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DEF LEPPARD Frontman Says Music From The '90s 'Lacked Melody' - Aug. 24, 2009 "We're ten years past the Nineties and the Nineties were a huge disappointment to the Nineties kids I believe," DEF LEPPARD singer Joe Elliott tells Billboard.com of the music of the era that followed LEPPARD's Eighties heyday. "If you look at bands that came out in the Eighties that are still going, there are dozens of them [that] are still selling out stadiums or arenas now. Where you can't count on one finger really the number of Nineties bands that are doing that."

Joe hits the nail on the head with this one. Nice find!

I'm willing to bet Pearl Jam outsells Def Leppard in almost every market they play this year.

I agree with him on some level, there was a lot of crap, but the original grunge/alternative bands (Soundgarden, Alice In Chains, Jane's Addiction, Pearl Jam) were phenomenal writers and musicians, just rooted in a different sound and style than Lep or Bon Jovi or whatever.

Also, the weirdest part to me is that despite being a UK band, Elliott seems to just be talking about the States...the entire 90's music scene in the UK was all ABOUT melody, with Oasis, the Manic Street Preachers, James, etc, dominating. Again, a different style, but you can't say any of those bands were about anything but catchy songs and melody....unfortunately aside from a couple of Oasis hits, none of that stuff ever reached the States unless, like me when I was 15, you went digging for it.

I don't entirely disagree wtih him, but I think he's forgetting or simply insulting a lot of great bands from the 90's, as well as just sounding like the Ebeneezer Scrooge of hard rock.

One of my favorite bands from the 90's Collective Soul has plenty of melody.

There were many great bands that came from the 90's

As I mentioned, Collective Soul
Foo Fighters
The Cranberries
No Doubt
Weezer
Radiohead
Green Day
Pearl Jam
Sound Garden
Nirvana
Alice In Chains
Creed
Smashing Pumpkins


I don't like all of those bands, but most.

I'm thankful the 90's rolled around...The whole hairband thing was sooooo old..

I remember How refreshing it was to hear Guns and Roses, LA Guns, and to a lesser extent Faster Pussycat when they all came out around the same time in 87.


The 90's weren't as bad as some people think....Unless you have an 80's hairstyke, drive an IROC, and wear leg warmers to the grocery store...

WalrusOct9 wrote:I'm willing to bet Pearl Jam outsells Def Leppard in almost every market they play this year.

I agree with him on some level, there was a lot of crap, but the original grunge/alternative bands (Soundgarden, Alice In Chains, Jane's Addiction, Pearl Jam) were phenomenal writers and musicians, just rooted in a different sound and style than Lep or Bon Jovi or whatever.

Also, the weirdest part to me is that despite being a UK band, Elliott seems to just be talking about the States...the entire 90's music scene in the UK was all ABOUT melody, with Oasis, the Manic Street Preachers, James, etc, dominating. Again, a different style, but you can't say any of those bands were about anything but catchy songs and melody....unfortunately aside from a couple of Oasis hits, none of that stuff ever reached the States unless, like me when I was 15, you went digging for it.

I don't entirely disagree wtih him, but I think he's forgetting or simply insulting a lot of great bands from the 90's, as well as just sounding like the Ebeneezer Scrooge of hard rock.

Thank you for this

And what was that thing titled "Slang" that DL threw at the fans around 1996?

It's safe to say Leppard didn't survive the '80s (please, nobody try to peddle that turd Adrenalize, either).

Whether or not you agree with Joe, he has a lot of balls to say that!

T-Bone wrote:And what was that thing titled "Slang" that DL threw at the fans around 1996?

I went to see them on the Slang tour ..... Maybe about 6,000 in a 20,000 seat venue...We thought if was cool because we bought lawn seats and got there to find the lawn closed. They moved everyone up so we got killer seats.

I actually like Slang...More so than Adrenalize, X (brought boy band songwriters in), and Songs from the Overthehill Lounge.

Retroactive and Yeah! are the only things I can listen to lately.


Early Lep was cool too, Hello America is a fav of mine.

JSS Rocks and WalrusOct9

THANKS for saying EXACTLY what I was going to say, pretty much.

