It was a natural progression from Pyromania, just not in a direction I enjoyed.

And I bet I'm less metal than you MimV; after all, you have metal in your veins. I have sleaze in mine.

The booklet on the Rock Of Ages:Best Of Collections tells some interesting details on Hysteria, Pour Some Sugar On Me apparently came about one day when the band were just messing around on they're instruments, Mutt Lange liked what he heard and convinced the band to stop working on they're current song, and had he had them come up with Pour Some Sugar On Me, so that song was more or less a complete accident.

Anyways Hysteria was my first exposure to Leppard, so I have a certain fondness for it, Gods Of War and Run Riot are two of the bands most underrated songs, while I would definitely not be caught dead singing Pour Some Sugar On Me, it's still pretty damn catchy(plus it was used for a great dancing sequence in the movie Coyote Ugly) as is Excitable. Animal was the first Lep song i ever heard, and was what ultiamtely convinced me to check out the bands discography. Don't get me wrong, I love On Through The Night as well, but I'm not bitter about the band selling out.

I think I actually like Slang better than Hysteria.

The only tune I truly love on "X" is Scar. It's a gem! The only other song I can stand is Now, and the rest suck balls.

I wonder if the album would have had a different sound if rick allen hadnt lost his arm in that tragic accident. For one, without the accident they likely would have began recording in 1985 (for a late 85-early 86 release) when studio trickery wasnt THAT advanced as of yet, and secondly, the synthesized drum sound wouldnt really be neccesary as he had both arms. Interesting thing to think about.

He was never a great drummer, so I doubt much would have changed. Of course, Hysteria wouldn't exist if he hadn't lost his arm.

I got laid for the first time to the song Hysteria so that song resonated with me for that reason alone.

Otherwise, it, along with Rocket are the only songs I like from that album. It's a great example of a record that spent too much time in the pipes being overproduced to the point where it sounds like smurf poo and the songs were restructured and rewritten so many times that they lost their feeling.

If I want Def Leppard, I still reach for On Through The Night, High 'N Dry, and Pyromania.

Another interesting fact, originally Jim Steinman (producer of Bat Out of Hell by Meat Loaf) was the original producer, but they didnt mesh together. I wonder if any rehearsal material from those sessions still exist.

Re-listening to the album, and i wonder if Gods of War was written during the steinman sessions as its got that Jim Steinman "feel" to it, even if mutt rearranged it.

Hysteria is one of my all time favorite Def Leppard albums