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Artist: Def Leppard

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Def Leppard Homepage

CD Title: Retro-Active

 

Category: Hard Rock

Year: 1993

Label: Mercury

Catalog Number: 3145183052

Personnel

Rick Allen drums
Vivian Campbell guitars, vocals
Phil Collen guitars, vocals
Joe Elliott lead vocals, guitars, piano
Rick Savage bass, vocals
This CD features a wonderful cover version of Sweet's Action, and guest appearances by Ian Hunter (Mott the Hoople) on Ride Into The Sun and members of the Hothouse Flowers on From The Inside.

Tracks

1.	Desert Song	5:19
2.	Fractured Love	5:08
3.	Action	3:41
4.	Two Steps Behind acoustic version	4:16
5.	She's Too Tough	3:41
6.	Miss You In A Heartbeat	4:04
7.	Only After Dark	3:52
8.	Ride Into The Sun	3:12
9.	From The Inside	4:13
10.	Ring of Fire	4:42
11.	I Wanna Be Your Hero	4:29
12.	Miss You In A Heartbeat electric version	4:58
13.	Two Steps Behind electric version	4:29
14.	Miss You In A Heartbeat hidden track - piano version	4:08
Total Running Time:		60:12

If you see any errors or omissions in the CD information shown above, either in the musician credits or song listings (cover song credits, live tracks, etc.), please post them in the corrections section of the Heavy Harmonies forum/message board.

The music discographies on this site are works in progress. If you notice that a particular Def Leppard CD release or compilation is missing from the list above, please submit that CD using the CD submission page. The ultimate goal is to make the discographies here at Heavy Harmonies as complete as possible. Even if it is an obscure greatest-hits or live compilation CD, we want to add it to the site. Please only submit official CD releases; no bootlegs or cassette-only or LP-only releases.

EPs and CD-singles from Def Leppard are also welcome to be added, as long as they are at least 4 songs in length.

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Existing comments about this CD

From: Chris	Date: September 29, 2001 at 13:36
"Desert Song" and "Fractured Love" make this a worthwhile purchase. The rest is a mish mosh of rare B-sides like "Ring Of Fire" and retreads such as "Ride Into The Sun" which was their first recording together. It is worth picking up.

From: metal_man73	Date: October 31, 2001 at 17:32
"Desert Song" and "Ring of Fire" are my two favorite songs on this cd. The rest of the songs are good too! It is worth a listen.

From: Decibel Dave	Date: April 12, 2002 at 20:32
This album is just about as good as any of their regular albums (which is to say - awesome). It rocks a little harder in places which is fine with me, but the ballads are great too.

From: Desslar	Date: April 13, 2002 at 13:21
DIverse, excellent album. Better than Adrenalize. Fractured Love and She's Too Tough are fantastic!

From: KNUCKLES	Date: May 15, 2002 at 12:30
DONT BUY

From: dokken6008

Date: July 8, 2002 at 5:49

Oh yes--DO BUY. "The Desert Song", "Fractured Love", a couple totally bitchin' cover songs, "I Wanna Be Your Hero", the AC/DCesque "She's Too Tough" and the unique "Ring Of Fire" are the reasons to make 'Retro-Active' high-priority on your "must get"-list. Actually, for a long period of time this was my favorite Def Leppard cd--OVER 'HYSTERIA'!! I'm telling you, 'R-A' is worth the money and it should also be noted that this disc contains the hardest-rockin' DL we have heard since 'High 'N'..'.

From: Michael Davis	Date: September 19, 2002 at 16:14
This album is like "On Through the Night" meets "Pyromania" Sounding more METAL BABY!!!

From: J Scott	Date: November 1, 2002 at 20:56
This is a pretty decent effort. Fractured Love is an awesome song. "She's Too Tough" was a song given to Helix and recorded much earlier. The Leppard version is much better. I like the differing styles of music on this one. I even liked the song "From The Inside", I believe it was recorded with the Hot House Flowers.

From: ARXONTAS	Date: December 21, 2002 at 22:29
Only lepps could done this.THEY TOOK SOME LEFT-OVERS AND MADE A TOTALLY KICK-ASS ALBUM WHICH OTHER GROUPS ONLY COULD DREAMED...What a great originality! ...Absolutely No Alternative...