Joe is always making opinionated statements like this. It's obviously just his personality. He made some statements that weren't so nice about Poison last year, and Bret Michaels slammed him for it, and this year they toured together, go figure It's his opinion just like any of us can have opinions. Doesn't make him right or wrong. Though I think he is kinda right. I never got into the 90's rock scene. The only thing worth anything in the 90's might be the early 90's, and that's just my opinion. I'm too much of an 80's girl to think differently

StevePerryHair wrote:Joe is always making opinionated statements like this. It's obviously just his personality. He made some statements that weren't so nice about Poison last year, and Bret Michaels slammed him for it, and this year they toured together, go figure It's his opinion just like any of us can have opinions. Doesn't make him right or wrong. Though I think he is kinda right. I never got into the 90's rock scene. The only thing worth anything in the 90's might be the early 90's, and that's just my opinion. I'm too much of an 80's girl to think differently

Agreed. One of my favorite bands is from the early 90s, come on try to guess which one. I'll give ya 3 guesses and the first 2 don't count.

Deb wrote:

StevePerryHair wrote:Joe is always making opinionated statements like this. It's obviously just his personality. He made some statements that weren't so nice about Poison last year, and Bret Michaels slammed him for it, and this year they toured together, go figure It's his opinion just like any of us can have opinions. Doesn't make him right or wrong. Though I think he is kinda right. I never got into the 90's rock scene. The only thing worth anything in the 90's might be the early 90's, and that's just my opinion. I'm too much of an 80's girl to think differently

Agreed. One of my favorite bands is from the early 90s, come on try to guess which one. I'll give ya 3 guesses and the first 2 don't count.

Hmmm....Green Day?....Pearl Jam?..... I just CAN'T figure it out

Did Neal and Joe ever go out drinking with each other during their tour? Imagine all the smack coming out of their mouths when paired together.

mikemarrs wrote:DEF LEPPARD Frontman Says Music From The '90s 'Lacked Melody' - Aug. 24, 2009 "We're ten years past the Nineties and the Nineties were a huge disappointment to the Nineties kids I believe," DEF LEPPARD singer Joe Elliott tells Billboard.com of the music of the era that followed LEPPARD's Eighties heyday. "If you look at bands that came out in the Eighties that are still going, there are dozens of them [that] are still selling out stadiums or arenas now. Where you can't count on one finger really the number of Nineties bands that are doing that."

A-Men! I can't think of more than a few acts that came out of the 90's, and I certainly don't see any groups that have maintained any kind of popularity or record sales or decent music.

StevePerryHair wrote:

Deb wrote:

StevePerryHair wrote:Joe is always making opinionated statements like this. It's obviously just his personality. He made some statements that weren't so nice about Poison last year, and Bret Michaels slammed him for it, and this year they toured together, go figure It's his opinion just like any of us can have opinions. Doesn't make him right or wrong. Though I think he is kinda right. I never got into the 90's rock scene. The only thing worth anything in the 90's might be the early 90's, and that's just my opinion. I'm too much of an 80's girl to think differently

Agreed. One of my favorite bands is from the early 90s, come on try to guess which one. I'll give ya 3 guesses and the first 2 don't count.

Hmmm....Green Day?....Pearl Jam?..... I just CAN'T figure it out

Close.......it's Green Jam.

BobbyinTN wrote:

mikemarrs wrote:DEF LEPPARD Frontman Says Music From The '90s 'Lacked Melody' - Aug. 24, 2009 "We're ten years past the Nineties and the Nineties were a huge disappointment to the Nineties kids I believe," DEF LEPPARD singer Joe Elliott tells Billboard.com of the music of the era that followed LEPPARD's Eighties heyday. "If you look at bands that came out in the Eighties that are still going, there are dozens of them [that] are still selling out stadiums or arenas now. Where you can't count on one finger really the number of Nineties bands that are doing that."

A-Men! I can't think of more than a few acts that came out of the 90's, and I certainly don't see any groups that have maintained any kind of popularity or record sales or decent music.

Uh.... I hate to re-hash most of the previous bands listed but....

Soundgarden
Rage Against the Machine
Smashing Pumpkins
Radiohead
Tool
Pearl Jam
Foo Fighters
Collective Soul
Alice in Chains
Beck
Nine Inch Nails
Weezer
Incubus

and that's ignoring most of the progressive genre, most notably Dream Theater, Porcupine Tree, and many others.

