Def Leppard
Viva! Hysteria (Blu-Ray)

December 2013
Released: 2013, Frontiers Records
Rating: 4.5/5
Reviewer: Celtic Bob

Where do I begin?



Filmed in Las Vegas during their residency (which seems to become the new thing to do) in the Spring of this year. As the title suggests the band performs the entire HYSTERIA album along with a couple of PYROMANIA tracks for the encore.



As any Lep fan would expect, the band are in great shape and put on a great show. While Joe’s vocals aren’t what they used to be he still does a damn fine job that rivals many in the field. Hearing (and seeing) the entire HYSTERIA album is great as it was highly anticipated and took forever to get issued. I remember waiting for it to come out and reading about it in the latest edition of Circus magazine. Now some 20 odd years later it still holds up and doesn’t sound dated. Sadly Steve Clark isn’t with us to have shared the stage and played his music but Vivian does a decent job playing his parts. Rick’s drumming is much better now than compared to the album and sounds less electronic. The overall sound of the show is great and well mixed. The visuals are great and the band is on a decent sized stage with a runway out into the middle of the audience. As they begin Phil Collen comes down on a platform at the end of the ramp playing the intro to “Women”, the lead off single from HYSTERIA. They do all 12 tracks followed by “Rock Of Ages” and “Photograph” off of PYROMANIA making for a fantastic show.



Where are the rest of the Hits, Singles and other Classic Def Lep tunes you may ask? Go no further than the Bonus section. The opening act; Ded Flatbird covered that and there are 2 nights performances to choose from. Who are Ded Flatbird you ask? The world’s greatest Def Leppard cover band that look and sound mysteriously like Def Leppard. They even throw in some deep cuts plus the entire second side of HIGH N’ DRY. Can’t argue with that.



The Ded Flatbird segments are my favorite parts of this release, mainly because “Rock Of Ages” turned me onto Def Leppard and a friend lent me his PYROMANIA LP for the weekend back when it originally came out. To this day PYROMANIA and HIGH N’ DRY are my favorite Def Lep albums. I also enjoy the SLANG album which many seem to hate and they do the title track so it’s win-win.



Any and all Def Leppard fans, new and old need this Blu-Ray in their collection. The only complaint with it is that it would be nice to have the option to watch the full show (Ded Flatbird and Def Leppard) without having to go into the menu. A small price for such an excellent release.