''High 'n' Dry'' is the second studio album by the English rock band

Def Leppard Def Leppard are an English Rock music, rock band formed in Sheffield in 1977. Since 1992, the band has consisted of Rick Savage (bass, backing vocals), Joe Elliott (lead vocals), Rick Allen (drummer), Rick Allen (drums), Phil Collen (guitar, ...

, released on 6 July 1981. ''High 'n' Dry'' was

Pete Willis Peter Andrew Willis (born 16 February 1960) is a retired English guitarist, best known as a founder member of the hard rock band Def Leppard. He was with Def Leppard from 1977 to 1982, when he was fired from the band and replaced by Phil Coll ...

' last full-time album with Def Leppard. It charted at No. 38 on the ''Billboard'' 200 and No. 26 on the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is the United Kingdom's industry-recognised national record chart for album, albums. Entries are ranked by sales and audio streaming. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the O ...

. "High 'n' Dry (Saturday Night)", ranked No. 33 on VH1's 40 Greatest Metal Songs. Following the success of ''

Pyromania Pyromania is an impulse-control disorder in which individuals repeatedly fail to resist impulses to deliberately start fires, to relieve some tension or for instant gratification. The term ''pyromania'' comes from the Greek word (''pyr'', 'f ...

'', the album re-entered in the US chart and reached No. 72 in 1983.

Music

The album's music has been described as heavy metalV. Bogdanov, C. Woodstra and S. T. Erlewine, ''All Music Guide to Rock: the Definitive Guide to Rock, Pop, and Soul'' (Milwaukee, WI: Backbeat Books, 3rd edn., 2002), and pp. 293–4. and

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a heavier subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and Distortion (music), distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the Garage rock, garage, Psychedelic rock, psychedelic and blues ...

. This album contained the power ballad "

Bringin' On the Heartbreak "Bringin' On the Heartbreak" is a song by English rock band Def Leppard. A power ballad, it was the second single from their 1981 album '' High 'n' Dry''. The song was written by three of the band's members, Steve Clark, Pete Willis and Joe ...

" and the instrumental "Switch 625", examples of their signature sound style prevalent in their next album ''

''. ''High 'n' Dry'' stayed on the Billboard 200 chart for 123 weeks.

Reissue

''High 'n' Dry'' was reissued on 31 May 1984 with two bonus tracks: #"

" (Remix), a similar recording to the 1981 original but with synthesiser and piano overdubs added by Robert John "Mutt" Lange in February 1984. This remix was released as a single in June 1984, peaking at No. 61 in the US charts. #"Me & My Wine" (Remix), a remixed version of a 1981 B-side, with the remixed version included as the B-side to the remix of ''Bringin' on the Heartbreak''. The intention of these remixes was to make the two songs sound more in the style of Def Leppard's 1983 album ''

''. Videos for both of the remixed songs were made, featuring

Phil Collen Philip Kenneth Collen (born 8 December 1957) is an English musician who is best known as the co-lead guitarist for the rock band Def Leppard. Collen joined the band in 1982 during the recording of the ''Pyromania'' album. Before joining Def Le ...

(who was not in the band at the time of the album's recording). The video for "Me & My Wine" received heavy rotation on MTV. Both bonus tracks were omitted from the US mid-1990s re-releases of the album, although other countries' releases did include them, but returned when Def Leppard and Mercury came to terms in 2018 and the album was put on digital streaming and downloading platforms.

Reception

Steve Huey of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

notes how Def Leppard "continues in the vein of the anthemic, working-class hard rock of their debut. While still opting for a controlled musical attack and melodies as big-sounding and stadium-ready as possible, the band opens up its arrangements a bit more on ''High 'n' Dry'', letting the songs breathe and groove while the rhythm section and guitar riffs play off one another." In a 3.5 out of 5 review, Sputnikmusic writes that "while ''High 'n' Dry'' cannot claim to be a resounding success as an individual album, it is indeed one from a progression standpoint. Def Leppard is clearly a more confident outfit here and with help from new producer 'Mutt' Lange, they allow their compositions to include greater scope in order for the band to find their sound. While this does result in some misses, they are never too far off target and are more than made up for by the album’s highlights which have aged extremely well."

Track listing

*On vinyl and cassette releases, "Me & My Wine" (Remix) is added to the end of side one, while "Bringin' On the Heartbreak" (Remix) leads off side two. On CD releases, "Bringin' On the Heartbreak" (Remix) and "Me & My Wine" (Remix) follow "No No No". *The last lyric, 'no', in "No No No" repeats infinitely on the original vinyl album release. The original cassette features "no" being screamed 46 times and then ending abruptly when the cassette finished. On later releases the "no"s simply fade out.

Personnel

;Def Leppard * Joe Elliott – lead vocals *

– guitar, backing vocals * Steve Clark – guitar, backing vocals * Rick Savage – bass guitar, backing vocals * Rick Allen – drums, backing vocals ;Production * Robert John "Mutt" Lange – producer, 1984 remixes * Mike Shipley –

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who Invention, invent, design, build, maintain and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials. They aim to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while ...

*Nigel Green – assistant engineer *

Hipgnosis Hipgnosis were an English art design group, based in London, that specialised in creating album cover artwork for rock musicians and bands. Their commissions included work for Pink Floyd, Def Leppard, T. Rex, the Pretty Things, Black S ...

– cover design

Charts

Certifications

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:High and Dry 1981 albums Def Leppard albums Albums produced by Robert John "Mutt" Lange Albums with cover art by Hipgnosis Vertigo Records albums Mercury Records albums New Wave of British Heavy Metal albums Albums recorded at Morgan Sound Studios