Adrenalize by Def Leppard

Adrenalize, Def Leppard's fifth studio album, came out on Mercury in March 1992, and it's a record made in the shadow of loss. It was the first Def Leppard album without guitarist Steve Clark, who died in 1991. Most of the songs had been written and partly demoed before his death, but Phil Collen ended up re-recording all the guitar parts himself, making this their only album as a four-piece: Joe Elliott, Collen, Rick Savage and Rick Allen, with Mike Shipley producing.

You wouldn't know the grief from the sound, which is pure arena gloss, stacked harmonies and chrome-plated riffs. Clark still has writing credits on six of the ten tracks, and "White Lightning" is dedicated to him. Of its six singles, "Let's Get Rocked", "Make Love Like a Man", "Have You Ever Needed Someone So Bad" and "Stand Up (Kick Love into Motion)" were the big hits, and the album went to No. 1 in the UK, the US and Australia. Vivian Campbell came aboard for the tour that followed.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.