Tracklist front / back album covers
Side one
1. "Rock Brigade" 3:09
2. "Hello America" 3:27
3. "Sorrow Is a Woman" 3:54
4. "It Could Be You" 2:33
5. "Satellite" 4:28
6. "When the Walls Came Tumbling Down" 4:44
Side two
7. "Wasted" 3:45
8. "Rocks Off" 3:42
9. "It Don't Matter" 3:21
10. "Answer to the Master" 3:13
11. "Overture" 7:44
Def Leppard Band Members / Musicians
Joe Elliott – lead vocals, backing vocals
Steve Clark – lead and rhythm guitars, backing vocals
Pete Willis – lead and rhythm guitars, backing vocals
Rick Savage – bass guitar, backing vocals
Rick Allen – drums, backing vocals
Chris M. Hughes – synthesiser on "Hello America"
Dave Cousins – voice on "When the Walls Came Tumblin' Down"
(Colonel) Tom Allom – producer
Louis "Snook" Austin – engineer
Dick Plant – engineer
Alan Schmidt – artwork
On Through the Night is the debut studio album by the English rock band Def Leppard, released on 14 March 1980. The album was produced by Tom Allom. It charted at No. 15 on the UK Albums Chart and No. 51 on the Billboard 200. The album features re-recorded versions of "Rocks Off" and "Overture", tracks from the band's original independently released EP, The Def Leppard E.P.. Other tracks are re-recorded versions of early demos, some of which later appeared on the 2020 box set The Early Years 79–81. The album was certified gold by the RIAA on 18 November 1983 and platinum on 9 May 1989.
"Wasted", "Hello America" and "Rock Brigade" were released as singles. However, the version of "Wasted" that appears on the single is a different recording from that of the LP, as is its B-side, "Hello America".
The spoken word intro to "When the Walls Came Tumbling Down" was performed by Dave Cousins of Strawbs. Joe Elliott had done the spoken portion in earlier live performances and demo recordings that showed up on some early bootlegs. In his biography, Cousins claims that he did his best Laurence Olivier impersonation for the song's intro.
Def Leppard are an English rock band formed in 1977 in Sheffield. Since 1992, the band has consisted of Joe Elliott (lead vocals), Rick Savage (bass, backing vocals), Rick Allen (drums, backing vocals), Phil Collen (guitars, backing vocals), and Vivian Campbell (guitars, backing vocals). They established themselves as part of the new wave of British heavy metal movement of the early 1980s.
The band's greatest commercial success came between the early 1980s and the early 1990s. Their first album, 1980's On Through the Night, reached the Top 15 in the UK but received little notice elsewhere. Their second album, 1981's High 'n' Dry, was produced by Mutt Lange, who helped them begin to define their melodic, hard rock style, and the album's most popular track "Bringin' On the Heartbreak" became one of the first rock videos played on MTV in 1982, but the album only reached the Top 30 and 40 in the UK and US. Def Leppard's next studio album, Pyromania, was released in January 1983, with "Photograph" and "Rock of Ages" both topping the US Rock Tracks chart and reaching the Top 20 of the Hot 100. Reaching No. 2 on the US album chart, Pyromania was certified Diamond in the US and 7× platinum in Canada and reached the Top 20 in the UK but did not sell much elsewhere.
Def Leppard Band Members / Musicians
Joe Elliott: lead vocals, occasional rhythm guitar, keyboards, piano (1977–present)
Rick Savage: bass guitar, keyboards, backing vocals (1977–present)
Rick Allen: drums, percussion, backing vocals (1978–present)
Phil Collen: guitars, backing vocals (1982–present)
Vivian Campbell: guitars, backing vocals (1992–present)
Tony Kenning: drums (1977–1978)
Pete Willis: guitars, backing vocals (1977–1982)
Steve Clark: guitars, backing vocals (1978–1991; his death)
Def Leppard Discography Full
Studio albums
1980 On Through the Night
1981 High 'n' Dry
1983 Pyromania
1987 Hysteria
1992 Adrenalize
1996 Slang
1999 Euphoria
2002 X
2006 Yeah!
2008 Songs from the Sparkle Lounge
2015 Def Leppard
2022 Diamond Star Halos
Compilation albums
1993 Retro Active
1995 Vault: Def Leppard Greatest Hits (1980–1995)
2004 Best of Def Leppard
2005 Rock of Ages: The Definitive Collection
2018 The Story So Far – The Best Of
Live albums
2011 Mirror Ball – Live & More
2013 Viva! Hysteria
2017 And There Will Be a Next Time... Live from Detroit
2020 London to Vegas