From: freddy de keyze	Date: March 31, 2003 at 12:34
Dear Arxontas, Leppard is overrated big way. There are far better bands out. But I still agree it's a decent band, no doubt about that. But not the top !

From: James	Date: April 18, 2003 at 14:24
I drug this thing out over the last couple days and I must say it isn't as good as i remember. A lot of the songs just don't have the staying power and deserve to be b-sides. That said it does have a few bright spots. Buy it but buy it cheap. 6/10

From: John	Date: August 4, 2003 at 13:18
Not the best collection, but I've always had a soft spot for the Sweet cover.

From: visitor	Date: August 20, 2003 at 13:47
The album cover is cool! The music isn´t as cool. Helix did "She´s too tough" on their "Wild in the streets" album long before this came out, and I think they have much more energy in it.

From: pablo	Date: September 6, 2003 at 8:24
Compilación de temas perdidos de una de la más grandes bandas de la historia de a música ,aqui hay gemas del rock melódico ,indispensable ,otro 10 para los de Sheffield

From: keebler	Date: October 7, 2003 at 23:38
this cd is good for what it is,it has some good songs on it.

From: manugol	Date: February 19, 2004 at 22:43
otro disco cojonudo, hasta con canciones q les sobran hacen discos buenos, estos tios son la ostia.

From: Dave.....	Date: February 25, 2004 at 13:56
Excellent......

From: Kristian	Date: March 27, 2004 at 14:19
Miss you in a heartbeat and Two steps behind makes this album worth buying.

From: Leslie

Date: April 18, 2004 at 22:28

Forget the ballad Two Steps Behind for one minute and imagine if Steve Clarke did not have his accident and Lep recorded a new album with heavy tracks that sounded like DESERT SONG! This track alone makes me wonder what could have been had Steve still been in the band. Sure there would be the usual tracks like Heaven Is, Tear It Down, and Stand Up but those are amongst the strongest songs on Adrenalize while the rest rings hollow.

From: Dean	Date: April 19, 2004 at 10:55
If Leppard would have done this kind of stuff on their regular discs I'd still be a huge fan. Although alot of people LOVE Hysteria, IMO that is where the band lost it. The material on this disc showed that Lep still had it in them to rock out but it is/was a personal choice to go more commercial...continued

From: Dean

Date: April 19, 2004 at 10:59

......My copy of this had "Tear it down" on here too. I had no idea that it was also on some versions of Adrenalize. Fits much better on here. Even though Joe wrote She's Too Tough-I'm kinda partial to Helix's version. Kind of like Beau Nasty and Jesse Strange both doing Make a Wish. Since i heard Beau Nasty's version way before Jesse Strange-that's the one i prefer. As far as Action- Black and Blue totally kicked ass on that tune leaving both Steve Stevens and Def Lep in the dust.

From: T-Bone	Date: April 19, 2004 at 18:03
Even though Sweet did the song many years before any of them bands?

From: Dean	Date: April 21, 2004 at 0:02
Obviously Sweet did the tune before them- they wrote the tune- didn't they? I'll still take Black and Blue's version of it over Sweet. Has nothing to do with who did it first.

From: axmeister2674	Date: June 11, 2004 at 11:08
This is a pretty rocking album, some of this stuff is better than what they put out on their regular albums...."Desert Song" has one of the coolest intros ever!! Of course, then they put out a turd like "Adrenalize"......

From: Big Papa K	Date: June 26, 2004 at 1:47
Maybe this is a collection of leftovers, but it is a lot stronger than the rehash "Adrenalize" album. A lot of these songs were from the "Hysteria" sessions, which makes me think that they could have had one of the best double albums ever if they wanted to. The one thing that drags this album down are the multiple versions of the ballads. 8/10

From: loman	Date: October 29, 2004 at 13:25
def leppard are one of the greatest bands of all time, most of the bands nowadays are crap, def leppard had sumthin different, there music will live on for many years to come,this album is another kickass one by def leppard, 10/10

From: Rycheage

Date: November 2, 2004 at 17:06

Fairly strong album even though these are rarities and B-sides. I agree with Big Papa K about it being better than the "Adrenalize" album. This is much stronger. "Desert Song" and "Fractured Love" are a great 1-2 punch to start off the album. Very guitar driven and brings back memories of the old hard-rockin' Lep. "Ring Of Fire" is another hard driving tune. The rest of the "different versions" songs could've been left off for other rare, original B-sides. Great album nonetheless.

