Adrenalize

Having done some writing on tour for Hysteria, the band returned to the studio in November 1988 to work on the next album at Wisseloord Studios and later Studio 150 in Amsterdam, both in Holland.^[2] Def Leppard had faced long delays previously, including the challenge of drummer Rick Allen losing his arm while making their previous album, Hysteria, and while trying to follow up the success, they also faced the prospect of doing so with a different producer, as Robert John "Mutt" Lange was already working with Bryan Adams. At the same time, guitarist Steve Clark had been suffering from alcohol addiction since 1989, spending six sessions in rehab, so he was in the studio less and less than before. Clark was involved in writing six of the songs on the album,^[10] but was given an ultimatum over his alcoholism in September 1990, and put on a six-month leave of absence. Clark died four months later, in January 1991.

The band tried to continue the recording process, going back into the studio the day after Clark's death to cope with the loss, but it took a few months before they were able to work to what they felt was a satisfactory standard.^[11] As singer Joe Elliott reported, 90% of the album was recorded between April and December 1991.^[12]

Instead of replacing Clark with a new member, the band continued recording the album as a four-piece. "We had recorded demos on multitrack," recalled fellow guitarist Phil Collen. "I was sitting there with him when he played the original parts. I could relay that. But it was like playing along to a ghost."^[13] As per Elliott, none of Clark's recorded guitar parts were kept on the record; they kept updating the songs and guitar sounds, Collen re-doing all the guitars on the album at least three times.^[2]

This was also the band's first album since 1980's On Through the Night not to be produced by Lange. Instead, the band took matters in their own hands and produced the album themselves along with longtime engineer Mike Shipley;^[9] with Lange credited as executive producer.^[14]

"We coped without Mutt quite well…" recalled Joe Elliott. "Mutt was in his studio in Guildford with Bryan Adams and we'd be in Dublin, talking every day… But it wasn't as adventurous as Hysteria. It was more of a rock album, less experimental. It's like with Pink Floyd: to me, Adrenalize was our Wish You Were Here and Hysteria was our Dark Side of the Moon."^[15]

Adrenalize debuted at No. 1 on both the UK Albums Chart^[16] and, in the following week, on the U.S. Billboard 200.^[17] It stayed at No. 1 of the Billboard chart for five weeks keeping Bruce Springsteen's Human Touch off the top spot, and spent 65 weeks on the charts in total.

The album received mixed reviews: some critics praised its production values and instantly catchy and radio-friendly material, while others called it tired and formulaic.^[18] In a four-star review for Rolling Stone, J.D. Considine wrote: "Adrenalize is so relentlessly catchy that it almost seems as if the band is about to abandon its heavy-metal roots for the greener fields of hard pop."^[19] Other reviewers also noted the album's less metal sound and pointed out its lack of cohesion. A staff writer for Sputnikmusic said that, despite the slick production, the album doesn't match the standard set by the band's previous two records, which they referred to as masterpieces."^[20]

Writing in 2009, after Pyromania and Adrenalize have been reissued, Toby Cook of The Quietus said that, despite Adrenalize's many flaws, "the record buying public of '92 cared not."^[21] Indeed, the album would go on to sell more than seven million copies worldwide, remaining Def Leppard's last studio album to achieve major mainstream success.^[9]

• Tracks 1–4 are taken from the band's In the Clubs... In Your Face EP, recorded at Bonn, Germany, on 29 May 1992
• Tracks 5 & 6 taken from "Have You Ever Needed Someone So Bad" single.
• Tracks 7 & 8 taken from "Tonight" single.
• Track 9 taken from "Make Love Like a Man" UK single and "Two Steps Behind" US single.
• Track 10 taken from "Two Steps Behind" single.
• Tracks 11 & 12 taken from "Let's Get Rocked" single.

• Joe Elliott – lead vocals, backing vocals
• Phil Collen – lead and rhythm guitars (except acoustic guitar on "Tonight"), backing vocals, Cockney rhyming rap on "Make Love Like a Man"
• Rick Savage – bass guitar, backing vocals, acoustic guitar on "Tonight"
• Rick Allen – drums, backing vocals

• The Sideways Mob – backing vocals
• Robert John "Mutt" Lange, John Sykes – backing vocals
• Phil "Crash" Nicholas – keyboards on "Stand Up (Kick Love into Motion)"
• Pete Woodroffe – additional guitar on "Let's Get Rocked"

• Mike "Bat Ears" Shipley – producer, engineer, mixing
• Def Leppard – producer
• Pete Woodroffe – engineer, programming, sequencing
• Robert John "Mutt" Lange – executive producer
• Robert Scovill – assistant engineer
• Bob Ludwig – mastering
• Andie Airfix – art direction
• Pamela Springsteen – photography