Album of the Day — August 4
Def Leppard — High ’n’ Dry
Def Leppard — High ’n’ Dry
04.August.2020
Def Leppard
High ’n’ Dry
1981
Conventional wisdom would re-visit to either Pyromania or Hysteria. Those albums have cumulatively sold close to 40 million records worldwide, so …I think we’re good with those.
Both are great records, but if you want to get to the root of that band that would become the poster children for an MTV 80’s rock band, you have to start here.
High ’n’ Dry was the Def Leppard’s second album and their first working with producer Robert John “Mutt” Lange.
The band comes from Sheffield, England, and is, for some inexplicable reason, associated with the first incarnation of the “new wave of British heavy metal” — think Iron Maiden, Saxon, and Praying Mantis. There is only a modest link as far as sound goes, so it must be because Def Leppard came to prominence at the same moment that genre was riding its initial peak, 1979-’81.
Def Leppard’s first album, 1980’s On Through the Night, was released when the band was just out of their teens. The record did well enough and scored a minor hit with “Rock Brigade.”
In support of that album, the band went on the road opening for the likes of Pat Travers, Ted Nugent, and AC/DC — who was then riding high on the success of Back in Black. That connection led them to the attention of the producer Robert John “Mutt” Lange. After he had produced Back in Black, he was well on his way to being an A-list producer.
It was Lange’s detailed approach to recording that helped Def Leppard formulate a sound. And even though the first collaboration between Lange and the band yielded 1981’s High’ n’ Dry, it didn’t exactly tear up the charts, peaking at #38 on the Billboard Album Chart and #26 on the UK Album Chart.
However, the then-fledgling MTV latched on to the albums second single “Bringin’ on the Heartache,” which would earn the honor of being one of the first heavy metal videos to be shown on MTV.
The relationship between Def Leppard and MTV would catapult the band to the heights of rock stardom. It would also inspire a legion of teenage boys to purchase Union Jack sleeveless t-shirts and parachute pants — not a good look unless you’re a member of Def Leppard, trust me, I know.
The albums title track, “High ’n’ Dry”, would end up #33 on VH1’s 40 Greatest Metal Songs.
The song would also earn the distinction of ending up on the “Filthy Fifteen” list — the fifteen dirtiest songs, according to the Parents Music Resource Center (PMRC). You can decide how dirty it is:
High’ n’ Dry
Saturday, I feel right
I’ve been drinkin’ all-day
Yes I got a date, a midnight ride
I had to get it away
Yea
I’m not a loner, I’m not a fool
Don’t need a reason, reason to be cool
I got my whiskey, I got my wine
I got my woman and this time the lights are goin’ out
High
(Saturday night)
High an’ dry
(Saturday night)
I’m high
(Saturday night)
High an’ dry
Oww
I feel bad, I feel mean
I’m up and down, I’m in between
I’m the bottle, I’m on the line
I’m up and feelin’ fine
Ohh I’m not a loner, I’m not a fool
Don’t need a reason, reason to be cool
I got my whiskey, I got my wine
I got my woman, and this time the lights are goin’ out
High
(Saturday night)
High an’ dry
(Saturday night)
I’m high
(Saturday night)
High an’ dry
Ohh take me high
Saturday, kickin’ out
Her train was comin’ to me
I gotta move, number one
Saturday night on the run
Well
(Saturday night)
High
(Saturday night)
High an’ dry
(Saturday night)
Got my whiskey
(Saturday night)
Got my wine
(Saturday night)
Got my woman
(Saturday night)
High an’ dry
You gotta try me tonight
Pretty tame lyrics by today’s standards. The PMRC must’ve imploded when NWA’s “Straight Outta Compton” came out a few years later.
