Slang (album)
| Slang | ||||
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| Studio album by Def Leppard | ||||
| Released | 14 May 1996 | |||
| Recorded | 1994–1995 in Marbella, Spain and January–February 1996 at Bow Lane Studios in Dublin, Ireland | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 45:58 | |||
| Label | Mercury | |||
| Producer | Pete Woodroffe and Def Leppard | |||
| Def Leppard chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Slang | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
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| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |
  link
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| Chicago Sun-Times |  |
| The Cincinnati Post | (D+) |
| Entertainment Weekly | (B+) link |
| Sputnik Music |
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| Rolling Stone | (mixed) link |
| Q | |
Slang is the sixth studio album by English hard rock band Def Leppard, released on 14 May 1996. The album marked a musical departure from their signature sound, and was produced by the band with Pete Woodroffe. Slang is the first album with new material to feature new guitarist Vivian Campbell (Campbell had previously played on the B-side collection Retro Active in 1993 and on the new song on Vault a year earlier). It charted at #14 on The Billboard 200 and #5 on the UK Albums Chart. It is also the only Def Leppard album that does not feature their recognisable logo on the album cover.
Between the releases of Retro Active and Slang, Def Leppard endured hardships including guitarist Phil Collen's divorce from actress Jacqueline Collen, bassist Rick Savage's battle with Bell's Palsy and the death of his father, and the arrests of both drummer Rick Allen and lead singer Joe Elliott for spousal abuse and assault, respectively. Though the band says Adrenalize was recorded during a bleaker time, the absence of Mutt Lange (for the first time on a Def Leppard record since 1981) made it possible for the band to show what they were really feeling. Says Joe Elliott, "There was a period with Mutt where if you came out with anything slightly negative, it was 'Fuck it!' and it was gone!" Continues Phil Collen, "We've all got personal things that have happened during the recording of Slang, and we've just ploughed on and some of it has come out on the record."
Doing without the services of Mutt Lange, the band changed another habit by recording together as a band, in a townhouse in Marbella, Spain. Slang would feature less production in favour of a more organic sound, catalysed by drummer Rick Allen's reversion to a semi-acoustic kit. "We'd got so sick of recording the old way. We didn't want to do it any more. We wanted the music to be more personalised and let the character of the individuals to come out," explains Rick Savage.
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Wikipedia