Do you think, in your opinion, that Def
Leppard were ever a heavy metal band, or do you agree with the band
that they were always just a pop band. I am curious to see what other
opinions of the matter are.

Would appreciate anyone's votes and comments on the Heart of Metal board about this:
http://heartofmetal.niceboard.com/Main-Forum-Area-c1/Heart-Of-Metal-f1/Def-Leppard-t1132.htm

Feel free to leave remarks here as well.

I am of the opinion that they started out in
much the same way as the other New Wave of British Heavy Metal bands
like Saxon and Maiden, influenced by the likes of Thin Lizzy, UFO,
Sweet, Mott the Hoople, Wishbone Ash, etc. Their first EP, On Through
the Night, High & Dry and to a lesser degree Pyromania, were most
certainly heavy metal albums. As they became more popular they went
more and more glossy pop, which is fine. That's the direction that they
chose. However, there is no doubt in my mind that they started out as a
metal band, even if Joe Elliot now claims they never were a metal band
to begin with. Thoughts? Comments?

I agree with your analysis of the situation, ult. And as for Joe Elliot, I stopped listening to anything he had to say as soon as I heard the lyrics to "Pour Some Sugar on Me".

What the hekkebah is a "feecheh" anyway?

I've always classified them as a Hard Rock band... not quite metal, not quite pop.

That said, I don't think their commercial success should reclassify them as a pop band. They were as hard a rock band as many other acts at the time. But I felt that their early stuff lacked the complete metal edge displayed in the overall vibe of bands like Priest, Maiden, etc.

For example, some of Styx's heavier stuff would still be classified as hard rock to me. I've always sort of put Lep in that category instead of the early Brit metal bands.

However... I was a huge Lep fan in my youth!!

Since you and Trog are about the same age as me, do you remember a time when "hard rock" and "metal" were one in the same? I'm not sure when the separation started, but it had to be sometime in the late 80's. In the 1970's hard rock bands like Aerosmith, Black Sabbath, UFO, Led Zeppelin, Ted Nugent, Kiss, etc. were also called heavy metal.

You are probably right - I just never felt that Def Leppard had enough edge to them to be heavy metal. My opinion of course, but I always thought they were just a bit lighter.

They lacked a certain darkness that I associated with the more true heavy metal bands like Sabbath et al.

But heck - I'm an old man and maybe I've lost most of the brain cells that were alive back then!

I always called DL a pop metal band. I think the separation started when thrash started to get really big and it made the old heavy metal not seem as heavy. That's just MHO of course. AC/DC is another one of those used to be heavy metal bands.

For me Def Leppards best was Hysteria but I do love the song Photograph that song KICKS!

People think only the current heavy music is the true heavy metal. Heck, Deep Purple was probably heavy metal in the day. Maybe those goups you listed could be called classic heavy metal. I don't really care but it is weird how people will redefine music. I can't wait until Judas Priest is easy listening.

I like DEF LEPPARD's early material. At the time, I called it "heavy metal". Was it that or was it "hard rock"? I dunno - don't care. I don't care that it doesn't fit into today's "reclassification" of what the term "heavy metal" means. What the hell does it really matter anyway, and why does this subject continue to come up over and over again as though it did?