Euphoria [Import, from US]

   ノリのいいハードロック・ナンバー<1>で幕をあける、デフ・レパードの99年リリース作品である。ジョー・エリオットのヴォーカルと複雑に絡みあってメロディをふくらませるコーラス、豊かなバリエーションを誇るアレンジメント。待望の「デフ・レパ」サウンドに、勢いと力強さが加わって復活した。
   インストゥルメンタル<10>では、アレンとサヴェージのダブル「リック」のリズム部隊と、フィル・コリン、ヴィヴィアン・キャンベルのツインギターによるセッションが聴ける。メロディアスである以上にタフでハードな作品だ。（富良仁枝実）

Tongue firmly in cheek, Def Leppard vocalist Joe Elliott once referred to his band's wildly successful anthemic hard rock as "deep and meaningless." Indeed, while peers of the Sheffield punters were scrambling to embrace successive waves of punk, new wave, alternative, and post-whatever, the Leps stayed true to their arena-rock roots and became one of the most successful, if least hyped, bands of the 1980s and early '90s. Only their 1996 album Slang bowed to market trends; its disappointing showing only spurred a return to familiar form on Euphoria. The band also brought producer and de facto sixth band member Robert "Mutt" Lange back into the fold for a trio of tracks, including "Promises," a seamless wall of hooks that outshines even the band's Pyromania and Hysteria prime. And if the Lep-Lange lineup bats only .333 (faltering on the goofy, Prince-ly funk of "All Night" and the bubble-gum pop of "It's Only Love") this inning, they redeem themselves with balladry that beats post-Diane Warren Aerosmith at their own game ("Goodbye") and enough glossy energy ("Demolition Man," "Back in Your Face," "Day After Day," "King of Oblivion") to reclaim their strange niche on the pop plateau midway between AC/DC and Abba. Though they've largely been left out of the critical debate, Def Leppard long ago established their credentials as power-pop monsters with the public. All that's left for the pundits to decide is: Def Leppard--band out of time or band for the ages? --Jerry McCulley