LA Music Blog's Shannon Joy has issued an interview with DEF LEPPARD guitarist Phil Collen. An excerpt follows:

Q: Def Leppard are back from a brief hiatus with Mirrorball, the band’s first official live release. Why wait until now to put out a live offering?

A: "We actually didn’t get the time up until now. It’s always been album-tour-album-tour, and believe it or not, this was the first real break we’ve had in 30 years. You get off tour, and it’s pretty much straight into recording another album. So it never really seemed valid or the right time, but now it’s absolutely perfect. We had a year off, and we record every show, so we were able to gather all the stuff up and there you go–choose the best stuff."

Q: The album actually features a few new studio songs as well. How does this new material compare to the band’s past work?

A: "You know, it’s really interesting. When you put any band’s greatest hits on, even if the stuff was recorded in a span of two decades or even longer, you can still tell that it’s the same band. So I think they sound obviously Def Leppard; they sound very much like classic Def Leppard, whatever that is, or whatever that may be. (laughs) But you know, you listen to it for like ten seconds and you go, 'Oh yeah, that’s Def Leppard'.”

Read the full interview at this location.

Frontiers Records recently announced the signing of Def Leppard for the release of the upcoming live album, Mirrorball on June 17th in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, June 20th in the rest of Europe and June 23rd in France.

On June 7th, Mirrorball, will be released exclusively at Walmart and Sam's Club locations in North America. The Walmart pre-order has been launched at this location.

Joe Elliott says: "I'm really happy that we've been able to include three brand new songs on the album, all VERY different from each other & a teaser of what our next studio album will be like. We could have waited until next year, but to be quite honest, we're so excited with the new songs we want people to hear them now!"

Rick Savage adds: "The three new songs on this release are what Def Leppard is and has always has been about. These songs are not just thrown in to have something not heard before. Personally, I think it's THE best work we have put together in years. From the 'Sugar' quality of 'Undefeated' to the Hysteria/Animal melodic rock of 'It's All About Believing', to the ambitious and over the top epic, 'Kings Of The world'. The message is in the titles. If ever you needed reminding, the heartbeat of Leppard is as strong as ever."

The triple disc package features two CDs and a 50 minute DVD containing live performances and intimate backstage footage of the band captured on the road. The following six songs - four filmed in concert and two promo videos - will be included on the DVD:

'Rock! Rock! (Till You Drop)'

'Armageddon It'

'Pour Some Sugar On Me'

'Hysteria'

'Nine Lives' (music video)

'C'Mon C'Mon' (DVD) (music video)

The full Mirrorball CD tracklisting is as follows:

Disc 1:

'Rock! Rock! (Till You Drop)'

'Rocket'

'Animal'

'C'Mon C'Mon'

'Make Love Like A Man'

'Too Late For Love'

'Foolin'

'Nine Lives'

'Love Bites'

'Rock On'

Disc 2:

'Two Steps Behind'

'Bringin' On The Heartbreak'

'Switch 625'

'Hysteria'

'Armageddon It'

'Photograph'

'Pour Some Sugar On Me'

'Rock Of Ages'

'Let's Get Rocked'

'Action'

'Bad Actress'

'Undefeated' (new studio track)

'Kings Of The World' (new studio track)

'It's All About Believin' (new studio track)

Def Leppard's new single, 'Undefeated' is available on iTunes and is now streaming on YouTube below:

Def Leppard's Mirrorball will be released in Germany, Switzerland and Austria on June 3rd and the UK and Europe on June 6th.

Def Leppard will return to North American stages with special guests HEART on a 48-city summer tour kicking off on June 15th in West Palm Beach, Florida. Check out the complete itinerary here.

Def Leppard were guests on The Tonight Show With Jay Leno last night, Tuesday, May 10th. Footage of the band performing 'Pour Some Sugar On Me' can be seen below:

The band earlier updated their website to reveal a couple of photos from the set. Check out the shots below: