Spinner

Def Leppard Riffs on 'Sgt. Pepper' With Tim McGraw

While many of Def Leppard's peers seem content to rely on their tired back catalogs as they hop from shed to shed this summer, the rockers will be augmenting fan favorites like 'Photograph' and 'Pour Some Sugar On Me' with tracks from its new album, 'Songs From the Sparkle Lounge,' due April 29, which features a collaboration with country star Tim McGraw, and a cover inspired by 'Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band'.

"We had initially hoped to really pay tribute to [Sgt. Pepper]," guitarist/songwriter Phil Collen tells Spinner, "but it was turning out to be a real hassle. Putting Elvis Presley's image on it, for instance, would have been $1800. And the same went for a lot of the other images we wanted to use. And we thought about people like Hitler and the Stones, but we realized how much effort it would have been to get the art work finalized. Instead, we just used different pictures of us, our families and road crew. Although there's a picture of Mona Lisa, and people like Ian Hunter, Abraham Lincoln and King Tut on it, for the most part it was a compromise."

As for the collaboration, Collen says it came about through the brother of Def Leppard's drummer Rick Allen. "Robert [Allen] is Tim McGraw's tour manager and through him we learned that Tim was a big fan of our band," he explains. "So when we finally met him backstage at our Hollywood Bowl gig, we just hit it off. What we came up with -- that's mostly what you hear on the album. We kept most of the demo. A few months later, I flew to Nashville to work with Tim on his vocal. The whole thing just came together with such ease. He's a very inspiring presence; he's got a wealth of ideas and he's just a musical dynamo."

Collen is quick to admit that their collaboration is much better, and shall we say, more authentic, than most. "Most collaborations are crap because they're usually suggested by a label A&R guy or a manager, or some other industry ass," he says. "Although it's considerably different stylistically, I liken this more to what Linkin Park and Jay-Z did together."

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Myra Robinson

this thing is old. but here goes,Tim and Def did a great collaberation on "nine lives" i bought the album.it is very good. by the way,they are very good friends with Tim

October 08 2009 at 9:52 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Erik

cooool

January 25 2009 at 10:15 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
oceanbreeze0206

Sorry for he typo. I meant Tim McGraw.

November 28 2008 at 5:32 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
oceanbreeze0206

This particular collaboration is really hard for me to swallow. I mean Def Leppard working with a country music star like Tom McGraw? I was once at a Def Leppard concert and Joe Elliott told a joke about country music, and then afterwards he said that he hated country music. I wonder how these guys sold Joe on this one. Who knows, the music might be worth listening to.........I'll just have to wait and see.

November 28 2008 at 5:29 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Amanda Blank

Tim McGraw is my favourite country singer, because when you listen to his music, it makes you want to be in love and feel what he feels. I also enjoy his concerts and I used to attend them even if his Tim McGraw tickets are hard to come by and often sky high, thankfully I check a site where I found cheap ones. Now I will have the chance to attend all the concerts with low prices.
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April 09 2008 at 6:10 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply