Yeah! is what a cover album should be. Not simply songs that were once popular and then redone note for note by a new band. Def Leppard reconstructs to what American ears might be obscure songs. These are songs that were instrumental (pun intended) in forming the band's taste in music in the 1970's. Either listeners will buy into the concept that these are song Def Leppard liked and wanted to do or they will complain that they didn't cover obvious songs or just retread one fo their old albums.

The end result is a solid album, frankly one of the best they have done for a long while. Perhaps it is because they could "be someone else" rather than the particularly contrived X album which was more of an unintended self-parody.

Yeah! is a great album for not only Def Leppard fans, but fans of the 1970's UK rock scene.

I've never completely understood why classic-rock artists with catalogs as deep as Styx and Toto feel compelled to record an album of covers. But among the latest bands to pay tribute to their musical influences is Def Leppard, and Yeah! actually makes far more sense than either Styx's Big Bang Theory or Toto's Through the Looking Glass. In fact, it's easy to hear Def Leppard's roots in these 14 British pop-rock songs from the early and mid-1970s - including fully Leppard-ized versions of the Kinks' "Waterloo Sunset," T. Rex's "20th Century Boy," David Essex's "Rock On," the Faces' "Stay With Me," Free's "Little Bit of Love" and Sweet's "Hell Raiser." The members of Def Leppard have always proclaimed their debt to that glam-slammed era, and not a single one of their choices sounds out of place here. It's just too bad they didn't do even more with ELO's "10538 Overture" and Badfinger's "No Matter What." Notably absent is anything by Queen.

Despite the limitations of recording a covers album - the band has to remain at least somewhat true to the originals to make its point - these songs are a natural fit, and Yeah! comes off sounding almost like a traditional Def Leppard album which evey they were having trouble producing. Of course, by the time this thing played out, I was ready to slap on High 'N' Dry, Pyromania or Hysteria. Don't get me wrong: This is a fitting tribute to the artists who inspired Def Leppard to become Def Leppard. But the band's own distinct brand of music speaks for itself -- and, in turn, has influenced countless other artists so much that a Def Leppard cover will one day belong on some other band's own version of Yeah!.

In the old days, when a band didn't quite know what to do next they'd quickly release either a live set or a best-of. Today you can add "covers" albums as a stall-for-time messure. We've already seen this from Guns n Pousers, Ramones, Slayer, Metallica, Ozzy (the less said of his the better!), Helloween and Rush (although their's was just an EP). Now from Leppard.
Not that this is a bad album, mind you. Their takes of the Nerves/Blondie's "hanging on the telephone" and T Rex' "20th Century boy" are highlights. And hats off to them for putting a few forgotten hits back on the map- Sweet's "hell raiser". (They could have done withOUT the neo-techno version of David Essex' "rock on", though.) And this CD has the most enthusiasm they've had since the 80s. It's just too bad the didn't use this energy and enthusiam on new original material.

The words "cover album" are usually enough to make fans tremble with trepidation over what kind of record is going to hit the streets. Def Leppard's 12th studio album Yeah!, is a record of covers from 70's and 80's bands like The Faces, T. Rex, Badfinger, Roxy Music, and The Kinks. There is no new Leppard music here, but they have done justice to their stated goal, which was to record an album as a tribute to the bands that inspired and influenced them. Yeah! is a decent album that contains some solid covers and some clunkers, but overall is enjoyable as hell and worth a listen.

There are some winning tracks on this album. An energetic version of T. Rex's classic 20th Century Boy kicks off the record with a life reminiscent of the original. Little Bit of Love and The Golden Age of Rock and Roll's layered choruses and strong guitars sound like classic Leppard, and Roxy Music's Street Life gets a nice treatment. Hanging on the Telephone has a good pulsing energy to it, and The Kinks' Waterloo Sunset is a ear pleasing song. Thin Lizzy's Don't Believe a Word is one of the best tracks with a guitar sounds straight from the 70's, and Phil Collen brilliantly channels Rod Stewart's throaty vocal on the great Faces' tune Stay With Me, featuring some amazing slide guitar. Street Life also has a nice classic feel to it, and goes down fairly smooth.