From: Geoff

Date: March 3, 2005 at 3:37

This is probably my favourite Def Leppard album. There are some awful fillers, but the gems are simply mind-blowing. 'Desert Song' and 'Fractured Love' are instantly two of their best songs ever - essential melodic hard rock tracks, 'Two Steps Behind' is a very good ballad, 'She's Too Tough' is very melodic - awesome, 'Miss You In A Heartbeat' is a sincerely stunning ballad, 'Ride Into The Sun', 'Ring of fire' and 'I wanna be your hereo' are all KILLER hard rockers. Just a great album. Awesome.

From: GLAM FAN

Date: April 17, 2005 at 8:37

This album effectively marked the end of chapter on a great hard rock band. The difference between high'n'dry and slang is astonishing. But still slang(better than adreanlize) isn't all that bad. Although the songs here are mostly leftovers from their previous years,it's much better than i wanna touch you or heaven is. I actually think action is one of the better songs that they've done. Only after dark is more solid than the original version and desert song is my fave here-it's heavy,beefy and

From: GLAM FAN

Date: April 17, 2005 at 8:48

mean. But the ballad in this album ruined the whole thing.two steps behind(never a big fan of acoustic ballad) and miss you in a heartbeat is pretty weak and lack the distinctive hooks that METAL ballads like love bites,heading for a heardache or too late for love had. Overall,this album shows a very big 70's glam influence sound(derived from bands like t-rex,slade,sweet etc). But what the hell am i complainin for. Atleast,they don't sound like those crap 90's alternative/grunge music. rate:7/10

From: Dusty	Date: June 7, 2005 at 6:38
This is a great album, slightly heavier and more raw then we are used from the the Leps, but that ain't a bad thing! Desert Song, Fractured Love, Ring Of Fire and Action are my fav's, From The Inside is also very good, completely not Def Lep, but great all the same! This is a must have!

From: headbanger4life	Date: December 1, 2005 at 5:19
A nice collection of b-side and unreleased Lep material. I liked Ring of Fire and Desert Song. The original verions of Ring of Fire (a Hysteria b-side) was better though. I had it on a rare 3" Japanese cd single.

From: bladerunner	Date: April 20, 2006 at 1:03
Pretty decent album. I like the b-side tracks. If you like Action; try Steve Stevens version off of Atomic Playboys.

From: DazBuFF

Date: August 2, 2006 at 3:02

just to let all you lepp-rats know, the b-sides on this cd were remixed into weaker versions of the original b-sides that appeared on the cdsingles (mostly cdsingles from england). the original tear it down and ring of fire songs were really kick ass!!! tear it down appeared on adrenalize as a remix (not the original version which kicked total ass.......probably thier best song ever or at least one of them dazbuff

From: Metalmusicman

Date: January 11, 2007 at 16:24

Bottom line on this one is that you end up having to have it for "Desert Song" and "Fractured Love" alone because they are the heaviest songs Leppard has ever done and are just instant must haves for any Leppard fan, but throw in "Ride Into The Sun", "She's Too Tough" and the killer ballads "Two Steps Behind" and "Miss You In A Heartbeat" and now it's turning into a pretty damn good album. So while it might not be their best, it is definitely one any Leppard fan should have!

From: ANR	Date: March 20, 2007 at 8:27
Mostly lyrical "compilation", so not my cup of tea. But of course there are songs which rock well ("Desert Song", "Fractured Love", "Ring of Fire", "Wanna Be Your Hero"). You can give it a miss... 6/10

From: Carlos A.

