On Through the Night

Band	Def Leppard
Type	Album (Studio full-length)
Released	March 14, 1980
Genres	Hard Rock, NWOBHM
Labels	Mercury Records
Length	43:48
Ranked	#26 for 1980 , #6,727 all-time

Reviews : 2
Comments : 9

Total votes : 11
Rating : 77.8 / 100

Have : 19 Want : 1

Added by

Eagles

Last modified by

Eagles

Album Photos (12)

Def Leppard - On Through the Night CD Photo by metalnrock

Def Leppard - On Through the Night CD Photo by 꽁우

Def Leppard - On Through the Night CD Photo by melodic

Def Leppard - On Through the Night Cassette Photo by 꽁우

Def Leppard - On Through the Night Vinyl Photo by 꽁우

On Through the Night Information

Track listing (Songs)

	title		rating	votes
1.	Rock Brigade	3:09	91	5
2.	Hello America	3:27	88.3	3
3.	Sorrow Is a Woman	3:54	81.7	3
4.	It Could Be You	2:33	88.3	3
5.	Satellite	4:28	86.7	3
6.	When the Walls Came Tumbling Down	4:44	83.3	3
7.	Wasted	3:45	78.8	4
8.	Rocks Off	3:42	90	3
9.	It Don't Matter	3:21	88.3	3
10.	Answer to the Master	3:13	88.3	3
11.	Overture	7:44	95	3

[ Rating detail ]

Line-up (members)

Joe Elliott : Vocals
Pete Willis : Guitars
Steve Clark : Guitars
Rick Savage : Bass
Rick Allen : Drums

Certifications

United States (RIAA) Platinum 1,000,000

On Through the Night Lists

(1)

10 Most Notable Albums of 1980

mrblond

On Through the Night Reviews

(2)

Reviewer :

Ragnaröcker 40/100

Date : Aug 23, 2022

Straight off the cricket bat : the band disowns this album so by that virtue alone it’s one of their worst albums. But seriously, this is very much a curiosity in Metal music history – I suppose it’s still strictly a hard rock album, but Deaf Leopard never were all too certain about their own actual "metalness". By the time they’d actually realised how to write more than two good songs per record they’d all but ditched anything that could be considered "NWOBHM" for the frankly excellent AC/DC-derived hard rock of High N Dry. Then of course, they realised the fastest way out of Sheffield was via pop music and they actually were successful with that for a time being.

Deaf Leopard was technically one of the big bands to emerge from the "NWOBHM" movement – but the actual "NWOBHM" pedigree of this album is somewhat doubtful : metallic qualities aren’t really pronounced much outside of ‘Wasted’. Therefore we’d be best to compare this more to Demon than to Iron Maiden or Saxon… but that in itself would be a little silly (did I mention that Deaf Leopard are a massive anomaly in the "NWOBHM" movement?) So in all actuality – and probably much to Joe Elliot’s delight – this is very difficult to judge as a metal record, as it really isn’t.

Interestingly – or is that amusingly? – it’s clear that though born and raised in the same rock ’n’ roll slum as those around them in the NWOBHM movement, Deaf Leopard had their eyes very much set on pop stardom even in their earliest days. ‘Hello America’ is of course what I’m talking about – it somewhat infamously alienated them to the British music press, and though this in itself is something I wholehearted endorse (has anyone actually read Kerrang! magazine lately, sheesh!) I can’t say the same for the song. Unadulterated shite. In as blunt terms as I can possibly describe. Why is it that British bands so often fall into the trap of figuring the only way to crack the American market is to sing about the nation itself? I think the ‘Dumb American’ idea has been greatly overstressed. Let’s just spell this out to end a problem that was fairly rife about 20-30 years ago (I know, I’m really helping matters, right?): Americans (nor peoples of any other nation, for that matter) aren’t inherently thick – you don’t sell records over there simply by singing about their nation. “Hey, they’re singing about us! I’m going to buy four copies of On Through the Night!” Deaf Leopard, having never left their native Sheffield, obviously were misguided enough to believe this was the case and as such inflicted us with this downright awful pop-rock song. Leppard’s signature vocal harmonies rear their ugly head here adding to the overwhelming cheese factor, as do some skittering synthesisers that make me cringe like a parent who’s just dropped their precious infant into a scolding bath. Ouch, the NSPCC is going to hear about that one! As I’m still at the crossroads between adulthood and being legally classified as a child I’d like to do the same – but unfortunately, I paid for this record out of my own pocket and therefore I don’t think this would stand up in court. Surprisingly enough, Def Leppard got a foot in the door with the American market with ‘Bringing on the Heartbreak’, a predictable yet successful ballad. So, from that alone one could devise that improved song writing was the key to Leppard’s success (again it’s amusing that they soon forgot how to do that… and they say the only joke about Def Leppard is “what’s got 9 arms and sucks?”).

