MY CAREER IN FIVE SONGS

DEF LEPPARD DOMINATED the airwaves with “Photograph” in 1983, establishing the template for much of what was to follow in hair metal: catchy riffs, monumental choruses and short, to-thepoint, shred-guitar solos. While many of the era’s bands could be blamed for the genre’s descent into mediocrity, Def Leppard were constantly finding ways to reinvigorate the limitations of the four-minute rock song. Phil Collen joined the group as it was recording Pyromania, the album from which “Photograph” was lifted. Consisting of singer Joe Elliott, guitarists Steve Clark and Pete Willis, bassist Rick Savage and drummer Rick Allen, Def Leppard had nearly finished the album when they let Willis go for excessive alcohol abuse. “I was initially brought in to play some solos Pete didn’t finish,” Collen tells Guitar Player. “I thought I was just helping out. I didn’t realize that I was actually in the band until after I’d done some recording and they told me they’d booked a major tour.”