Def Leppard — X

Def Leppard used to be a pretty decent hard rock band. Their roots were entrenched knee-deep in the glam-rock movement of the ‘70s, but it took Pyromania and Hysteria to show that you could actually mix melodies in them thar rock songs. There wasn’t much substance, but hell, they were catchy tunes. Then their drummer Rick Allen lost his arm and they had to settle for drum machines. And even worse, their thundering guitarist Steve Clark died of a lethal mix of painkillers and alcohol. Thus began the gay Def Leppard sound. Sticking true to the recipe that ballads sell and never get old, they release yet another album filled with harmless love songs fit for FM-friendly radio. Give it up for Bryan Adams-inspired crap. The Leppard haven’t released a good ol’ rockin’ record in some time and X is just another in a long line of empty clunkers. Ya know, Poison was a band for chicks, but at least they still try to churn out tunes with some grit. Joe Elliott and the boys have just plain given up on playing with some balls.