Speaking with Music Radar, Def Leppard's Phil Collen revealed the 10 guitarists that blew his mind. Following is an excerpt from the rundown. 

Richie Blackmore

Collen: "He’s the reason I ended up picking up the guitar! My cousin took me to see Deep Purple at the Brixton Sundown, which is the Academy now, on the Machine Head tour – so they were doing 'Highway Star', 'Smoke On The Water', all that stuff. We got in on the front row, right against the stage, and they blew my mind. From that point on, I told my mum and dad to get me a guitar because it was all I wanted. It took two years to persuade them, but that changed everything! Blackmore wasn’t typical, while he was a blues-influenced player he’d throw in all this other stuff too. He had this brilliant power and technique, it was like blues on fire!"

Michael Schenker

Collen: "Michael Schenker was and still is a huge deal to me. Like Mick Ronson, he’s another guy that I really notice in my playing when I pick a guitar up. Especially when it comes to feel and vibrato, he’s one of the magical few that just has everything spot-on. There’s a lot I adopted from those solos, and then there’s that incredible tone he had too. When I’m plugged, I feel like it’s easy to tell how much of an influence he has been on me over the years."

Gary Moore

Collen: "I could keep going forever with this list… but Gary is one of my favourites that had it all – the tone, the vibrato, the technique, the speed, the passion, everything. When he played the blues, it always sounded great.  I was very lucky when his band opened up for Def Leppard on the Pyromania tour and we got to jam together in his dressing room. He had the famous Peter Green Les Paul, it was sitting so I asked, ‘Is that that guitar?!’ And he said, ‘Yes, wanna play it?’ to which I said ‘Fuck yeah!’ I sat there for hours, we played until I got a blister on my finger… I was just watching him and realised I had been playing all his licks wrong, so sat right opposite I got to learn them properly. I was on his Les Paul and he was on my Charvel, with the whammy bar, haha! It was an amazing experience."

Check out Collen's complete list here.

Def Leppard have debuted their full recording catalog worldwide via streaming and download platforms. One of the last multi-platinum selling acts to be made available on streaming and download, music fans from all corners of the globe can now enjoy tracks and albums from Def Leppard who have sold more than 100 million albums worldwide to become one of rock’s most enduring and influential bands.

Said Joe Elliott, “It is with a mixture of relief & euphoria that we now see our entire catalog finally getting a digital release. Having embraced every other format with open arms, especially & more recently the reemergence of vinyl, we’re now going to be available to everyone everywhere and honestly, it’s as exciting as the original releases were.”

Added Rick Savage, "Finally the wait is over! Our music is now available on all digital formats. Very excited. Thanks for your patience and continued support."

Phil Collen also said, “We felt we'd been left out of the digital party but it's a thrill to us to finally accept the invitation and to be able to say ‘yeah, you can stream us, download us and get us great on all of these digital outlets’.”

As a cornerstone of rock and roll’s history, Def Leppard’s substantial career includes numerous hit singles including their first early chart hit “Wasted” - to their radio and MTV staples “Bringin’ On The Heartbreak”, “Photograph”, “Rock of Ages”, “Too Late”, “Animal”, “Armageddon It”, “Love Bites”, “Rocket”, and “Let’s Get Rocked".

Their ground-breaking multi-platinum albums - including two of the best-selling albums of all time with sales of more than 10 million copies each in the US alone, Pyromania and Hysteria, captured some of the group’s legendary tracks, bringing together classic Leppard hits such as “Pour Some Sugar on Me”, “Hysteria” and “Foolin’”.

The group continued their success expanding into the world of film, covers, and new collaborations including “Two Steps Behind” from the film Last Action Hero, “No Matter What”/”Waterloo Sunset” and “Nine Lives” with Tim McGraw as well as straight ahead Def Leppard hits “When Love and Hate Collide”, “Slang”, “Work It Out”, “Promises” and “Now.” Finally, all of Def Leppard’s awe-inspiring music is available for everyone around the world, from the band’s eponymous debut EP through to their most recent album.

In conjunction with the release of their catalog, Def Leppard also announced they will embark on a massive co-headlining tour with Journey. Comprised of stadiums and arena venues around the US, the 58-city run is set to kick off in Hartford, CT on May 21st and will wrap in Los Angeles, CA on October 6th.

Complete details here.

Def Leppard titles now available across all streaming and download platforms include:

The Def Leppard EP (1979)
On Through The Night (1980)
High ‘N’ Dry (1981)
Pyromania (1983)
Hysteria (1987)
Adrenalize (1992)
Retro Active (1993)
Vault (1995)
Slang (1996)
Euphoria (1999)
X (2002)
Yeah! (2006)
Songs From The Sparkle Lounge (2008)
Mirror Ball - Live & More (2011)
Def Leppard (2015)