In advance of the band’s co-headlining tour with Journey in July, Def Leppard has released a new standalone single “Just Like 73,” featuring Tom Morello on guitar. The single will be available digitally along with a 7-inch vinyl version, out on August 2.
Written by Def Leppard’s Joe Elliot, Phil Collen, and collaborator Dave Bassett, “Just Like 73” is a nostalgic trip in time to the band’s coming-of-age years, just four years before forming in Sheffield, England.
A stardust religion, It’s the end of days / I ride through the crazy on electric phase / A universal lust, it’s so crazy cool / So turn on to me, it’s time to light up the fuel sings Elliot through the anthemic stadium stomper, cut by Morello’s hyperdriven solo and closing hook.
“It encapsulates a time that burned deep into our DNA,” said Elliot of “the song “Just Like 73” in a statement. “We wanted to celebrate that very important and glorious time.”
Videos by American Songwriter
[RELATED: American Songwriter Chats with All Five Members of Def Leppard —Legends Issue 2023]
Collen added, “When I saw David Bowie on TV between 1972 and 1973, everything I thought I knew about music went from black and white to vivid technicolor. Our song ‘Just Like 73’ represents that awakening.”
The single marks the first collaboration between Def Leppard and the Rage Against The Machine and Audioslave co-founder. “I had a blast rocking a solo on “Just Like 73,” said Morello. “I played ‘Rock Of Ages’ in my college cover band almost 40 years ago and here Def Leppard are still killing it in stadiums with a brand new tune that’s one of their best.”
To accompany the single, Def Leppard is releasing an animated video for “Just Like 73” on June 20 before heading back on the road on July 6 at Busch Stadium in St. Louis, Missouri for a co-headlining tour with Journey, along with special guests, Heart, Cheap Trick, and Steve Miller Band, which will run through September 8 at Coors Field in Denver, Colorado.
[RELATED: Get Tickets to the 2024 Def Leppard-Journey Tour here at StubHub]
In 2024, Def Leppard also celebrated the 40th Anniversary of their third album Pyromania with a Deluxe Expanded Edition, featuring previously unheard demos, rediscovered by Elliot, along with the unreleased demo “No You Can’t Do That,” and two live show recordings from the Pyromania-era at the LA Forum and Westfalen Halle in Dortmund, Germany. The featured book also contains the history of the album and rare photos of Def Leppard by longtime collaborator and photographer Ross Halfin.
Photo: Ross Halfin / Courtesy the Oriel
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.
Leave a Reply
Only members can comment. Become a member. Already a member? Log in.