Date: March 20, 2007 at 13:33

Meritorio resultado de la reunion de temas sobrantes del Hysteria, un soundtrack y por alli algunos covers que esta banda las hizo totalamente suyas, y es que todo el disco esta OKEY "Fractured Love","She's Too Tough","Ride Into The Sun","I Wanna Be Your Hero" "Action"...tienen esa esencia de hard melodico muy Leppard y claro ademas con esos coros que fueron y aun son escuelas de muchas bandas desde sus epocas de la NWBHM cuando fueron catalogados como los mas suaves. Y con una portada!!!! 9/10

From: walesforever	Date: April 2, 2007 at 16:19
This just shows how good Leppard are. Even their B-Sides are great rock tunes. Ring of Fire and I wanna be your hero are really good songs. Also Two Steps Behind is featured in The Last Action Hero.

From: Melodic Man	Date: August 9, 2007 at 8:06
Bin von dem Teil positiv überrascht.Hätte nicht gedacht,das mir das Teil so viel Freude bereitet.Kann ich uneingeschränkt weiter empfehlen !

From: shoemaker	Date: August 9, 2007 at 10:40
Ja, ist fast so stark wie die alten Klassiker ;]

From: Rambo Rockerman	Date: January 20, 2008 at 11:00
It's not too bad,pretty good and worth getting.

From: kai-2	Date: October 6, 2008 at 19:51
Great compilation of B-Sides, demos & leftovers. Great simple, straight-forward, no electronics-added rocking tunes like "I Wanna Be Your Hero", "Action", "Ring Of Fire", "Ride Into The Sun" and "She´s Too Tough". As posted above, worth getting.

From: metalmaniac777

Date: December 27, 2009 at 11:21

A solid entry in the Def Leppard discography, but if I never heard it again, it wouldn't bother me much. To my ears, this sounds exactly like what it is--a collection of B-sides that weren't worthy enough to be included on a proper release. Yes, it's nice to hear them rock retro-heavy again like the good ol' days on "Fractured Love" and they conjure up another stellar ballad with "Two Steps Behind", but for every killer there's at least two fillers, severely diluting the album's appeal and listening longevity. So while I don't actively hate it, I rarely reach for it either.

From: edwithmj

Date: November 16, 2011 at 17:24

Hit and miss: mostly miss. The version of Action is quite interesting but is nowhere near as good as Sweet's version or indeed Black 'N Blue's version. The album is a collection of B-sides and this doesn't surprise me in the least. The ony song worth noting is Miss You In A Heartbeat and even that is a soppy ballad that came out four years too late and there are three versions of it on this disc alone! Very average.

From: Doghouse Reilly

Date: November 16, 2011 at 18:04

Three of these songs, in slightly different form, made it onto the deluxe reissue of Hysteria. "Ride Into The Sun" actually dates back to the band's First Strike EP from '79, but shows up here with a stupid piano intro. Otherwise, "Desert Song" and "Fractured Love" are heavy (for Leppard), the Sweet cover is catchy. "Two Steps Behind" and "Miss You In A Heartbeat" are okay if you like horribly sappy ballads (and some of you do). A pretty forgettable release overall.

From: rick kerch vzla

Date: November 25, 2011 at 18:47

edwithmj and Doghouse Reilly basically said it all ...some songs with different versions of the same and another ones adapted to new versions plus the Sweet cover...the ballads "Miss You In A Heartbeat" & "Two Steps Behind" were the boosters of this album undoubtebly(chessy ballads by the way)plus the likables of "Fractured Love","Ride Into The Sun"(rocks!),"Ring Of Fire" & "I Wanna Be Your Hero"(nice)..didn't mind about the Sweet cover at all...just ok...The Leppards have been around too many years with ups and downs in their career(we all know about it) but one thing is for sure,love it or hate it,they will always put out records for different kind of listeners(from heavy stuff to the most subtle happy pop rock)...80/100

From: Doghouse Reilly	Date: May 17, 2013 at 13:42
I think I bought this in early '94, because it was out, and because I was a fan fo Leppard. It was quickly forgotten, though, and only rarely played after the first couple weeks. In hindsight, I can't believe I was standing there with this tape in one hnd, and Anthrax's Sound Of White Noise in the other, and opted for Retro Active.

From: Dramarama	Date: September 23, 2014 at 21:44
I feel like despite the big sales Hysteria and Adrenalize were candy coated misteps and to my ears sonically unappealing, but with Retro Active that Lepps found a way to get back to rock and roll and strike a balance between pop and thinking man's metal. Two Steps Behind is one of the best ballads ever written.

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