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After a 2+-year wait since the last volume, Def Leppard will continue its chronological box set series with the June 11 release of Volume Three from Virgin/UMe.  This set, available on six CDs or nine 180-gram vinyl LPs, collects all three of the band’s studio albums from the first decade of the 2000s (2002’s X, 2006’s Yeah!, 2008’s Songs from the Sparkle Lounge) plus three newly curated collections of rarities.

X, Def Leppard’s first album of the millennium, was the band’s eighth studio LP and tenth overall album counting the compilations Retro Active and Vault.  Working with producers Pete Woodroffe, Marti Frederiksen, Per Aldeheim, and Andrea Carlson, Def Leppard embraced a more pop-oriented sound than their past hard-rock endeavors.  The resulting LP performed respectably, reaching No. 11 on the Billboard 200.  The singles “Now” and “Four Letter Word” notched placements on the Mainstream Rock chart while the former also reached the Adult Top 40.  2006’s Yeah! took the pop direction one step further, consisting entirely of covers of familiar songs from such rock heroes as David Bowie, The Kinks, ELO, Free, Badfinger, Mott the Hoople, and Faces.  It found a No. 16 berth on the Billboard 200, and just failed to reach the top 50 of the U.K. Albums Chart at No. 52.  The final LP represented on this set, Songs from the Sparkle Lounge, harkened back to the sound of Def Leppard’s 1980s heyday with big hooks and bigger production; at one point it was even rumored that Hysteria producer Mutt Lange would helm the album.  Instead, Ronan McHugh got the job done, earning the band a No. 5 U.S. debut.  It also reached the top ten across the Atlantic.  Lead single “Nine Lives” featured country hitmaker Tim McGraw, and the band even performed the album’s “Love” on television with Taylor Swift.

The three albums have been supplemented on the box set with one CD or two LPs of twelve B-sides; one CD or 2 LPs of Yeah! Studio Covers; and one CD or LP of Yeah! Live.  The covers album inspired numerous additional live and studio tracks (many of which ended up on retailer-exclusive releases).  Among the highlights here are songs by The Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix, Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers, The Police, Jobriath, and Creedence Clearwater Revival, among others.  The live disc draws not just on the period surrounding the album but on the past 30 years of Def Leppard history.

Ronan McHugh and frontman Joe Elliott have remastered the material at Joe’s Garage with assistance from Andy Pearce; lacquers for the vinyl version were cut by Greg Moore.  The box also includes a book with photos by Ross Halfin and liner notes from Paul Elliott of Classic Rock.  Joe Elliott, Rick Savage, Rick Allen, and Phil Collen have all shared their memories for the book, as well.

Def Leppard: Volume Three, third in a set that will eventually encompass four box sets, arrives from Virgin/UMe on June 11.  You can peruse the track listing with discography and find pre-order links below!

The CD/Vinyl Box Set, Volume Three (Bludgeon Riffola/UMC, 2021)

6CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
9LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada

CD/LP 1: X (originally released as Bludgeon Riffola/Mercury (U.K.)/Island (U.S.) 440 063 121-2, 2002)

1. Now
2. Unbelievable
3. You’re So Beautiful
4. Everyday
5. Long Long Way to Go
6. Four Letter Word
7. Torn to Shreds
8. Love Don’t Lie
9. Gravity
10. Cry
11. Girl Like You
12. Let Me Be the One
13. Scar

CD 2/LP 2-3: Yeah! (originally released as Bludgeon Riffola/Mercury 985 828-5 (U.K.)/Island B0005340-02 (U.S.), 2006)

1. 20th Century Boy
2. Rock On
3. Hanging on the Telephone
4. Waterloo Sunset
5. Hell Raiser
6. 10538 Overture
7. Street Life
8. Drive-In Saturday
9. Little Bit of Love
10. The Golden Age of Rock ‘n’ Roll
11. No Matter What
12. He’s Gonna Step on You Again
13. Don’t Believe a Word
14. Stay with Me

CD 3/LP 4: Songs from the Sparkle Lounge (originally released as Bludgeon Riffola/Mercury 1766038 (U.K.)/Island B0011004-02, 2008)

1. Go
2. Nine Lives (with Tim McGraw)
3. C’mon C’mon
4. Love
5. Tomorrow
6. Cruise Control
7. Hallucinate
8. Only the Good Die Young
9. Bad Actress
10. Come Undone
11. Gotta Let It Go

