A new interview featuring Def Leppard’s Joe Elliott and Ghost’s frontman Tobias Forge was posted by NME, highlighting how they worked together to create the reworked version of Ghost’s song ‘Spillways’.
Joe has been a big fan of Ghost’s music for years, and the original version of ‘Spillways’ (from Ghost’s 2022 album Impera) was a favorite:
“I love that song so much. The keyboard intro blew me away the first time I heard it – with a band like Ghost having the balls to do something so unexpected like recording a hybrid of ‘Jane’ by Jefferson Starship and ‘Hold The Line’ by Toto. I really took a shine to it. It was the flagship moment for me, on what is a fantastic album.”
Tobias Forge added that Ghost’s Impera album was actually inspired by Def Leppard, praising the band’s classic albums and approach to songwriting:
“I’ve always been a fan but with this album [Impera], I really looked at their songwriting. I have always been in awe of several Def Leppard records, but especially the big ones like ‘Pyromania’ and ‘Hysteria’. Not only are they great, but they achieved such commercial success that they’ve become a great example of how a lot of arguments in the pop world are wrong.”
He continued:
“We’re constantly told we need to get to the chorus quickly, that songs need to be short and to the point but Def Leppard songs are often the complete opposite of that. I wanted to do something similar with ‘Impera’.”
Joe and Tobias were both very pleased with the reworked version of ‘Spillways’.
Tobias: “I instantly thought it was amazing and Joe’s vocals really add another layer to the song. What he put on it was so different from what I had, but it still gelled.”
Joe added he didn’t want to veer much from the song’s original version: “’Spillways’ was never broken to begin with, so I wasn’t going to come in and change what he had originally done.”
The NME article also covers other topics, including how Joe and Tobias found the time to create the song’s “karaoke bar” promotional video, potential future collaborations, and more.
‘Spillways’ karaoke bar promo video featuring Joe Elliott:
- Read the complete NME article here.
- ‘Spillways’ version featuring Joe Elliott’s vocals is available digitally on Amazon here. (On Apple Music here.)
Also:
- Read all the latest updates on the Def Leppard and Motley Crue World Tour here.
- And if you would like to read an exclusive excerpt from the book I GOT SOMETHING TO SAY! (Collections, Recollections & Personal Reflections About Def Leppard), specifically from the chapter spotlighting Joe, you can find it here.
