Here’s another first for the blog. I’m not a huge Def Leppard fan (outside of the obviously great hit songs that nearly everybody likes), but I heard so many good things about this release from Evil Dead Records that I had to pick up a copy for myself. There are several versions of this out there as far as color variations go, and they all look great. I didn’t request a specific color when I got mine, but I was thrilled to get this particular green and white splatter version, as it’s probably my favorite of the lot. Even though I am very limited as far as my Def Leppard knowledge goes, there is still plenty to talk about with this release.
I’ve had Pyromania At The Forum on my shelf for a couple of months now and just decided to review it recently after reading some comments from other collectors. This is one of those cases where a release was being talked about so much, that people who don’t normally collect bootlegs decided to buy it too. As a result, many of these people, who had never heard a non-studio issued live recording before, had their expectations set too high and were appalled by the sound. Normally, I would say this is to be expected, and I probably wouldn’t even mention it. What makes this particular record a special case as far as I’m concerned, though, is the fact that this is an incredible recording. Whether or not you are used to live boot recordings or not almost shouldn’t matter with this one. I think that most people complaining about this one are just the anti-bootleg crowd, that won’t be happy no matter what.
Let’s talk about the “issues” with this one right off the bat. The two small problems that I’ve had with Evil Dead releases in the past are still present here. There are “gaps” between tracks, but they are so small on this release that they are almost imperceptible. If you have a copy of Pyromania At The Forum already, there’s a great chance that you listened to it and didn’t notice anything at all. The bigger issue that seems to remain consistent with their releases is the lack of fading in and out at the beginning and end of the LPs. In this case, there is a nice fadeout at the end of the show, but this was obviously already there from the CD the audio was taken from. The rest of the discs have the hard and sudden cutting in and out with no fading. I still say that if Evil Dead would just tackle this issue, they could very well surpass every other label that’s out there.
With all that being said though, those are the only “problems” with this release. This is a soundboard recording, which is of course the top of the line when it comes to bootleg or unofficial releases. If you don’t know what a soundboard is, it’s basically when the person recording has a direct line out from the mixing desk, so they are getting the best sound possible. The recording obviously won’t have a studio polish to it but should sound crystal clear and have a basic mix thrown on it by the engineers working the show. In this case, this recording has been mixed to near perfection. Many times, soundboards can suffer from the vocals being too hot, or there being no mic on the crowd, causing dead air between tracks. This can sound awkward when you listen back to the performance, since it gives the illusion that the audience was silent and not responding at all. With Pyromania At The Forum, however, we have none of these problems. I’m not sure if someone worked on it beyond whatever came out of the board, but this mix sounds fantastic.
I think the reason that you will find some negative talk about this release is that a lot of people probably bought it out of ignorance. Maybe they heard that it was great and just went out and bought it without considering what they were getting. It looks so nice that maybe they didn’t even realize that it was unofficial. The crazy thing is though, that this particular recording is so good that if it didn’t have the issues with hard fades, most people wouldn’t realize that it was a bootleg at all. I think the biggest tell-tale sign with this set is probably the fading after “Rock Of Ages”. Instead of just going to the next track, it fades out and fades back in right in the middle of the LP. My guess is that the audio was pulled from a 2-disc CD set, and this particular point was the end of disc one. The label probably should have smoothed this over, but they just let it go. It’s not a huge bother to me, but I imagine it is to other people. So, my guess is that some people heard this, realized it was a bootleg, and got angry about it.
With that out of the way, what about the package itself? As I mentioned, this set comes in several different styles of wax, but as far as I know, they are all green and white themed. Pyromania At The Forum comes packaged in a very high-quality gatefold sleeve, and the printing itself has a bit of texture to it. Honestly, the printing on Evil Dead releases might even rival Casino Records, which as long-time readers of this blog will know, has been my favorite label for a long time. Both of my discs were flat and free of defects, and they were both quite heavy. The labels are the standard Evil Dead ones. While they don’t list individual tracks, they do clearly mark each side, which is good enough for me. Each disc came housed inside poly-lined sleeves which is a nice addition to any package.
Soundboard Recording – The Forum, Inglewood, California USA – 10th September, 1983
A1 Intro
A2 Rock! Rock! (Til You Drop)
A3 Rock Brigade
A4 High & Dry (Saturday Night)
B1 Another Hit And Run
B2 Billy’s Got A Gun
B3 Mirror, Mirror (Look Into My Eyes)
B4 Foolin’
C1 Photograph
C2 Rock Of Ages
C3 Bringin On The Heartbreak
C4 Switch 625
C5 Phil Collen Guitar Solo
D1 Let It Go
D2 Steve Clark Guitar Solo
D3 Wasted
D4 Stagefright
D5 Travelin’ Band
The show itself is a great one, even for someone who’s kind of indifferent about the band. The setlist is mostly made up of around a 50/50 split from the Pyromania and High N’ Dry albums, but we also have one song, “Wasted”, making an appearance from the 1980 album On Through The Night. Even casual fans such as I will recognize songs like “Foolin’” and “Rock of Ages”. For me, one of the more interesting parts of this show is when Joe Elliot, the vocalist, is explaining to the audience what MTV is and how it works. He tells them that viewers get to vote on certain music videos, and that the song they are about to play, “Photograph”, keeps winning and being played on repeat. For people my age, this will almost certainly leave you with a feeling of nostalgia missing better times.
Def Leppard really did have great musicianship all around, and this concert is a prime example of that. For a lot of people, Phil Collen will be the highlight of the show, and he’s got an extended guitar solo after “Switch 625”. Steve Clark also has one right after “Let It Go”, which is also a great listen. My favorite part of the whole performance is when Brian May from Queen makes an appearance and sits in on lead guitar during a cover of “Traveling Band”, which serves as an encore piece. As Elliot mentioned, the band had used all of their own songs and needed to do something else for an encore. It ends up being a mash up between CCR’s “Traveling Band” and “Rock And Roll” by Led Zeppelin, and it’s a great way to end the show. I can’t believe that the sleeve and internet listings don’t mention the Brian May appearance, but I guess it makes for a nice little surprise when people discover it.
To sum up, I think that even if you aren’t the biggest Def Leppard fan, this is still a fantastic recording of a fantastic show and might be worth picking up. It would be a shame for collectors to be dissuaded by other people’s ignorance of what a bootleg album is. This is a high-quality soundboard with a professional level mix. The fading is not perfect, but it’s a small issue compared with what you are getting in this set. Ratings wise, I have to give the packaging of Pyromania At The Forum a solid 10/10. It looks and feels completely professional and will be a great addition to any collection. The audio source, considering that it is unofficial, is also a 10/10. I hardly ever rate a source this high, but this one is special. The pressing is the only non-perfect score but is still a solid 9/10. If they can figure out the fading issue and bring those gaps between songs to be zero, no one will be able to compete with Evil Dead. This one is highly recommended, so go out and grab a copy while you can!