Def Leppard - High N' Dry

We're starting a new feature here at Trader Rock, one that I am currently referring to (in my head, anyway) as the "Album Spotlight".

Here's what's involved: I'll pick a different album to highlight every couple of weeks or so, play the record in its entirety, and drop a few tidbits about what went into the making of each album and why I think it's so great (or otherwise interesting).

For no good reason, other than that I've been listening to it quite a bit lately, our first LP in the spotlight is Def Leppard's excellent 1981 sophomore effort, High N' Dry. Here are the vitals from Wikipedia:

"High 'n' Dry is the second studio album by British heavy metal band Def Leppard, released on July 11, 1981 (see 1981 in music) and the last studio album by the band to feature original co-lead guitarist Pete Willis, who was fired in 1982 for excessive alcohol consumption (all parts except the solos were recorded by Willis do appear on the next album, Pyromania.) Its title song "High 'n' Dry" made #33 on VH1's 40 Greatest Metal Songs ^[1]. "

High N' Dry also marks the group's first collaboration with producer, Robert "Mutt" Lange, and the results fairly show. The group's second outing featured a new, radio-friendly gloss and a sharp, focused sound. Hit power ballads like "Bringin' On the Heartbreak" work nicely alongside of snotty drinking anthems ("High N' Dry (Saturday Night)") and fierce album tracks like, "Another Hit and Run".

This is an album that you can rock out to all alone, or use as your soundtrack to a night of partying and wild abandon. Start the Grooveshark playlist below to hear it for yourself.