Regarding Adrenalize, It sounded to me like stuff that didn't make it onto Hysteria. There were a few good tracks, but that's it. I liked Retroactive, hated Slang and really liked Euphoria, and then nothing after that. Somgs from The Sparkle Lounge has a few good moments, but it's mostly forgettable

Has Joe ever been quoted "out on context"? He seems to let it fly and doesn't seem to take anything back. Even after his spouting off about Poison last year, did he ever reverse himself even though they went on tour together this year?

Grunge in the 90's lacked melody, some of these bands from the 90's weren't exactly grunge. Grunge was short-lived thankfully. There is little nostalgia for 90's music, while the 80's were making a comeback by the mid 90's.

I'm more an 80' girl, but i must say i do love some bands from the early 90' too..there is some new great bands in the metal escene now, but in general the mtv bands are pure crap so i agree with J. Elliott

Who cares what you think of him & DL, he's right. He never said that DL was better. He never said that he was better. I think he was just stating opinion about the 'mainstream' of the 90s. And, I agree.

Either way, so friggin what?!
The 90s sucked for most music. Period.


later~

I agree,he should also comment about how he lipped with his band a long with journey in 2006

Gunbot wrote:Did Neal and Joe ever go out drinking with each other during their tour? Imagine all the smack coming out of their mouths when paired together.

Yep I would pay to be a fly on the wall just for night of their conversations!!

JSS Rocks! wrote:
Weezer
Radiohead
Green Day
Pearl Jam
Sound Garden
Nirvana
Alice In Chains
Creed
Smashing Pumpkins.

I think you just totally proved Joe's great point. The (mid-late) 90's sucked ASS!

stevew2 wrote:I agree,he should also comment about how he lipped with his band a long with journey in 2006

Dude you are slippin'. Too much time hangin' with Jd?

Two post above ya are two stone cold foxiena's and you wanna talk about lippin' in the days of Auggie?

Wow, lots of people in this thread sounding stuck in the 80s. "Music just ain't what it used to be!"

Well I grew up in the 90s, and I still love 90s music, and I know plenty of people my age who do too. The decade was not shit and I'm pretty sure it wasn't disappointing for the people who grew up in it, unless their earliest memory is Backstreet Boys. Obviously I like Pearl Jam but I was only 6 when they hit it big, so I'm talking more like Third Eye Blind, Alanis, Green Day, Sublime, No Doubt, Oasis as mentioned, and a ton of little one hit wonders many people in their early/mid twenties would smile with nostalgia if they heard. Recently in Sacramento they made a 90s radio station (though sadly it replaced the only good rock station there) and I know quite a few people including myself who listen to it.

New Collective Soul is GREAT.

Sarah wrote:Wow, lots of people in this thread sounding stuck in the 80s. "Music just ain't what it used to be!"

Well I grew up in the 90s, and I still love 90s music, and I know plenty of people my age who do too. The decade was not shit and I'm pretty sure it wasn't disappointing for the people who grew up in it, unless their earliest memory is Backstreet Boys. Obviously I like Pearl Jam but I was only 6 when they hit it big, so I'm talking more like Third Eye Blind, Alanis, Green Day, Sublime, No Doubt, Oasis as mentioned, and a ton of little one hit wonders many people in their early/mid twenties would smile with nostalgia if they heard. Recently in Sacramento they made a 90s radio station (though sadly it replaced the only good rock station there) and I know quite a few people including myself who listen to it.

+1


I went through my 20's in the 90's and loved all the new stuff....Well not all of it but it was exciting to see change and not the run of the mill 80's pop metal rock that I listened to in my teens.

There are very VERY few 80's bands that I care to see at this point as most are just over the hill and shell's of what they used to be.

Joe Elliot being a prime example of that.

Maui Tom wrote:New Collective Soul is GREAT.

Yes it is Tom .... Have they been back your way since you saw them a few years back?



Collective Soul is a good example of what was great about the 90's .... And still putting out GREAT music today.

StoneCold wrote:

stevew2 wrote:I agree,he should also comment about how he lipped with his band a long with journey in 2006

Dude you are slippin'. Too much time hangin' with Jd?

Two post above ya are two stone cold foxiena's and you wanna talk about lippin' in the days of Auggie?

My talk is true