Battle of the bands Round #4 Y&T vs Def Leppard

Who wins this battle of the bands

  • Y & T

    Votes: 9 42.9%

  • Def Leppard

    Votes: 12 57.1%
  • Total voters
    21
TVvoodoo

TVvoodoo

Ambassador of The Comfortably Slung
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Poor Sebastian. He has plenty more pout fuel now. Maybe he'll use a pair of forks on his eyes or something.
By unanimous vote (is this a history in the making on TTR perhaps?)
Round three Match goes to Scorpions!

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Next up... I actually owned albums by both of these crews and listend to them quite a bit in the 80's
Dave Meniketti and his very sullen, grim looking band Y&T

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VS Def Leppard, who seem kind of happy-go-lucky here, but at this point not really aware of what's to come, both very good, and very, very bad.

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Could be another David vs Goliath situation.


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Whelp, this one is tougher than it should be...
The first two DL albums are utterly brilliant, but after that they became fully Mutt Lange-ified sissy pop (and I think booting Pete Willis castrated the band).
Y&T never wavered from being a rock band, up to today, even if they never had an individual album quite as strong as High 'n' Dry.

Thinking it through, gotta go Y&T for the overall body of work and always staying true to the hard rock ethos that DL gave up on.
 
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This isn’t as clear cut as the last round.

Def Leppard had more popular success, especially with the female crowd. High and Dry was a great album. Pyromania was good. Hysteria was was ok and I think that’s when they lost me.
Y&T also have a good dozen albums and never wavered from their roots.

While Def Leppard was popular with the girls. Only one band sung about Summertime Girls.

Y&T takes this one for staying true to their rockin roots.
 
This is a tougher match than the last.

On one hand you have a titan in Def Leppard, who's album sales reflect how massive they were. And with Mutt Lange, they were unstoppable. They pretty much ruled 80s radio and MTV. BUT! The fire in them died after Pyromania, despite achieving even bigger success on Hysteria. The grittiness was entirely gone and replaced by pure pop, with no real heart

Then on the flip side, you have Y&T who remained hard rock/classic metal throughout the majority of their career UNTIL Down For the Count, which lead them into a 3 album span of glam and pop.

So both bands deviated from their roots for success. The question is: who was more egregious about it? The answer to that HAS to be Def Leppard, because they never returned to their roots after Pyromania, where as Y&T DID abandon the pop/glam for their classic sound again.

So despite success? I'm going with Y&T for the upset

Though I should mention that Def Leppard's first two albums? Not only were they hard rock but they were part of the NWOBHM, alongside Maiden and were RAW! Had they kept that sound? This would be a no brainer over Y&T
 
Clockworkmike said:
This is a tougher match than the last.

On one hand you have a titan in Def Leppard, who's album sales reflect how massive they were. And with Mutt Lange, they were unstoppable. They pretty much ruled 80s radio and MTV. BUT! The fire in them died after Pyromania, despite achieving even bigger success on Hysteria. The grittiness was entirely gone and replaced by pure pop, with no real heart

Then on the flip side, you have Y&T who remained hard rock/classic metal throughout the majority of their career UNTIL Down For the Count, which lead them into a 3 album span of glam and pop.

So both bands deviated from their roots for success. The question is: who was more egregious about it? The answer to that HAS to be Def Leppard, because they never returned to their roots after Pyromania, where as Y&T DID abandon the pop/glam for their classic sound again.

So despite success? I'm going with Y&T for the upset

Though I should mention that Def Leppard's first two albums? Not only were they hard rock but they were part of the NWOBHM, alongside Maiden and were RAW! Had they kept that sound? This would be a no brainer over Y&T
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This round was a tough decision for sure.
 
Looks like I've got a tie to break. :unsure:

There is no riff-ster like Steve Clark and Def Leppard has not had one riff based song since he's been gone. They only cycle diatonic chord progressions now, and the songs are mostly ballads. I've always wondered why Gibson never has done a Steve Clark white Les Paul Signature model. Joe's voice is near hypnotic it's timbre is so unique and kick ass sounding. High-n-Dry is a masterpiece, Pyromania is a gem, and Hysteria was smash as probably one of the greatest albums released although it does have some real bummer fillers on it. It was no High-n-Dry for sure in that sense.

I saw them in '83 for my first concert. They had tons of energy and the fans were just mesmerized. I just remember everyone being so captivated the whole time. I even got one of those British flag sleeveless shirts that Joe wore at the show and that was real popular at the time.

I can't remember the name of it, but Y&T had a pretty big hit that I liked. Ok, done with Y&T. Lol. ..They're cool and I know they have a lot of street cred and history, but they are just not part of my upbringing like DL was. This being the case I have to go with DL by quite far.

I have to say though that DL began to get a bit too vaginal and it does make feel a little sissy for vouching for them. I do have to blame them for this part as a fault.
 
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Sapient said:
Looks like I've got a tie to break. :unsure:

There is no riff-ster like Steve Clark and Def Leppard has not had one riff based song since he's been gone. They only cycle diatonic chord progressions now, and the songs are mostly ballads. I've always wondered why Gibson never has done a Steve Clark white Les Paul Signature model. Joe's voice is near hypnotic it's timbre is so unique and kick ass sounding. High-n-Dry is a masterpiece, Pyromania is a gem, and Hysteria was smash as probably one of the greatest albums released although it does have some real bummer fillers on it. It was no High-n-Dry for sure in that sense.