The record hits the proverbial wall with covers of Bowie's Drive-In Saturday and Electric Light Orchestra's 10538 Overture. These odd song choices are too spacey and experimental to make the transition to Def Leppard's sound. Give them credit for trying it, but it plain doesn't work. David Essex's Rock On sounds as if it was recorded on heavy doses of Ambien and rum and Sweet's Hell Raiser tries to rock and only partly succeeds. (note that Motley Crue basically lifted the opening riff of this song for Dr.Feelgood) No Matter What sounds like an local bar cover band version.

Overall this album bats well over .500. It contains some great songs but is hampered by a somewhat poor track listing and some strange song choices that prevent any coherent vibe from forming. One fast paced, rocking track is followed by a slow tempo snoozer, and it proves to be a somewhat frustrating pattern. The classic rock tracks sound pretty darn good, bringing back memories of both classic Leppard and the original bands like Thin Lizzy in their heydays. The more experimental sounds of ELO and Bowie may have influenced the band in their youth, but perhaps should have stayed there. Huge Leppard fans will enjoy most of it, and new fans will catch a few of the better songs, but this is an album much better as selectively downloaded singles vs a complete album. Recommended.

A.G. Corwin
St.Louis MO

Def Leppard always was sort of a glam rock band. Lyrics and videos for "Armageddon It", "RockIt", "Photograph", and other hit tunes were full of glam references. So, it's no big surprise that they've done a cover-album full of 1970s glam and hard rock.

The resulting album is a great rock & roll record -- Def Leppard's best album since Hysteria. Most cover albums get bogged down in reverence or ambition: artists either give listeners interpretations that are straight copies or ridiculous reinterpretations as they try to make a favorite song their own. Here, Def Leppard alternate between fairly faithful renditions of familiar classics like T. Rex's "20th Century Boy," Badfinger's "No Matter What," or Rod Stewart's "Stay With Me", and some rocked out re-makes like David Essex's "Rock On," which is a more straighforwared power-rock song than the original, and Electric Light Orchestra's psychedelic "10538 Overture," is re-done to sound like a Def-Leppard power-metal original song. The reworking of THE KINKS' "Waterloo Sunset," will probably anger KINKS purists, but then so did VAN HALEN's version of "You Really Got Me".

With Yeah!, Def Leppard is reconnecting with the reason why they're a band at all, playing the rock-songs that inspired them in the first place. They sound like they've been reinvigorated by this material. After hearing these songs, it's easier to appreciate what made Def Leppard themselves such a big-name rock band. They had deep roots in good original material.

The only place they fall short is when they try to top some real rock heavyweights. Compare their versions of FREE's "A Little Bit of Love" or THIN LIZZY's "Don't Believe a Word" to the originals. These guys are not as big-and-bluesy as FREE, but the huge riff that drives the song is clearly part of what became Def Leppard's signature sound. THIN LIZZY's "Don't Believe a Word" works much better, and like the original, it's built on twin guitar harmonies. But THIN LIZZY's own version on 'Live And Dangerous' still remains the song's definitive recorded version.

But the slip on the mega heavy tunes is quickly forgotten on songs like "No matter What" (BadFinger) and "Street Life" (Roxy Music), both of which actually sound better than the originals here.

The raw take on the Faces' "Stay with Me" is far tighter than the original (how could it not be?), but it's just as raunchy and captivating. It's sung by guitarist Phil Collen, whose vocal qualities are a lot like a young, energetic Rocking Rod Stewart. Stewart himself could probably not equal Def Leppard's performance of the song today.

They didn't lose their identity -- still sound like Def Leppard here; the cavernous drums, huge guitars, and driving harmonies -- but they no longer sound slick and calculated (like they did on post-Hysteria albums). Here they sound alive and intense, making the case that they are their own best producers. If they can carry this sound and feel onto an album of originals, they have one truly great record in the making.

YEAH!. Is a killer record in its own right, and more fun than anything else yet released in 2006. Very few bands could make an artistic comeback with a covers album. But this CD reminds everyone that there are very few bands like Def Leppard.

OVERALL RATING: 9/10 (4.5 stars)