464: Def Leppard, "Hysteria"

Before: Ut oh. I don't think this is gonna be good. Prove me wrong, Rolling Stone, please...

After: So I'm two minutes into the opening song, "Woman", and call me an optimist, but this isn't as bad as I was expecting. I'd heard some deeply frightening admonitions about this band- so bad I almost chickened out and did 463 first. But the predictable confluence of big, heavy drum beats and 80s guitar licks isn't scary. Groan-worthy, yes, but nothing to procrastinate.
I could totally do zumba to "Rocket". A great variety of rhythms that invite many kinds of moves to bounce along to.
The alliteration and cliches are flowing like resentment for Trump (if I read this in 10 years, Trump is a frontrunner for the 2016 election... eek!!). But unlike that bozo, they're sort of tasting like that first shot or two of the night and then going down easier after a few. Grateful for acclimation!
Maybe I spoke too soon. "Love Bites" is painful. "Pour Some Sugar On Me" is not what you'd hear at my kind of bar (although yes to pool tables!)
The diamond in the rough lies in "Armageddon It": the chords of "give me all of your loving" feel so good. Honestly a little frustrated with myself that I'm admitting slight deference to Def Leppard. Let's move on ASAP...
I do give these guys credit for releasing music that involves some very outlandish, primal sounds. I'd be too embarrassed.
The last song gave me the vision of being stuck at a dive bar in rural Nebraska: Animal head trophies adorning the 70s wood panel walls, lights down low, cigarette smoke wafting through the ubiquitous beer bottles held in hands of country music-belting blue-collar workers. It's good fun, just not for me. I think I'd have one of those miniature emotional meltdowns like when it's 4 am and you feel like you're the only one awake and the world feels off-kilter. Very lonesome with a generous dash of discombobulation. Needless to say, I immediately switched on some Brandi Carlile to get the taste of Def Leppard of out my mouth the second it finished.

However, I'm glad I gave it a listen. Hopefully not much more in my life will I hear them again, but it's been real, #464!