‘Definitely: The Official Story of Def Leppard’ Tells the Truth from The Band’s Eyes | Book Review

Def Leppard are my favorite band of all time, so I knew I had to buy their Definitely: The Official Story of Def Leppard (2023) book eventually, it was just a matter of when I felt brave enough to part with my money again. Well, I sucked it up last year, started reading the book on January 4, 2025 and finished it a week later. There are a lot of books about the band, but Definitely was a big deal because it was the first Def Leppard autobiography ever and going back even further, the last authorized biography about them was Animal Instinct (1987), before Steve Clark died. Phil Collen did an autobiography titled, Adrenalized: Life, Def Leppard, and Beyond (2015); and if I’m not mistaken, he’s the only Def Leppard member that wrote a memoir. So, at the time, Collen’s book was the closest thing we were going to get to a Def Leppard autobiography. And yet, 10 years later, here we are doing a book review for Definitely: The Official Story of Def Leppard; thank the freaking Lord!

First of all, the photos are gorgeous. One of the best things about this book are the lovely photographs and treasured Def Leppard memorabilia that are enough to make a hardcore Def Leppard fan cry. My favorite photos were from the early days when Pete Willis was still in the band, from 1977 to 1982. It was a different time back then because the guys were young and trying to have as much fun as they possibly could on tour. I also enjoyed seeing the different drafts for the Euphoria (1999) album cover, the concept art for Flynn, the animated character from the “Let’s Get Rocked” music video; and everything from the Yeah! (2006) photo sessions. Vivian Campbell as Marc Bolan on the Electric Warrior (1971) album cover still trips me out!

The book details the different eras of Def Leppard, everything from The Def Leppard E.P. (1979) to Diamond Star Halos (2022). My favorite stories were from the Slang (1996) era because it was a weird period in the mid ‘90s; it wasn’t cool to be Def Leppard anymore. I love the dark nature of that album because it reflects the troubled times everyone, except for Campbell, was going through. After all, some of the greatest songs ever come from life experiences. The band took a simpler approach by recording together in a house in Spain, not dwelling on the songs too much and spending less time on the production, keeping things as raw as possible.

“All of a sudden, we were in our thirties and we didn’t want to write “Let’s Get Rocked” anymore. Slang was the first time that this band had collectively and individually gone through big, grown-up experiences like marriage, divorce, parenthood and bereavement, and our songwriting reflected this,” said Joe Elliott.

“I have always felt that we took too much of a left turn with Slang. I thought we sacrificed the art of songwriting, which is what Leppard is all about. We were too quick to accept the initial song ideas and just record them. But anyway, it didn’t really matter what we did because anything from the Eighties was deeply resented in the Nineties. The wheel’s come full circle now and I think people respect us for having survived all of that,” said Campbell. 

Another thing I love about this book is the band’s honesty. Collen talked about his regrets regarding Clark’s death and what he could’ve done to save his life. Elliott and Campbell both talked about how the band would’ve enjoyed more commercial success had they released Adrenalized in 1990, instead of 1992. The former even going as far as saying the previous album, Hysteria (1987), was two songs too long, which I whole-heartedly agree with. Some of the statements were questionable, like Collen calling X (2002) a natural successor to Hysteria and Elliott claiming that “Pour Some Sugar on Me” could’ve been a Backstreet Boys” song. But hey, that’s their opinion and now I’m curious to hear Def Leppard do a version of Backstreet Boys’ “Larger Than Life.” Thanks, Joe Elliott! 

Campbell also mentioned how difficult it is to write typical Def Leppard songs because it’s not his forte. He acknowledged that he has to think outside the box to come up with songs that would work for Elliott. Despite that, I’d love to hear more songs from him one day because he’s really talented and he has contributed good stuff for the band previously, one of them being “Wings of an Angel” from Def Leppard (2015). Heck, if he could write stuff in the veins of High ‘n’ Dry (1981) and Pyromania (1983), that would be great! Campbell will always be the new guy and it shows when listening to all of their post-Steve Clark albums. Would Campbell be better off doing something else creatively? Maybe, but the man has got to earn a living somehow.

As for the negatives, Pete Willis only got one or two quotes in the book, that’s it, and it was only to talk about his departure from the band. He didn’t get a chance to talk about meeting Rick Savage and Elliott for the first time, never got to talk about how he got into playing guitar, and never got to talk about the good memories of touring with Def Leppard. Nope, he only talked about the pressure he felt when working with Mutt Lange for Pyromania and possibly, High ‘n’ Dry. I wish we got to hear more from Willis’ perspective on the whole spectacle of Def Leppard; the hardcore fans would’ve appreciated it. Oh, the worst part was hearing how he would’ve ended up like Clark had he not been fired, which I already knew about, but it was still painful to read.

Speaking of Clark, I’m glad the band chose to talk about his struggles in a delicate manner, rather than the opposite. To be honest, it’s hard not to compare him to Pete Willis because both of them had their own demons to battle, but we can’t assume what really happened because only they (the individuals themselves) knew what went on inside their heads. For Clark’s situation, his home life was not the greatest and the pressure of topping Hysteria really got to him. He didn’t want to let anyone down and his fears led him toward a dark path that he, unfortunately, never escaped from. According to Savage, while in Glen Falls, New York, preparing for the “In the Round” shows in America, Clark tried to smash his hands so that he wouldn’t be able to go on stage. Despite what he went through, however, he was still a beautiful human being, and the band has happy memories of him and he’ll always be with them wherever they go.

This book wasn’t all serious, though, there were laughs, as well. Here’s a little story that took place in 1992, while touring Australia: 

“I don’t know if it was a mix of only just waking up and having drunk too much at altitude, but when our tour manager, Malvin, got us off the plane after the 18-hour flight and put us on the bus, he left Vivian at the airport. When we finally realised and went back to get him, Vivian didn’t throw a wobbly. He was just like, ‘Yeah, yeah, I get it. I’m the new guy,’” said Joe Elliott.

Since I didn’t even mention Rick Allen yet, here’s a funny story of him, during the Hysteria tour, disguising himself as a roadie and trying not to get recognized by fans:

“I remember going out one night and I got about 10 feet from the stage and somebody just said, ‘Rick Allen, man!’ How was that possible? It was such a good disguise [brown wig, baseball cap, and mannequin arm stuffed inside a crew member jacket]. When I took my jacket off, I found a sticker on my back that said, ‘I am Rick Allen.’ Then, I realized how it had got there: as I was leaving the dressing room, Steve had come up to me and given me a big pat on the back and said, ‘Hey, have a good one tonight.’ He had a really wicked sense of humour,” said Allen.

Bottom line is, Definitely: The Official Story of Def Leppard isn’t perfect; they could’ve given Willis his fair share of the spotlight when talking about the early years. But, being the first Def Leppard autobiography, it’s worth having in the collection. It also unintentionally shows who runs the band, with a majority of the quotes being from Joe Elliott and Phil Collen coming in second place. Was that too harsh? Maybe, I’m sorry Joe and Phil! I could continue going on and on about Definitely: The Official Story of Def Leppard, but instead, take my word for it, when I say, the hardcore Def Leppard fans should read this, not the people that only love Hysteria nor the ones that only love everything from On Through the Night (1980) to Pyromania, but the fans that stuck around for everything! I’ll give this book a rating of 4.5 out of 5.0 stars.

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Lana