Def Leppard frontman Joe Elliot says the band felt liberated by the process of recording and releasing their latest album.
Last year’s self-titled 11th album was initially released via a Classic Rock magazine fanpack. Sales from the magazine alone saw the record debut at no.11 in the UK album charts, a month ahead of its official release.
And Elliot says that not having a record label involved throughout the writing and recording process made for a far more enjoyable experience than on previous releases.
He tells TeamRock Radio presenter Pete Bailey’s The Playlist podcast: “It’s been a very interesting ride because the whole process of this record has been unexpected, unplanned and uncharted. We didn’t set out to make a record.
“It was vastly different to being signed to a record company and having to deliver, which is what we’ve done all our lives.
“We just went in and recorded songs we were having fun with, then we put it out there and said, ‘Anyone want to release this?’ We cut some good deals for it. To see how it’s been received was more than gratifying. We worked with some great people, initially with the fanpack.
“We self-financed this, didn’t worry about the cost. We were making an artistic statement. There were no A&R men pointing at their watch. We just kept working on it until we were happy.”
Meanwhile, Def Lep’s video for Dangerous – taken from the self-titled album – will premiere on video game Guitar Hero Live. Fans who own the Activision game will be the first to see the promo and can also play along with the track.
Guitarist Phil Collen says: “It seems like everything has been done, and MTV doesn’t really exist any more, so it’s cool there’s another medium to represent the song now.
“I think music videos became painful for a while. You had to do them. They cost so much money. It was very corporate. This is cool because it goes back to being artistic.”
The Playlist podcast can be heard on demand via TeamRock, or downloaded via iTunes.