As for the rest well it’s generally a sort of UFO/Scorpions/Thin Lizzy derived hard rock with some frankly unwelcome quasi-progressive touches (see: the intro to ‘When the Walls Come Tumbling Down’). Song-craft is somewhat unsure but rather diverse as this Wounded Cougar really isn’t too sure at what they want to be yet. It would seem the rock world is all to keen to single out a band’s debut as their best; one only has to look at the world spate of unfocused, bumbling debuts to see that often this simply isn’t the case. The band wear their influences on their sleeves: the aforementioned three 70s hard rock bands rub shoulders with touches of AC/DC, T-Rex and even a bit of Killing Machine era Priest (or should that be Hell Bent For Leather? I mean I should be going for a bit of that ol’ ‘Hello America’ appeal myself, right?). Clichés are the order of the day. This is also true of the High N Dry record, but frankly though that was something of a clichéd hard rock record that wore its influences on its sleeve – it still has an undeniable charm to it and quite easily ranks as the band’s finest hour for me.

That said there are a couple of worthwhile moments present on this indecisive debut record. ‘Wasted’ is the band’s best claim to ever playing anything remotely metallic, and it’s not just that gives it its place as On Through the Night’s stellar track: it’s the only really track here that doesn’t leave something to be desired from. I love its lyrical ambiguity, too. Is the bottle of pills actually a bottle of pills? Or is it indeed a bottle of Pils (as in Holsten)? Something would reason me to believe that it could well be simple pilsner rather than any medication as the NHS had all but abandoned its hold on the South Yorkshire region given the ritual burning of those in the medical profession in and around 1978 due to a misunderstanding about the application of suppositories. Ahem, yes, but it’s one of Steve Clark’s best riffs and a hymn to getting hammered because there’s nothing better to do (which in this part of the world may well be the case, it's probably all these rolling hills and sheep). It’s a very weird song for Def Leppard and I suppose as good a reason as any to actually own this album. In contrast to a lot of the NWOBHM movements excitable, youthful vibrancy in, say, Diamond Head’s debut this is a NWOBHM anthem just a downtrodden one. It’s perhaps the most apt song the band’s early incarnation have ever written considering they lost both their guitarists to alcohol abuse (Pete Willis being fired for taking the rock ’n’ roll lifestyle a little too seriously and Steve Clark dying after years of excess). Opener ‘Rock Brigade’, too, proves its worth with a solidly stomping ode to, well, a rock brigade. That said, Joe Elliot doesn’t seems all too enthused by this song, and seems to have put more effort into his backing vocals than the lead. Point in case: “Oh no, it’s the rock brigade… ROCK BRIGADE! Oh no, it’s the rock brigade”. Could he be any more excited at the prospect of singing in a rock band? He makes Kevin Heybourne sound like Bruce Dickinson!

Overall, I’d say this is nothing truly of note considering the wealth of better NWOBHM or for that matter, just hard rock in the early 80s. Nothing truly of note here – barring one song – and certainly not a mandatory purchase for NWOBHM fans. I suppose if anything, it’s a tribute to how artistic integrity was never really Deaf Leopard’s forte.

Potential Spinal Tap album title: On Through the Shite ... See More

2 likes

Reviewer :

휘루 70/100

Date : Apr 18, 2014

NWOBHM(New Wave Of British Heavy Metal)을 대표하는 밴드들이 대거 등장하며 나아갈때 쯤 이 당시 MTV가 활성화 되면서 흔한 말이지만 듣는 음악에서 보는 음악으로 진화가 되어 확실히 외모에 신경을 쓰지 않을수가 없었다. 특히나 영국은 NWOBHM(New Wave Of British Heavy Metal) 밴드가 강세였는데 그 중 Def Leppard는 초기의 Hair Metal이라고 불릴 정도로 은근히 화려한 Visual을 갖추고 있었다. 뭐 그의 부합하듯 반응도 좋았다고 한다. 특히 앨범에 수록된 'Hello America'는 왠지 미국시장을 겨냥한듯한 가사였는데 미국에서의 반응은 좋았다고 한다.