CD 4/LP 5-6: B-Sides

1. Now (Radio Edit)
2. Long Long Way to Go (Radio Edit)
3. Kiss the Day
4. 10 X Bigger Than Love
5. Love Don’t Lie (Demo)
6. Let Me Be the One (Demo)
7. Gimme a Job
8. Now (Acoustic Version)
9. Long Long Way to Go
10. Nine Lives (Joe Only Version)
11. Perfect Girl (Phil Collen Demo)
12. Love (Piano Version)

Track 1 from “Now” U.S. promo CD single – Bludgeon Riffola/Island ISLR 15601-2, 2002
Tracks 2, 4 and 8 from “Long Long Way to Go” U.K. CD single – Bludgeon Riffola/Mercury 9800024, 2003
Tracks 3 and 9 from special edition of X – Bludgeon Riffola/Mercury 063 120-2, 2002
Tracks 5-6 from “Now” U.K. CD singles – Bludgeon Riffola/Mercury 063 969-2/063 981-2, 2002
Track 7 from “Long Long Way to Go” European CD single – Bludgeon Riffola/Mercury 9800105, 2003
Tracks 10 and 12 from Japanese pressing of Songs from the Sparkle Lounge – Bludgeon Riffola/Mercury UICR-1074, 2008
Track 11 from DefLeppard.com giveaway, 2002 – previously unreleased on CD

CD 5/LP 7-8: Yeah! Studio Covers (* previously unreleased)

1. Only After Dark
2. You Can’t Always Get What You Want (Acoustic Hippies from Hell)
3. Little Wing (Acoustic Hippies from Hell)
4. Ziggy Stardust (Live Acoustic)
5. Under My Wheels
6. Who Do You Love?
7. Rebel Rebel
8. Led Boots
9. Cause We Ended as Lovers
10. Search and Destroy
11. How Does It Feel
12. Roxanne (Phil’s Demo) *
13. Dear Friends
14. Winter Song
15. American Girl
16. Heartbeat
17. Space Oddity
18. When I’m Dead and Gone
19. Stay with Me

Track 1 from “Let’s Get Rocked” single – Bludgeon Riffola DEF 7, 1992
Tracks 2-3 from “Have You Ever Needed Someone So Bad” CD single – Bludgeon Riffola LEPCD 8, 1992
Track 4 from “Slang” CD single – Bludgeon Riffola/Mercury LEPCD 15, 1996
Track 5 from “Promises” CD single – Bludgeon Riffola/Mercury 562 079-2, 1999
Track 6 from “Goodbye” CD single – Bludgeon Riffola/Mercury 562 288-2, 1999
Tracks 7 and 19 from “Now” CD single – Bludgeon Riffola/Mercury 063 968-2, 2002
Tracks 8-9 from “All I Want is Everything” limited CD single – Bludgeon Riffola/Mercury LEPDD 17, 1996
Tracks 10, 13-14 and 15-18 from Target/bonus disc edition of Yeah! – Bludgeon Riffola/Island B0006924-02, 2006
Track 11 from iTunes edition of Yeah! – Bludgeon Riffola/Mercury, 2006
Track 12 from Best Buy edition of Yeah! – Bludgeon Riffola/Island B0006929-02, 2006

CD 6/LP 9: Yeah! Live (* previously unreleased)

1. Elected (Live)
2. Action (Live 2005)
3. No Matter What (Live 2005)
4. Rock On (Live 2006)
5. Travellin’ Band (Live @ The L.A. Forum, 1983 – Radio Edit) *
6. Now I’m Here (from The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert for AIDS Awareness, Wembley Stadium, London, England – 4/20/1992)
7. 20th Century Boy (Live on VH1 Rock Honors, Mandalay Bay Events Center, Las Vegas, NV – 5/25/2006) *
8. All the Young Dudes (with Ian Hunter)

Track 1 from “Heaven Is” CD single – Bludgeon Riffola LEPCD 9, 1993
Track 2 from Target/bonus disc edition of Yeah! – Bludgeon Riffola/Island B0006924-02, 2006
Track 3 from Best Buy edition of Yeah! – Bludgeon Riffola/Island B0006929-02, 2006
Track 4 from The Lost Session – Bludgeon Riffola/Virgin/UMC (no cat. #), 2018
Original version of Track 5 from Pyromania: Deluxe Edition – Bludgeon Riffola/Mercury B0013028-02, 2009
Track 6 from “Tonight” single – Bludgeon Riffola LEP 10, 1993
Track 8 from Once Bitten, Twice Shy – Legacy C2K 61406, 2002