Songs from the Sparkle Lounge

Songs from the Sparkle Lounge
Studio album by Def Leppard
Released	25 April 2008
Recorded	2006–2008
Genre	Hard rock[1][2] heavy metal[3]
Length	39:12
Label	Island, Universal Music Enterprises (US) Bludgeon Riffola/Mercury (UK & Europe)
Producer	Ronan McHugh Def Leppard
Def Leppard chronology
Yeah! (2006) Songs from the Sparkle Lounge (2008) Def Leppard (2015)
Singles from Songs from the Sparkle Lounge
"Nine Lives" Released: 27 April 2008 "C'mon C'mon" Released: 14 July 2008

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	link
Billboard	link
Rolling Stone	link
Kerrang!
Classic Rock
NOW	link
Mojo	link
The Observer	link

Songs from the Sparkle Lounge is the tenth studio album and 14th album overall from the English hard rock band Def Leppard. It was released on 25 April 2008 in Europe and 29 April in North America.^[4][5]

History

In an Interview on Rockline radio, two band members, Joe Elliott and Vivian Campbell stated that the title of their latest studio album would be Songs from the Sparkle Lounge, saying that "Until someone comes up with a better name this will be the final title upon release".^[6] They also mentioned the possibility of previous Def Leppard album producer Mutt Lange being involved with a few songs for the album,^[6] but in the end this collaboration did not turn out to be possible due to scheduling conflicts. However, Joe Elliott has stated that the band and Mutt Lange still plan to work on a few songs together in the future.

In an interview with Billboard.com, Joe Elliott stated that the album title is a reference to a backstage tuning room at shows where the band would work on new material. "It was a mini (drum) kit, mini amps, a tape recorder and sparkly lights."^[7] Vivian Campbell also commented on the origin of the "Sparkle Lounge" in an article from Goldmine, mentioning that that room was rife with both brainstorming and "little Christmas lights, little fairy lights."^[8] Elliott also stated that they would not be performing any previews of the songs, as they did not want them appearing on websites such as YouTube prior to the release of the album.

Members of the band have described the tracks from the album as written in the style of Hysteria, with the production style of High 'n' Dry. The album's first single, "Nine Lives" features country singer Tim McGraw.

Joe Elliott has stated at the band's official site that the concept of this album is that it sounds more like "early 70's AC/DC" and much like Led Zeppelin's song "Rock and Roll".

The title of one of the songs in the track list, "Give It Away," was changed to "Gotta Let It Go."

On 25 April 2008, Def Leppard's record label opened a website with teasers of every song on the album.

The band performed "Love" with Taylor Swift for their 2008 CMT Crossroads episode Taylor Swift and Def Leppard. Their performance of the song was not included in the actual episode, but is included as a bonus performance for the episode's DVD released exclusively to US Wal-Mart stores by Big Machine Records on June 16, 2009.^[9] It was the only post-1995 song of Def Leppard's catalogue that was performed for that episode.

The album debuted at No. 5 on the Billboard 200, selling about 55,000 copies in its first week of release.^[10]

Reception

Songs from the Sparkle Lounge received mixed reviews. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has received a score of 47, based on 8 reviews.^[11] Alun Williams of About.com^[12] gave the album 4.5 out of 5 stars and said "This album is so instant: huge hooks, big choruses and awesome production!"

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Go"	Phil Collen, Joe Elliott	3:20
2.	"Nine Lives" (featuring Tim McGraw)	Collen, Elliott, Tim McGraw, Rick Savage	3:32
3.	"C'mon C'mon"	Savage	4:09
4.	"Love"	Savage	4:17
5.	"Tomorrow"	Collen	3:35
6.	"Cruise Control"	Vivian Campbell	3:03
7.	"Hallucinate"	Collen	3:17
8.	"Only the Good Die Young"	Campbell	3:34
9.	"Bad Actress"	Elliott	3:03
10.	"Come Undone"	Elliott	3:32
11.	"Gotta Let It Go"	Campbell	3:55
Total length:			39:12

UK and iTunes bonus track
Track listing
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
12.	"Love" (piano version)	Savage	4:22

Japanese bonus tracks
Track listing
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
12.	"Love" (piano version)	Savage	4:22
13.	"Nine Lives" (Def Leppard version)	Collen, Elliot, McGraw, Savage	3:33

Deluxe edition bonus DVD

• "Behind the Curtain"
• "The Sparkle Lounge Commentary"
• "Nine Lives" music video

Chart positions

Year	Chart	Position
2008	Billboard 200[13]	5
2008	UK Albums Chart[14]	10
2008	Ireland Albums Chart	32
2008	New Zealand Albums Chart	26
2008	Germany Albums Chart	43
2008	France Albums Chart	118
2008	Canadian Albums Chart	7
2008	Swiss Albums Chart	26
2008	Sweden Albums Chart	26
2008	Norway Albums Chart	15
2008	Finnish Albums Chart[15]	27
2008	World Albums Chart	8

Personnel

• Rick Savage – bass guitar, backing vocals, additional guitars
• Joe Elliott – vocals
• Rick Allen – drums, backing vocals, jazz accordion
• Phil Collen – guitars, backing vocals
• Vivian Campbell – guitars, backing vocals

Additional personnel

• Tim McGraw – vocals on "Nine Lives"

References

1. "Melodic Rock Reviews". Retrieved October 30, 2013.
2. "Rock Eyez Reviews". Retrieved October 30, 2013.
3. Thomas, Stephen (29 April 2008). "Songs from the Sparkle Lounge – Def Leppard". AllMusic. Retrieved 2011-08-13.
4. "Songs from the Sparkle Lounge (Ltd.Deluxe Edt.): Def Leppard: Musik". Amazon.de. 9 September 2009. Retrieved 2011-08-13.
5. "News". Defleppard.com. Retrieved 2011-08-13.
6. Rockline Radio highlights, DefLeppard.com News
7. Songs from the Sparkle Lounge, Radio Luxembourg
8. Lindblad, Peter (May 9, 2008). "Def Leppard Ready for More 'Hysteria'". Goldmine.
9. "CMT Crossroads: Taylor Swift / Def Leppard (Walmart Exclusive) (Music DVD)". Walmart.com. Retrieved August 1, 2011.
10. Katie Hasty, "Madonna Leads Busy Billboard 200," Billboard.com, 7 May 2008.
11. "Def Leppard:Songs from the Sparkle Lounge (2008): Reviews". Metacritic. CNET Networks, Inc. Retrieved 2009-03-19.
12. "Def Leppard – 'Songs From The Sparkle Lounge' – review of Def Leppard CD". Classicrock.about.com. 29 April 2008. Retrieved 2011-08-13.
13. "Allmusic (Def Leppard charts and awards) Billboard albums".
14. "aChart.us". Acharts.us. Retrieved 2011-08-13.
15. "Suomen virallinen lista". Pop.yle.fi. 5 August 2010. Retrieved 2011-08-13.