On Through the Night

On Through the Night is the debut album, sounding as if Def Leppard recorded their youthful impulse just as it was. The band was formed in 1977 in Sheffield, England, emerging from the heat of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal (NWOBHM). The young lineup — Joe Elliott (vocals), the twin guitars of Steve Clark and Pete Willis, Rick Savage (bass) and Rick Allen (drums) — sounds sharply running riffs and clear-cut melody. Alongside the straight-line momentum of "Rock Brigade" and "Wasted," the outline of the melody is clear. Even on fast songs the path back to the chorus is clear, and the push of the beat and the openness of the choruses strengthen each other. Before the later huge production, it conveys with a rawer texture where the band's core hooks and drive came from. Elliott's voice already has a projection that looks toward large venues, and the interplay of the twin guitars holds buds that foreshadow later development.