Def Leppard - Historia / In the Round, In Your Face (2001)

Getting to know Def Leppard

Having been someone who listened to The Pretenders, The Clash, English Beat, Elvis Costello, Joe Jackson, XTC etc... at the time Def Leppard came onto the scene. I really never paid them much attention. But they were there, on MTV and could not be ignored, more than I realized. This movie helped me get to know a band I never thought I cared about, and made me care. I gained respect for them because of their musical and personal journeys. And most importantly they stood by Rick, which says a lot about them as people. The acting and script were good. The story ends before their current guitar player, Vivian joined the band. October 12, 2008

Classic Def Leppard on video

Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R3HLUCE27E70JL Def Leppard's "Historia/In the Round in Your Face" DVD is a satisfying combination of no less than 18 of the band's classic early videos, start-to-finish concert footage from 1988 that takes place in two arenas (in Denver and Atlanta), and bonus material that includes later videos such as "Slang," an interview with the band, and a discography section that covers Lep's CDs up to 1999's Euphoria.

The "Historia" videos run the gamut from 1980's "Hello America" to the band's No. 1 hit "Love Bites" from 1988. Between videos is a recap of Leppard's career at various stages, creatively enhanced by ragtime piano heard on a scratchy record and words across a scratchy brown screen meant to imitate a silent movie. As for the videos, it's cool to watch the band in all its youthful enthusiasm on such great early songs like "Let it Go," "Foolin'" and "Women." Def Leppard have always been an exciting band to watch live, whether on a normal stage or "in the round," and some of the band's videos by the Pyromania era bordered on cutting edge for the time period. These days, it might be easy to smirk a little at some of the over-the-top lip-syncing performances that Def Leppard employed in videos such as "Photograph," "Foolin'" and "Rock of Ages, but, put in a historical context, those clips portrayed Leppard as a force to be reckoned with and really paved the way for future heavy metal video performances by lesser bands. From "Hello America" to "Pour Some Sugar on Me," it's interesting to see how massively Leppard progressed in terms of its musical direction and the depth of its stage performance. The band's tendency toward darker-themed videos -- whether set in Victorian times with owls and women in cages or with flashing lights abounding and skulls in the background -- ironically set the stage for what would be a morbid period later on, when drummer Rick Allen lost his left arm in a car crash.

Undoubtedly, the best video Leppard ever put out was "Me and My Wine" from 1984. This was in the days when everyone in the band wholeheartedly indulged in crazy extracurricular activities, and boy does it show in this clip, where everyone looks severely (but happily) strung out. Filmed in "Paddy Freeny's mother's house" and in homage to Britain's great television series "The Young Ones," this video truly captures the band at a refreshingly raw and wild period that it never really returned to in such an unbridled fashion. Plus the video is just hilarious...watch it and see. Viewing Leppard's much slicker videos later on, you wonder a bit where the spontaneous atmosphere went.

The highpoint of this DVD, however, is not the band's videos but the live performance it puts on in "In the Round..." This portion of the DVD leads off with a frantic trip around the arena (mostly in black and white footage) as the crowd files in and the stage is being set up earlier on, all to the rhythmic, mesmerizing beat of "Rocket." The band looks excitable before the show (no pun intended), and the arena-sized crowd is pumped to the gills. This was back in the days when rock bands truly were larger than life, thanks in part to MTV, and if you're a fan of Def Leppard, then the hyped lead-up to the performance is pretty magical. As the band waits behind a massive Hysteria-sewn curtain in preparation for "Stagefright," the leadoff song of the night, Clint Eastwood's famous "do you feel lucky" dialogue infiltrates the arena in a foreboding way, revving the crowd up more. Once the curtain drops, the band doesn't let up for one moment, running around the colorful stage as if its collective life depended on it. Fourteen songs, practically all of them well-known hits, rockers and ballads, keep the audience entertained throughout the duration. A highlight for me is the guitar intro to "Gods of War," performed by the late great Steve Clark. Following the "nuclear war" outro of that song is "Die Hard the Hunter," and to see the stage go dark and Rick Allen looking up toward the heavens between songs is priceless. To me, it's the apex of the concert.