I saw them in '83 for my first concert. They had tons of energy and the fans were just mesmerized. I just remember everyone being so captivated the whole time. I even got one of those British flag sleeveless shirts that Joe wore at the show and that was real popular at the time.

I can't remember the name of it, but Y&T had a pretty big hit that I liked. Ok, done with Y&T. Lol. ..They're cool and I know they have a lot of street cred and history, but they are just not part of my upbringing like DL was. This being the case I have to go with DL by quite far.

I have to say though that DL began to get a bit too vaginal and it does make feel a little sissy for vouching for them. I do have to blame them for this part as a fault.
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Got to see Def Leppard twice when Pete Willis was still in the band, first time was very early on and they were basically teenagers/early 20s. They were amazing; At that point I had never seen a band with such energy or that sounded so ferocious live (Opening for Ozzy, with Randy no less).

Those first two albums were just so good, so raw,but have to admit it went off the rails for me with Pyromania. It just sounded like they decided to embrace their softer side and from that point on every album was too gentle, too pop, and waaay overproduced.
 
gball said:
Got to see Def Leppard twice when Pete Willis was still in the band, first time was very early on and they were basically teenagers/early 20s. They were amazing; At that point I had never seen a band with such energy or that sounded so ferocious live (Opening for Ozzy, with Randy no less).

Those first two albums were just so good, so raw,but have to admit it went off the rails for me with Pyromania. It just sounded like they decided to embrace their softer side and from that point on every album was too gentle, too pop, and waaay overproduced.
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Yea, the early stuff was fierce although I thought On through the Night was a little soft in Joe's department. "Hello America" was kinda comical as well. If you listen to Hysteria critically it's a real Sargent Pepper LP in their writing with key changes and creative sort of interrupts and lead-ins and outs inside of the songs. They were actually quite creative and musically skillful. They were a better "looking" band and often the chicks eventually come along as a result and spoil the sanctity of the band by coming and going. That is for sure as it leaves an effect on the band's overall image. I really think they were just Fk'd with the loss of Steve. After that, yea I completely agree with you. I also think they had to further a more produced sound due to Rick Allen. There would have just been no other way.
 
In some ways I feel Def leppard deserves credit for overcoming some major personell issues, and for evolving/longevity. But yeah Def Lep gradually morphed into a weaker brit bon jovi, relying on slicker production, rather than pure rock testosterone, (not always a plus). I too ADORE, High 'n Dry... also purchased the next two as well.

I only had one Y&T cassette, 1984's In Rock We Trust which is apparently not even close to their best record according to a quick search. I went through a bunch of Y&T stuff last night in an effort to make a more educated vote.

Meniketti sang AND played most guitars, quite a feat. Generally rocks harder but what heard seemed just as formulaic as Def Leppard, but in their own slightly grittier way.

Way closer in my mind than it should have been, but I have to give the edge to the brits here... this shouldn't be based on airplay, but for possibly being "The" band for that pushed past the radio play gatekeepers with "photograph" and possibly the biggest impetus ushering in a mainstream resurgence of hard rock back in 1983. so my thanks for that is my vote here. I don't think I ever heard Y&T on the radio once, except when I played it myself when I was a volunteer morning man DJ for a local AM station for a half a year in '87... I spun heavier stuff like that all the time, management didn't like it much but nobody else was contesting me for the 5:00 to 9:00 AM slot LOL! "Rock Outta bed with Brad on the right side of your dial...1450 CHCL!

Def just couldn't really maintain much as far as heavy rock cred afterwards.
But sure filled a LOT of seats for decades, coasting on the past. My poor 1st LP copy of Pyromania came with me to a house party. The next day I go out to my car to see I had placed it on the window deck behind the back seat of my first car, a rusted-out AMC Hornet. It had sat in the sun for a few hours, warped so bad it was completely unplayable. Bought my second copy that same week. I loved Foolin' so much.

For me to buy the same record twice as a young fella? Gotta vote Def
 
I also really appreciate what you guys are bringing to these "Battle of the Bands" threads... going back in time and relistening and revealing your personal experiences is super fun. Learning a lot too.

When this is done, I wouldn't mind doing a 1990's version, but for that decade I was kind of tuned out of hard rock, and exploring other genres... so all I would know about is the very limiting factor of rock radio, because the jazz, acid jazz and madchester stuff I got into wasn't being broadcast much at the time.
When this is done, maybe we agree on a list of bands for the 1990's and continue on?
 
Sapient said:
Yea, the early stuff was fierce although I thought On through the Night was a little soft in Joe's department. "Hello America" was kinda comical as well. If you listen to Hysteria critically it's a real Sargent Pepper LP in their writing with key changes and creative sort of interrupts and lead-ins and outs inside of the songs. They were actually quite creative and musically skillful. They were a better "looking" band and often the chicks eventually come along as a result and spoil the sanctity of the band by coming and going. That is for sure as it leaves an effect on the band's overall image. I really think they were just Fk'd with the loss of Steve. After that, yea I completely agree with you. I also think they had to further a more produced sound due to Rick Allen. There would have just been no other way.
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The drums were done with plugins on that album in studio production.

I should have added it is a very talented work for them albeit far removed from their early years.
 
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