In very many ways, Def Leppard's fourth studio album Hysteria was their biggest--and a new box set due this year looks to prove that en masse.

On August 4--exactly 30 years since it was first released--Bludgeon Riffola and UMC will release multiple expanded editions of Hysteria, including a new 3CD deluxe edition, a 5CD/2DVD box set (both boasting material not on the 20th anniversary deluxe edition released in 2007) and vinyl formats.

Hysteria was the culmination of more than three years of work and triumph over incredible odds following the release of the English rockers' breakthrough Pyromania in 1983. That record took the group's hard rock style and infused it with an unapologetic land grab for pop radio, with the help of co-writer/producer Robert John "Mutt" Lange, who'd helped AC/DC create a smash with new vocalist Brian Johnson on 1980's Back In Black. "Photograph," "Rock of Ages" and "Foolin'" all reached Billboard's Top 40, with the album itself peaking at No. 2 (well above its standing in the U.K.).

But Lange, citing exhaustion, declined to produce the band's next album, and sessions with songwriter Jim Steinman and Lange's engineer Nigel Green proved fruitless too. Then shock and tragedy struck when, on the last day of 1984, drummer Rick Allen suffered a car accident that cost him his left arm. The rest of the band--frontman Joe Elliott, guitarists Steve Clark and Phil Collen and bassist Rick Savage--all stood by his side, and Allen eventually devised a system of electronic drums that he could play with his limbs. At this point, Lange returned to the producer's chair, and the album was finally done (after another, minor car accident suffered by Lange and even a case of the mumps for Elliott) in the spring of 1987.

Hysteria was saddled with lofty expectations by the band's label, Phonogram Records: in order to break even on the generous recording bill, the album had to sell five million copies--no small feat, even with Pyromania having gone six times platinum in America, their most successful market. Fortunately, the media attention paid to the band's inconceivable recovery (which lent the album its title) meant that Europe was more receptive than ever, which helped offset the initial slow sales in the States.

Then, after only two of the three Hysteria singles cracked the Billboard Top 40 (with the title track becoming their first Top 10 in the spring of 1988), the fourth--a stadium rattler called "Pour Some Sugar On Me"--finally cracked the code, rocketing to No. 2. From there, Hysteria was a bona fide smash, with another chart-topper ("Love Bites") and two Top 20s ("Armageddon It" and "Rocket") pounding the charts through 1989. The album more than satisfied Phonogram's goals, ultimately selling over 12 million copies in America and another 13 million worldwide. And while an intended quick follow-up (1992's Adrenalize) was hindered by Clark's alcohol problems and eventual passing in 1991, Def Leppard's wild ride was unstoppable.

Hysteria will bow this summer in four formats:

• A 5CD/2DVD super deluxe edition includes the remastered album; two discs of singles, B-sides, remixes and live tracks; and, for the first time on CD, two discs of audio from the band's bestselling video Live: In the Round, In Your Face. One DVD collects promo videos and U.K. television appearances, while the other features the band's informative appearance on the Classic Albums documentary series where they discuss recording the album and perform acoustic versions of the LP's biggest hits. The box comes packed with four books (a "story of," a collection of photographs by Ross Halfin, a discography, a replica of a Hysteria Tour program) and a replica tour poster.
• The 3CD deluxe edition couples the remastered album with the two Live: In the Round, In Your Face discs.
• A vinyl edition finally places the nearly hour-long original album on 2 LPs for the first time. The band's official site will also offer color variants.
• A 1CD "Vanilla" edition offers the new remaster.

Will you be arma-gettin' it? (Eternal credit to friend of The Second Disc Annie Zaleski for the incredible pun.) Amazon U.S. and U.K. links are now live, and the full track list is below!

Hysteria: 30th Anniversary Deluxe Edition (Bludgeon Riffola/Mercury/UMC (U.K.), 2017)

5CD/2DVD Super Deluxe Edition: Amazon U.S. / Amazon Canada (TBD) / Amazon U.K.
3CD Deluxe Edition: Amazon U.S. / Amazon Canada (TBD) / Amazon U.K.
2LP remaster: Amazon U.S. / Amazon Canada (TBD) / Amazon U.K.
1CD Vanilla Edition: Amazon U.S. / Amazon Canada (TBD) / Amazon U.K.