And because you’re probably wondering, these were “The Filthy Fifteen” — something tells me the ranking number is significant:
Prince “Darling Nikki” — Sex/Masturbation
Sheena Easton “Sugar Walls” — Sex
Judas Priest “Eat Me Alive” — Sex/Violence
Vanity “Strap On’ Robbie Baby’” — Sex
Mötley Crüe “Bastard” — Violence/Language
AC/DC “Let Me Put My Love Into You” — Sex
Twisted Sister “We’re Not Gonna Take It” — Violence
Madonna “Dress You Up” — Sex
WASP “Animal (Fuck Like a Beast)” — Sex/Language/Violence
Def Leppard “High’ n’ Dry (Saturday Night)” — Drug and alcohol use
Mercyful Fate “Into the Coven” — Occult
Black Sabbath “Trashed” — Drug and alcohol use
Mary Jane Girls “In My House” — Sex
Venom “Possessed” — Occult
Cyndi Lauper “She Bop” — Sex/Masturbation
Founded by privileged, white, and bored Washington DC wives, the group’s main mouthpiece was Tipper Gore (Al Gore’s ex-wife). The PMRC’s mission was to rate and censor music under the guise of “educating and informing parents” about “the growing trend in music towards lyrics that are sexually explicit, excessively violent, or glorify the use of drugs and alcohol.”
The PMRC must not have listened to any music prior to 1985.
Interestingly, High’ n’ Dry, released in 1981, had a resurgence after the success of Pyromania. It was this that put the song on the ladies’ watch list. The song “High’ n’ Dry” barely made a dent upon the album’s initial release. While the band did make a promotional video, the song was only released as a single in Australia.
The growth from On Through the Night to High’ n’ Dry is noticeable, but it’s on “You Got Me Runnin’,” where you can hear the lyrical direction the band was headed. It’s not that a bunch of 20-something boys will dig deep lyrically, this is rock and roll, after all. What the song does have is the sing-a-long chorus that would become a staple of their oeuvre:
Oh no no never thought I’d feel so low
You got me runnin’, you got me runnin’
But I ain’t gonna hide
And yesterday everything seemed okay
Yeah you better run and hideaway
Oh you better hide
It’s that sing-a-long chorus they would perfect with “Photograph” from Pyromania and fortify with “Pour Some Sugar on Me” off of Hysteria — songs that remain staples of their live set and crowd favorites.
On the two songs that close out this album, it’s on “Mirror Mirror (Look Into My Eyes” and “No No No” that you can hear two things. One, the guitar playing of Steve Clark and Pete Willis does resemble some of the playing that is associated with the “new wave of British heavy metal” — a treble-heavy sound with fast finger play.
And two, the sound how Lange recorded the band, specifically the vocals. Joe Elliot’s almost scream-like singing begins to take center stage here while both of these songs proudly proclaim the sound the group would adopt for their next album, Pyromania.
Def Leppard took High’ n’ Dry on the road opening for Ozzy Osbourne and, oddly, Blackfoot — a band from Lynyrd Skynyrd’s Jacksonville, Florida that was attempting to straddle the fence between Southern Rock and Heavy Metal.
High’ n’ Dry did get a second life after the phenomenal success of Pyromania. It was re-issued in 1984 with two bonus tracks — a remixed “Bringin’ On The Heartbreak,” which ONLY adds keyboards (seriously), apparently played by a cat (it’s ridiculous to call it a remix). And “Me and My Wine,” which was a b-side from 1981 (and yet somehow “High’ n’ Dry” made “The Filthy 15).”
CRITICS:
In 2009, SputnikMusic reviewer DaveyBoy said: “Def Leppard is clearly a more confident outfit here, and with help from new producer “Mutt” Lange, they allow their compositions to include greater scope in order for the band to find their sound. While this does result in some misses, they are never too far off target and are more than made up for by the album’s highlights which have aged extremely well.”
Steve Huey from AllMusic wrote: “Def Leppard’s second album, High’ N’ Dry, continues in the vein of the anthemic, working-class hard rock of their debut. While still opting for a controlled musical attack and melodies as big-sounding and stadium-ready as possible, the band opens up its arrangements a bit more on High’ N’ Dry, letting the songs breathe and groove while the rhythm section and guitar riffs play off one another.”
By the spring of 1983, Def Leppard was well on their way to becoming the biggest band in the world. The video for “Photograph” would usurp Michael Jackson’s “Beat It” as the most requested video on MTV, and Pyromania was held out of the top spot on Billboard Album Chart by Jackson’s Thriller.
The work they did with On Through the Night led to their connection to Robert John “Mutt” Lange, which led to feeling each other out and solidifying a sound with High’ n’ Dry and then to a very fruitful partnership with the monster albums Pyromania and Hysteria.
All said, High’ n’ Dry is often overlooked, but it’s here that you begin to hear Def Leppard coalesce behind a sound. A sound that would, in turn, make them one of the biggest rock and roll bands of all time.