Def Leppard‘s “Pyromania” became a genuine phenomenon in 1983 when it sold a staggering 10 million copies in the United States alone. Guitarist Phil Collen and bassist Rick Savage spoke to Rock Candy magazine editor Howard Johnson at length about the long and arduous process of making this masterpiece.
“Our producer Mutt Lange said to me, ‘Yeah, you’re a good rock band. But if you want to be great…” says Collen. Leppard spent the best part of the year of 1982 painstakingly crafting the songs for “Pyromania”.
“We knew this project was going to be a long haul because we were aiming to expand riff ideas into songs that transcended the metal fraternity,” explains Savage.
“I remember someone from the record company asking Mutt why the album was taking so long,” recalls Collen. “He said, ‘So you’ll be talking about it in 40 years’ time.’ He wasn’t wrong.”
“You never really know how well an album is going to do,” says Savage. “But I was 100 percent confident we’d made the right record.”
Over 10 pages, Rock Candy‘s issue 44 uncovers the full story behind the making of “Pyromania” with a level of detail that will thrill fans of the band and give all readers an unprecedented view of a bona fide rock classic.
Rock Candy is a 100-page, full-color bi-monthly rock magazine, created in the U.K. It covers the sights, sounds, and smells from the greatest era in hard rock music, the ’70s and ’80s. The brainchild of respected U.K. rock journalists Derek Oliver, Howard Johnson, and Malcolm Dome — all frontline writers for the legendary Kerrang! magazine in the golden era.