Disc 1: Remastered album (originally released as Bludgeon Riffola/Phonogram (U.K.)/Mercury (U.S.) 830 675-1, 1987)

1. Woman
2. Rocket
3. Animal
4. Love Bites
5. Pour Some Sugar On Me
6. Armageddon It
7. Gods of War
8. Don't Shoot Shotgun
9. Run Riot
10. Hysteria
11. Excitable
12. Love and Affection

Disc 2: Singles and B-sides

1. Tear It Down (B-side to "Animal" - Bludgeon Riffola LEP 1 (U.K.), 1987)
2. I Wanna Be Your Hero (B-side to "Pour Some Sugar On Me" - Bludgeon Riffola LEP 2 (U.K.), 1987) *
3. Ride Into the Sun (1987 Version) (B-side to "Hysteria" - Bludgeon Riffola LEP 3 (U.K.), 1987) *
4. Ring of Fire (B-side to "Armageddon It" - Bludgeon Riffola LEP 4 (U.K.), 1988)
5. Women (Radio Edit) (promo single B-side - Mercury 888 757-7 DJ (U.S.), 1987)
6. Rocket (Lunar Mix Radio Edit) (single A-side - Mercury 872 614-7 (U.S.), 1989)
7. Love Bites (Radio Edit) (promo single A-side - Bludgeon Riffola LEPDJ 5 (U.K.), 1988)
8. Hysteria (Radio Edit) (promo single A-side - Mercury 870-004-7 DJ (U.S.), 1987)
9. Pour Some Sugar On Me (Radio Edit) (promo single A-side - Mercury 870 298-7 DJ (U.S.), 1988)
10. Armageddon It (Radio Edit) (promo single A-side - Bludgeon Riffola LEPDJ 4 (U.K.), 1988)
11. Release Me - Stumpus Maximus and The Good Ol' Boys (B-side to "Rocket" - Bludgeon Riffola LEP 6 (U.K.), 1989)
12. Classic Albums: Hysteria (Radio Documentary - broadcast 5/12/1990)

* these versions/mixes from Retro Active (Bludgeon Riffola (U.K.)/Mercury (U.S.) 518 305-2, 1993)

Disc 3: Remixes and Live

1. Rocket (Extended Nuclear Mix) (12" A-side - Vertigo 872 614-1 (CA), 1989)
2. Armageddon It (The Nuclear Mix) (12" A-side - Bludgeon Riffola LEP X4 (U.K.), 1988)
3. Animal (Extended Version) (12" A-side - Bludgeon Riffola LEP X1 (U.K.), 1987)
4. Pour Some Sugar On Me (Extended Version) (12" A-side - Bludgeon Riffola LEP X2 (U.K.), 1987)
5. Excitable (The Orgasmic Mix) (12" B-side to "Love Bites" - Bludgeon Riffola LEP X5 (U.K.), 1988)
6. Rocket (The Lunar Mix) (CD single B-side to "Love Bites" - Bludgeon Riffola LEPCD 5 (U.K.), 1988/12" A-side - Bludgeon Riffola LEP X6 (U.K.), 1989)
7. Rock of Ages (Live @ Noorderligt, Tillburg, The Netherlands - 6/24-25/1987) (12" B-side to "Rocket" - Bludgeon Riffola LEP X6 (U.K.), 1989)
8. Love and Affection (Live @ Noorderligt, Tillburg, The Netherlands - 6/24-25/1987) (12" B-side to "Hysteria" - Bludgeon Riffola LEP X3 (U.K.), 1987)
9. Billy's Got a Gun (Live @ Noorderligt, Tillburg, The Netherlands - 6/24-25/1987) (B-side to "Love Bites" - Bludgeon Riffola LEP 5 (U.K.), 1988)

Discs 4-5: Live - In The Round, In Your Face (originally released as PolyGram Music Video 080 599-3, 1989 - previously unreleased on CD)

1. Stagefright
2. Rock! Rock! (Till You Drop)
3. Women
4. Too Late for Love
5. Hysteria
6. Gods of War
7. Die Hard the Hunter

 

1. Bringin' On the Heartbreak
2. Foolin'
3. Armageddon It
4. Animal
5. Pour Some Sugar On Me
6. Phil Solo
7. Rock of Ages
8. Photograph

DVD 1: Promo videos

1. Rocket (Top of The Pops)
2. Pour Some Sugar On Me (Top of The Pops)
3. Animal (Top of The Pops)
4. Pour Some Sugar on Me (Live on The BRIT Awards)
5. Women (Promo Video)
6. Animal (Promo Video)
7. Pour Some Sugar On Me (Promo Video)
8. Pour Some Sugar On Me (Live) (U.S. Promo Video)
9. Hysteria (Promo Video)
10. Love Bites (Promo Video)
11. Rocket (Promo Video)
12. Armageddon It (Live) (Promo Video)

DVD 2: Classic Albums - Hysteria (originally aired 2002 - previously released by Eagle Rock Entertainment in 2006)

1. Introduction
2. Animal
3. Hysteria
4. Rocket
5. Love Bites
6. Pour Some Sugar On Me

Bonus material

1. Initial Recordings of "Animal"
2. Rick Gets Hysterical
3. Hysteria (Acoustic)
4. Drumming - Return to the Status Quo
5. The Album According to Joe
6. Sugar Stripped Down
7. Pour Some Sugar On Me (Acoustic)
8. Guitars, Guitars, Guitars
9. Windmill II and the Gods of War
10. Mutt's Vocals in the Mix
11. The Album is Finally Released