Rock of Ages: The Definitive Collection

Def Leppard

Product Details

• Audio CD (May 17, 2005)
• Original Release Date: May 17, 2005
• Number of Discs: 2
• Label: Island / Mercury
• ASIN: B0009299LU
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (116 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #647 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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  #2 in	Music > Hard Rock & Metal > Pop Metal
  #3 in	Music > Classic Rock > Glam
  #7 in	Music > Hard Rock & Metal > British Metal

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
While many of their peers were abandoning '70s metal and arena rock to hop the punk/new wave bandwagon, Def Leppard smartly stripped the earlier era's music of its excesses, bolstered it with energetic, pop-savvy hooks and quickly found itself the vanguard of the UK's new metal revival and one of the '80s most spectacularly successful rock acts. The first disc of this 35-track, two-and-a-half hour double-disc retrospective focuses on the familiar hits of their early MTV, platinum-selling prime, though the inclusion of the video edit/remixes of "Pour Some Sugar On Me" and "Rocket" attempts to cast them in a more club-friendly contemporary groove. But the grittier second disc showcases some of the early, overlooked roots of On Through the Night and High 'N' Dry, as well as underappreciated later gems like '99's "Promises" and a power-pop-perfect take on Badfinger's "No Matter What" from an upcoming covers project. --Jerry McCulley

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Really good full career encompassing greatest hits package, July 9, 2005

By	Joseph M. Siegler (Garland, TX USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I used to have one of Def Leppard's older Greatest Hits Packages (Vault). This is one of those bands that as a child of the 80's, I knew very well. Def Leppard in the 80's were a band that you simply could not ignore. I knew all their hits, I had a few of their tapes back in the day, but as time went on, they felt like a band I had "outgrown". They tried to change their style in 1996 (Slang), but then changed back to their more traditional sound after that, but I wasn't terribly interested anymore (although I did like a track here and there).

When they came out with this 2 CD Greatest Hits package, I ditched all my existing Def Leppard CD's and went with this, as I felt it comprised all the songs of theirs I really liked. There's no point in listing them here, I'd just be copying the tracklisting. But it's almost all enjoyable. It has a bunch of songs from their earliest days before they got their mega success, which is when a lot of people thought the band lost it's soul. This covers everything up until their most recent studio album as of now, that being "X".

If you ever liked Def Leppard in the past, and don't have any of their albums, get this. It's a great career covering retrospective that hits just about all the corners of their albums.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ten Reasons To Buy Rock of Ages: The Definitive Collection, April 13, 2006

By	William Dorfer - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

1) It's the best compilation that offers 35 of the band's tracks.
2) It gives you an excellent look at their most successful years (1980-1992.)
3) Having "Rock of Ages" will save you the trouble of getting three of their albums "High 'n' Dry" "Pyromania" and "Hysteria" due to the fact that most of the tracks from those albums are here.
4) This compilation is less expensive and better than the two, separate greatest-hits packages from the band.
5) While it consists a very good deal of the albums I mentioned above, it also gives you a good sample of songs from their other albums such as "On Through The Night", "Retro Active" and "Euphoria".
6) It's less expensive than getting both of the other greatest-hits packages.
7) The inside booklet features comments from the band members on each song, plus cool photos and a brief overview of their career.
8) Because this covers their career (though mostly 80-92 like I mentioned) it shows how the band can change their sound but still sound great.
9) The two CDs are packaged in the same case so you don't have to spend extra money as if it was a box set.
10) Def Leppard Rocks!
Overall:
This is a very well put-together compilation of a great rock band. I strongly recommend getting it, it'll be hard to stop listening to it and you'll instantly love it.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Rockin' with The Rock of Ages!, November 30, 2005

A Kid's Review

Well, I'd just like to say that reviewing a 2-disc album with 35 totaled tracks is going to be a little hard for me seeing that this is only my sixth review online so far, but here it goes:
I read about Def Leppard in a Guinness World Record Book a few years ago, then in late May or early June I saw a commercial for this album and thought, ''Wow, Def Leppard sounds good!''. The day school let out, I went to the store and bought this. A good word to describe it is, ''Wow!'', or ''Awesome!''.
Pros: 35 tracks, gives you a perfect way to start off with Def Leppard. It also shows their pop side and their raw metal side. And because they know how to do it, it sounds great! Plus, the artwork on the front and back covers is tremendously cool!
Cons: Now I'm not saying that a lot of stuff from Hysteria, Pyromania and High 'n' Dry is bad, but they mix it up between the two discs! They also skip out on a few tracks I heard were pretty good, so that suggests to me that maybe this should have been a box set instead, while I don't know for sure, that's just my opinion. For instance, I heard about the electric version of ''Two Steps Behind'' and ''Gods of War'' from Hysteria.
Favorite Tracks: Hard to say when you have three dozen, but just a few of my favorite songs would be: ''Pour Some Sugar On Me'', ''Rocket'', ''Armageddon It'', ''Wasted'', ''Die Hard The Hunter'' and ''Promises''.
Overall: A great compilation mostly from between '80-'92, with some latter stuff. It's just great, fun-loving pop-metal from one of the ultimate '80s bands. I'd strongly suggest this to anybody who wants to get into Def Leppard, plus check out ''On Through The Night'', their debut album.