After all this video and live-performance mayhem, the bonus material is a bit of a letdown. Sure, videos like "Promises," "Slang" and "Work it Out" are good songs inside of glossy, high-tech video productions, but somehow none of it matches the earlier footage that was so invigorating. Interestingly, the sappy ballad "Goodbye" is somehow enhanced a bit by the equally corny video.

Though duller than the multiple videos and live mayhem onstage, the band interview is also kind of cool to watch. The guys talk about playing live in the round, making videos (including "Me and My Wine") and staying musically current. Just as they are on stage, the guys seem enthusiastic and still glad to be a band. If you like Def Leppard's music, this DVD is a must-have. November 25, 2007

dilectable double

Combining two earlier VHS release Def Leppard have put together a very good package here as it represents real value for money for the person wanting to replace those old worn out videos. The two VHS releases put into this package are the band rockumentary/history lesson release Historia which includes 18 video clips from the bands earliest full length through to the mega hit from their Hysteria album, Love Bites.

As a collection on it's own I'd give Historia four stars, easily. The band gloss over nothing, showing the dodgy videos in their past (Hello America) but also some darn fine riff heavy rockers like Let It Go and High `n' Dry and the slow morphing into a different style of band with the Pyromania release and thence onto the polished leviathan that was the Hysteria era product. And I really have to give a special shout out to the Me and My Wine clip inspired by the hit British comedy series The Young Ones. Regardless of what era of the band or what your personal faves are the Historia collection is an excellent idea and well thought out.

As for In The Round In Your Face - the almost inevitable live documentation of the Hysteria tour - this on it's own would probably rate around 3.5 stars depending on your mood or preferred era of this long serving band. At fourteen songs long the quality is there - I mean I own Gamma Ray DVD's transferred over from prior VHS releases and the darn things total 55 minutes and that includes interview snippets! The set leans heavily on Hysteria and Pyromania songs which makes perfect sense and the show is as polished as you'd expect. It may lack somewhat in spontaneity and heads down grit but the thing is well produced and looks very crisp.

But what also helps this release to hit the heights of five stars is the bonus material on hand. Going along with the theme of collecting a bunch of their stuff together, we get videos for some of their later singles such as Slang and All I Want Is Everything, five videos in total and as the band point out in the interview also included in the special features, this is perhaps the first time some people got to see these videos given how grunge killed MTV's desire to cover any other genre of hard rock and metal. Lastly a discography up to the time of release is included. The only possible downside I can see to any of this material is that some of the videos would certainly be available on some of the other DVD releases this band has put out in the ensuing years.

Regardless, for any Def Leppard fan, even only casual fans who just liked the radio hits, this is a very good buy. It not only gathers up two older VHS releases in one convenient format but it also has worthwhile extras. And a menu that's easy to navigate doesn't hurt either. Recommended rock music. November 17, 2007

Def Leppard Rocks In This Exciting Concert Movie

Def Leppard are recorded live on video for the first time from their 1987-88 in-the-round concert tour supporting the release of their long-awaited Hysteria album. The concert is filmed on location from McNichols Arena in Denver, Colorado with additional footage from The Omni Coliseum in Atlanta, Georgia. If you've never seen Def Leppard in concert, I strongly urge you to purchase this video as it captures the band performing all their hits from Hysteria, Pyromania, and High 'N' Dry. This is Def Leppard at their best performing to an audience of mostly teenage girls. Their performances are energetic and entertaining and never slow down or get boring. They really know how to rock like nobody's business. So if you currently don't own this video, buy it today and enjoy Sheffield, England's finest band rock the house. September 17, 2007

A good value for quality music.

I have been a fan of Def Leppard from way back. This DVD is a good value
for the money because you are getting the equivalent of two complete
concerts for the money paid. Sound quality is excellent. I was very happy
with this purchase and applaud Def Leppard for producing this DVD. It is
a major relief from the rip-offs that a lot of the people in the music
business try to pull off. July 11, 2007

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