteria. In the making of Hysteria special, they talk about how everyone was still remaking pyromania, and when Hysteria came out it was a shot in the arm. Taking a chance once again paid off for Leppard. That's the problem with Adrenalize. They remade their previous album and didn't try anything new. Music in 93 was changing and Def Leppard put out the same album they did in 1987. Maybe if they would have made a heavier album like Retro Active. Re-record some of those songs and making a rockin' album. Who knows. Adrenalize is just a cheesier, less good version of Hysteria, produced not to change music, but to make some money.

Steve Clark's tragic death didn't seem to affect the Leps that much since what you get here is basically a remake of the multi platinum Hysteria formula but with slightly less convincing songs this time. As commendable as this band's effort was on delivering a record after loosing their main riff writer, I just couldn't get myself to even remotely like this album, since when this came out, being a struggling 20 year old college sophomore I had simply outgrown Def Leppard's musical appeal. Looking back, it becomes painfully clear how timing is everything in the music business. Despite strong initial sales there was no way Adrenalize could've matched Hysteria's success simply because the legions of teenagers that embraced the latter in 1988 were on a completely different headspace when the former was released in 1992, and after Nirvana's runaway success in late 1991 there was no chance that a younger replacement audience would embrace the band's teeny-bopping pop metal sound. In short, if you liked Hysteria, you'll probably like Adrenalize too, despite that inevitable déjà vu feeling you'll get after giving the latter a few spins.