Def Leppard’s debut album On Through The Night was released on March 14, 1980, and remains a rather polarizing release to this day.
A Promising Start
Some very passionate fans adamantly consider On Through The Night to be the best album the band ever recorded, with every subsequent Def Leppard album release — including Pyromania and Hysteria — paling in comparison.
Other fans vehemently beg to differ. They believe On Through The Night is Def Leppard’s weakest release, a respectable effort that showcases the talents of an up-and-coming band, one that will require a couple more albums to mature and master its craft (with the help of Mutt Lange) to reach its true potential.
The band themselves have gone on the record (excuse the pun) saying they don’t consider On Through The Night anywhere near their greatest effort. This should come as no surprise, as tracks from the album rarely appear on Def Leppard’s concert setlists.
Here’s how Joe Elliott described On Through The Night in an interview with AVClub.com:
“You know, a lot of people got a great affection for that record, but as I always say, ‘Yeah, but it’s hardly the first Van Halen or Boston album, is it?’
“The one good thing about it was it gave us a launchpad to get better from. And I believe that when we got to High ’n’ Dry and on to Pyromania and Hysteria, we started doing the record the first album should have been. We couldn’t get Mutt [Lange] to do the first album, he wasn’t available. It was fun working with Tom [Allom, producer], but we spent most of the time drinking wine and having a good time as opposed to making a good record. I didn’t really always enjoy making albums with Mutt, but I certainly enjoyed listening to them afterwards. But it’s the other way around with On Through The Night.
“It’s a bit naive and it could have been a better record.”
Love it or hate it, On Through The Night is a piece of the fabric that ultimately made Def Leppard the band it is today. It’s also one of only four albums guitarist Steve Clark performed on, yet another reason why many fans still look back on it so fondly.
On Through The Night Sales Performance
On Through The Night‘s sales are nowhere near Def Leppard’s biggest albums, selling “only” one million copies, a number that was bolstered by Pyromania and Hysteria, monster-selling releases which inevitably brought newfound consumer attention to the band’s early catalog.
During its original chart run, On Through The Night peaked at #51 on Billboard’s top albums chart, which is respectable for a debut album, especially one from a band that didn’t have much notoriety at the time.
The week On Through The Night peaked, Billboard‘s album chart was ruled by Billy Joel (Glass Houses), Eric Clapton (Just One Night), Paul McCartney (McCartney II), Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band (Against The Wind), and The Empire Strikes Back soundtrack — a somewhat eclectic mix.
But further down the chart, it’s worth noting that some of the other albums were from music acts that included Van Halen, Journey, Black Sabbath, Ted Nugent, Judas Priest, Alice Cooper, KISS, Scorpions, and Sammy Hagar. Thus, Def Leppard was entering a fairly welcoming environment (music-wise and touring-wise) as they began to make their mark in the United States.
Watch Out For The Rock Brigade
Regardless of your Def Leppard album preference, On Through The Night did include some genuinely solid hard-rock tracks. Most notably, “Wasted” (and its unmistakable riff), “Rock Brigade,” and “It Don’t Matter.” They all still pack a wallop.
Fittingly, the album’s 40th anniversary was commemorated as part of the band’s The Early Years box set release, which also included a remastered version of the High ‘n’ Dry album, and numerous other extras — B-sides, rarities and remix versions, Radio One sessions, Live from Reading, and the first-ever appearance of an unreleased and newly mixed show from Oxford in 1980, offering fans new and old the opportunity to revisit and rediscover Def Leppard’s earliest era. (You can read more about the box set and order it here.)
Looking back, Joe Elliott considers “Wasted” to be the album’s standout track:
You can read a ranking and review of every On Through The Night song here.
Hello America, We’re Def Leppard!
And who can forget “Hello America,” a song which, true to its title, introduced the band (and their brand of “New Wave of Heavy Metal” music) to American audiences?
Joe Elliott discussed the song’s origins with Rolling Stone:
“We had never even been to America at that point. I was working in a factory with lots of nuts and bolts and no natural light. But there was a lot of downtime, and I would sit around writing stuff. With this one, I had seen a TV show the night before — ‘Kojak’ or ‘Starsky & Hutch,’ something where they show the tree-lined boulevards of L.A. You see all these palm trees and you go, ‘Wow, this is a lot sexier than Sheffield!’ That’s where that lyric came from — ‘Well I’m takin’ me a trip/I’m going down to Californ-i-a.’ It was, ‘Get me out of here!'”
Since that time, Def Leppard assembled a deep catalog filled with iconic songs, became a Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee, remains an in-demand touring attraction, and still releases new music on occasion.
By the way, if you really want to indulge in Def Leppard, check out this must-read book!
On Through The Night: Final Thoughts
Unquestionably, Def Leppard has come a long way since their debut album.
What is also undeniable is that On Through The Night played a key role in laying the runway for their extraordinary journey to take flight, and putting Def Leppard on a path to achieve many remarkable milestones throughout its illustrious career.
The band may not have realized it back in 1980 with On Through The Night‘s release, but their rock brigade was only just beginning.
