Def Leppard - "Diamond Star Halos"

Def Leppard of the Masters of big stadium rock tracks, fist-pounding choruses, and repetitive verses designed for a hundred thousand voices to sing as one. For decades they have with ruthless efficiency combined stupidity with commerciality. So why the hell they suddenly decided to go serious on us here? It takes a good six tracks for “Diamond Star Halos” to even get out of neutral never mind engaging itself into first gear. Those anthemic anthems are all missing in action. Forty years into their career Def Leppard has suddenly decided to become serious and nuanced and it just doesn’t work. I may be an unashamed woke Guardian reader but by the end of this album I was absolutely aching for the cheap chauvinism of prime-time 80’s Leppard.