Slang
| Def Leppard
Slang
Slang is the sixth studio album by English hard rock band Def Leppard, released on 14 May 1996. The album marked a musical departure from their signature sound, also not produced by Robert John "Mutt" Lange and was produced by the band with Pete Woodroffe. Slang is the first album with new material to feature new guitarist Vivian Campbell (Campbell had previously played on the B-side collection Retro Active in 1993 and on the new song on Vault a year earlier). It charted at #14 on the Billboard 200[6] and #5 on the UK Albums Chart.[7] It is also the only Def Leppard album that does not feature their recognisable font logo on the album cover. - WIKIPEDIA
Critic Reviews
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Ultimate Classic Rock
The songs they emerged with on Slang were widely characterized (even panned) as some kind of electronically enhanced aberration in Def Leppard’s body of work. Yet the irony is that the new album’s final mix was, in fact, relatively stripped down compared to its meticulously produced predecessors. Def Leppard hadn’t changed nearly as much as the surrounding musical landscape, which had replaced leather for flannel, polish for rawness.
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HTF Magazine- Deluxe Edition
If you aren’t a die hard fan though, maybe just get the original as the second disc would be wasted on you.
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RollingStone
Slang rarely rocks; Def Leppard seem too consumed with sounding hip to let loose any real dynamic guitar squalor. The band has lost its drive and focus, which may prompt some fans to ask, “Oh, I just gotta know if you’re really there and you really care.”
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MY GLOBAL MIND - Deluxe Edition
Aware the musical scene had shifted and sensing a need to adapt, Def Leppard brought out ‘Slang’. There is a clear effort here to offer something new to the listener and at the time, not surprisingly it divided the ‘if it ‘ain’t broke, don’t fix it’ brigade who had purchased their previous albums and the new generation of rock fans who saw Leppard as ‘last year’s model’.
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LOUDER THAN WAR - album reissue
Musically, I am pleased to say, the album still stands up.
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MIKELADANO.COM - Deluxe Edition
listening to the Slang Deluxe is a long journey, it’s also a very interesting one in terms of hearing how Def Leppard wrote and recorded it.
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PLANETMOSH - Deluxe Edition
The album itself has a much harder rock feel to it. They’ve got rid of the highly produced sound from the previous albums and instead there’s a more natural feel to it, more reflective of a live performance than their earlier studio work.
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Something Else Review - Deluxe Edition
Even if Slang didn’t appeal to fans the first time around, it may reward many with surprises twenty years on.
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ALL MUSIC
Slang would have been even better if they had come up with a set of hooks that sounded as alive as their performance, but the album is a much-needed return to form for the group.
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Record Collector Magazine - Deluxe Edition
Slang is a stodgy but laudable attempt to step outside of a well-established comfort zone: worthy of re-evaluation if not the classic one would like it to be.
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The Review Revue
While some may argue that Slang was a failed experiment-- credit must be given to Def Leppard for at least attempting to reinvent themselves, rather than sticking to the same tried and true formula of their previous albums.
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INDULGE-SOUND.COM - Deluxe Edition
Slang proves the spirit of the 80s wasn’t totally destroyed by the baggy jeans and the angst of the following decade. It’s testament to Def Leppard’s ability to grow and adapt to the changing climates of rock music.
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