Wiki
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Release Date
25 April 2008
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Length
11 tracks
Songs from the Sparkle Lounge is the tenth studio album and 14th album overall from the English hard rock band Def Leppard. Released on April 25, 2008 in Europe and April 29 in North America, it was the band's first album of brand new material since their 2002 album X.
In an Interview on Rockline Radio, two band members, Joe Elliott and Vivian Campbell stated that the title of their latest studio album would be Songs from the Sparkle Lounge, saying that "Until someone comes up with a better name this will be the final title upon release".They also mentioned the possibility of previous Def Leppard album producer Mutt Lange being involved with a few songs for the album, but in the end this collaboration did not turn out to be possible due to scheduling conflicts. However, Joe Elliott has stated that the band and Mutt Lange still plan to finish off a couple songs together.
In an interview with Billboard.com, Joe Elliott stated that the album title is a reference to an area backstage of gigs, where the band would work on new material. "It was a mini (drum) kit, mini amps, a tape recorder and sparkly lights." Elliott also stated that they would not be performing any previews of the songs, as they did not want them appearing on websites such as YouTube prior to the release of the album.
Members of the band have described the tracks from the album as written in the style of Hysteria, with the production style of High 'n' Dry. The album's first single, "Nine Lives" features country singer Tim McGraw.
Joe Elliott has stated at the band's official site that the concept of this album is that it sounds more like "early 70's AC/DC" and much like Led Zeppelin's song Rock and Roll.
One of the songs in the tracklist "Give It Away" was changed to "Gotta Let It Go."
On April 25, 2008, Def Leppard's record label opened a website with teasers of every song on the album.
In the May 17, 2008 issue of Billboard magazine the album debuted at #5 on the Top 200 Album chart, selling about 55,000 copies.The album debuted at #1 on the Rock Album chart and the Hard Rock Album chart.
Reception
Initial critical response to Songs from the Sparkle Lounge was average. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has received an average score of 47, based on 8 reviews.
Track listing
# Title Writer(s) Length
1. "Go" Phil Collen, Joe Elliott 3:21
2. "Nine Lives (feat. Tim McGraw)" Collen, Elliott, Tim McGraw, Rick Savage 3:32
3. "C'mon C'mon" Savage 4:09
4. "Love" Savage 4:17
5. "Tomorrow" Collen 3:35
6. "Cruise Control" Vivian Campbell 3:03
7. "Hallucinate" Collen 3:17
8. "Only the Good Die Young" Campbell 3:34
9. "Bad Actress" Elliott 3:03
10. "Come Undone" Elliott 3:32
11. "Gotta Let It Go" Campbell 3:55
UK and iTunes bonus track
# Title Writer(s) Length
12. "Love (Piano Version)" Savage 4:22
Japanese bonus tracks
# Title Writer(s) Length
12. "Love (Piano Version)" Savage 4:22
13. "Nine Lives (Def Leppard Version)" Collen, Elliot, McGraw, Savage 3:33
Deluxe Edition Bonus DVD
"Behind The Curtain"
"The Sparkle Lounge Commentary"
"Nine Lives" Music Video
Chart Positions
Year Chart Position
2008 The Billboard 200 5
2008 UK Albums Chart 10
2008 Ireland Albums Chart 32
2008 New Zealand Albums Chart 26
2008 Germany Albums Chart 43
2008 France Albums Chart 118
2008 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 118 2008 end_of_the_skype_highlighting Swiss Albums Chart 26
2008 Sweden Albums Chart 26
2008 Norway Albums Chart 15
2008 Finnish Albums Chart 27
2008 World Albums Chart 8
Personnel
Rick Savage – bass guitar, backing vocals, additional guitars
Joe Elliott – vocals
Rick Allen – drums, backing vocals
Phil Collen – guitars, backing vocals
Vivian Campbell – guitars, backing vocals
Additional personnel
Tim McGraw – vocals on "Nine Lives"
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