이들의 사운드는 NWOBHM(New Wave Of British Heavy Metal) 그 자체였지만 그다지 Heavy하지 않은 Pop스러운 Vocal Melody와 Chorus로 세련된 Heavy Metal을 들려주었다. 분명 Pop Metal, Hair Metal의 효시로 보는것도 맞다. 사운드적으로는 LA Metal과는 달라져도 분명히 영향을 끼쳤으니깐... 그 Pop스러움은...

Best Track : Rock Brigade, Hello America

1 like

On Through the Night Comments

(9)

LuckyStar 85/100

Nov 21, 2022

On Through the Night was released on 14 March 1980 and was produced by Tom Allom (Judas Priest, Black Sabbath, Strawbs, ect.). Album is more straightforward, lacking the later imagination, lightness and ability to write powerful rock hits. Album features re-recorded tracks from the band's original independently released EP and re-recorded versions of early demos.

riktuss 80/100

Nov 12, 2022

Debut discreto de Def Leppard

1 like

Krindern 55/100

May 13, 2022

On Through the Night it was really bad

1 like

metalnrock 80/100

Dec 24, 2021

미국시장에서 1집부터 플래 찍으면서 내달린 앨범이다. 영국 밴드가 대놓고 미국시장 밟으러 가자고 한 앨범이고 결국 그들은 1집부터 이루기 시작했다. 괴수 4집만 듣던 락팬들은 좀 더 다른 느낌을 가질 수 있기는 함. 하지만 충분히 좋다. 괜히 플래 찍은게 아니니 데프 초기작은 필청해보자~

1 like

IAKAS 85/100

Mar 25, 2021

진국입니다. 앨범커버에서 나오는 말도 안되는 촌스러움하며, 멜로디 진하고 리듬 신나고 단조와 장조를 명확히 구분한 송라이팅에 단촐하면서도 간간히 기깔나는 연주도 돋보이고, 하여간 직선적인게 아주 듣기 편하고 스타일 좋은 그 시절 구식 하드록입니다. 이런게 구식이 되어주었기에 신식 사운드가 그리 멋질수 있는것이겠지요. 다들 수혜자인 셈입니다.

1 like

mrblond 90/100

Jul 13, 2020

Good debut for Def Leppard. Two of their top classics are here - Rock Brigade and Overture.

2 likes

랍할포드 75/100

Nov 3, 2018

멜로디를 잘 뽑아보려고 한 것 같은데, 너무 풋풋하다.

3 likes

메탈러버 80/100

May 8, 2013

1,2,7이 주요곡들인데 데프레파드 초창기 시절에 락메탈 자부심이 강했던 고국 영국인들에게 왜 미국에 저자세로 나가냐고 비판을 좀 받았다고함. 그당시 인터뷰에서 어떤 실언을 했을 확률도 있지만 개인적 추측으로는 2의 가사 때문이 아닌가 생각했었음

1 like

Megametal 95/100

Jan 8, 2013

silný debut

1 like

Def Leppard - On Through the Night CD Photo by Megametal

Def Leppard Discography

Album	Type	Release date	Rating	Votes	Reviews
The Def Leppard EP	EP	Jan 1979	-	0	0
▶ On Through the Night	Album	Mar 14, 1980	77.8	11	2
High 'N' Dry	Album	Jun 11, 1981	87.4	19	2
Pyromania	Album	Jan 20, 1983	88.8	34	5
Hysteria	Album	Aug 3, 1987	92.3	58	6
Adrenalize	Album	Dec 24, 1992	87.8	21	2
Slang	Album	May 14, 1996	74.1	10	1
Euphoria	Album	Jun 8, 1999	87.5	6	1
Now	EP	2002	-	0	0
X	Album	Jul 30, 2002	76.7	6	1
Yeah!	Album	May 23, 2006	81.7	6	2
Songs from the Sparkle Lounge	Album	May 5, 2008	75	4	1
Mirror Ball: Live & More	Live	Jun 6, 2011	89	2	0
Viva! Hysteria	Live	Oct 22, 2013	75	2	1
Def Leppard	Album	Oct 30, 2015	86.1	9	1
And There Will Be a Next Time… Live in Detroit	Live	Feb 10, 2017	-	0	0
Rock & Roll Hall of Fame 29 March 2019	EP	2020	-	0	0
Hysteria at the O2	Live	Apr 24, 2020	-	0	0
Hits Vegas	Live	Apr 24, 2020	-	0	0
Diamond Star Halos	Album	May 27, 2022	82.9	7	0
Drastic Symphonies	Album	May 19, 2023	70	1	0