Def Leppard’s latest album Diamond Star Halos is now available (released May 27, 2022) and yet another top 10 album for the band, selling approximately 34,000 units in its first week and debuting on Billboard‘s Top 200 albums chart at #10.
Purchase from Amazon: CD | MP3/Streaming | Vinyl
Apple Music: Diamond Star Halos
Produced by the band and Ronan McHugh, Diamond Star Halos is comprised of 15 new songs and is available in multiple configurations. (In addition to digital and CD, there are vinyl and cassette versions.)
The release’s strategic timing also allows the band to shake up its setlist a bit and showcase some new music offerings on their long-awaited Stadium Tour.
In an interview with Billboard.com, Joe Elliott confirmed that the album had been completed for quite some time:
“Diamond Star Halos was finished “the better part of a year” ago, according to Elliott, but held back when it became evident The Stadium Tour, originally slated for the summer of 2020 and rescheduled for 2021, was going to be postponed yet again. “We didn’t want to drop the record and then not be able to promote it properly, he says.”
Diamond Star Halos Tracklisting
01. Take What You Want
02. Kick
03. Fire It Up
04. This Guitar (feat. Alison Krauss]
05. Sos Emergency
06. Liquid Dust
07. U Rok Mi
08. Goodbye For Good This Time
09. All We Need
10. Open Your Eyes
11. Gimme A Kiss
12. Angels (Can’t Help You Now)
13. Lifeless (feat. Alison Krauss)
14. Unbreakable
15. From Here To Eternity
Notable Diamond Star Halos Exclusives
Target exclusives:
- A Diamond Star Halos deluxe digipak CD will include 2 bonus tracks (“Goodbye For Good This Time – Avant-garde Mix” and “Lifeless – Joe Only version”) along with an alternate (color) cover.
- A Diamond Star Halos vinyl release featuring limited edition yellow and red translucent records and a tarot card litho.
Walmart exclusive:
- A Diamond Star Halos metallic lithograph vinyl release.
“Kick” Kicks Things Off
The glam-inspired “Kick” — a song reminiscent of the band’s X-era track “Perfect Girl,” while also showcasing a Songs from the Sparkle Lounge vibe — was chosen to launch Def Leppard’s new album.
Def Leppard “Kick”: Amazon MP3/Streaming / Apple Music
“Kick” was the final song added to the album, long after the band thought they had already completed the record.
From Billboard.com:
“Phil rang me up and said, ‘I’ve got this other song…but we’re done,’” Elliott recalls. “And I’m like, ‘Well, it’s open-ended. There’s no delivery date. There’s no record deal yet. Send me an MP3.’ So he sent it to us, band-wide, and Sav was the first one to comment, ‘OMG — “Sugar,” anyone?'”
Phil explains:
“‘Kick’ represented where we were at as well. It’s got that glam rock feel, that hand-clap groove, big vocals. It was just a no-brainer. It was not only that it’s got to be on the album, it’s got to be the first single as well.”
Joe adds:
“It’s a stadium anthem, and we were about to go into stadiums. We didn’t write it for that reason, but Phil’s always trying to write the next ‘Sugar’ or ‘We Will Rock You’ Or ‘I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll.’”
The official music video for “Kick”:
The band’s press release described “Kick” as “a powerful and rip-roaring new rock single.” Is that really a fitting description? And is “Kick” the best song choice to take on the critical role of launching Diamond Star Halos?
Read an EXTENSIVE write-up analyzing the Diamond Star Halos album, The Stadium Tour 2022, and the current state of Def Leppard at this stage of the band’s career here.
Def Leppard New Album “Single” #2 (“Take What You Want”)
Def Leppard “Take What You Want”: Amazon MP3/Streaming / Apple Music
Def Leppard released yet another track to promote the album’s release — “Take What You Want” — which will likely bring to mind Pyromania‘s “Stagefright” and “Rock! Rock! (Till You Drop)” for some, not to mention several other songs in Def Leppard’s deep catalog.
Def Leppard New Album “Single” #3 (“Fire It Up”)
Def Leppard “Fire It Up”: Amazon MP3/Streaming / Apple Music
As part of their pre-launch promotional campaign blitz, the band released one additional track just days before the Diamond Star Halos album release, going with “Fire It Up.”
