A lyric video for Def Leppard’s new single with Tom Morello, ‘Just Like 73,’ recently arrived. Vivian Campbell discussed the new track and the band’s future during an interview with 102.3 WBAB. He shared what motivated the band to keep making music:
“We do it for ourselves. I mean, we make albums and record new music and write new music for selfish reasons. I mean, we sort of have to do it. That is what we do, and it keeps a relevance to Def Leppard.”
The guitarist explained:
“Even if we have no expectations whatsoever that we’re gonna have a hit song or anyone’s gonna buy an album—that’s a bonus if any of that happens—but there’s a percentage, a core of our audience that craves us doing new music, and that’s great, we absolutely appreciate that, but we do it for ourselves. We’re a bunch of selfish bastards. But it keeps it relevant.”
The Band Doesn’t Want To Be A Nostalgia Act
Leppard’s last album, ‘Diamond Star Halos,’ came out in 2022. ‘Just Like 73’ was intended to be part of that record but was delayed as it was not yet done.
Still, the band featured the new track in the setlist of their summer tour with Journey as soon as it hit the shelves in June. Campbell said:
“We don’t wanna just be a nostalgia act. And yeah, we realize that the great majority of people who come to Def Leppard shows in this day and age wanna hear ‘Animal,’ ‘Hysteria,’ ‘Rock Of Ages,’ ‘Photograph,’ ‘[Pour Some] Sugar [On Me],’ all these great, great songs. They’re not necessarily coming to hear ‘Just Like 73,’ but when we present it to ’em, they’re going, ‘Oh, okay. Yeah, that’s good. I can hang with that.’”
He added:
“You’ve gotta keep exercising the muscle. We are creative musicians and that’s how we started and that’s how we intend to end. So, it’s an ongoing journey.”
Their New Music Is Influenced By The History
On the other hand, ‘Just Like 73’ paid tribute to Def Leppard’s early days in the ’70s rock scene. The guitarist explained:
“I mean, ‘73 was an exceptional year for music. Some stunning albums were released that year. So, it was a great time to become aware of the magic of music, and we all share that in common, we all have that frame of reference in Def Leppard, because we all sort of blossomed through that era of music. And ‘Just Like 73’ is just this tongue-in-cheek homage to that era and that time in our life.”
He continued about the song’s sound:
“The drum beat of the song that that opens it is reminiscent of the glitter band or something. And then everything else, like the huge vocals, is typical Def Leppard. And it’s a catchy song, so it fits right in there. We’ve been playing it [live] right from day one. You can tell that only a certain amount of people in the audience are immediately familiar with it, but it has a familiarity. By the time you get to the second chorus, people are, ‘Oh, yeah, here we go.’ So it’s it fits right in there.”
Leppard’s next tour stop is Toronto, Canada, on August 2. The band will be on the road until mid-September.