Def Leppard have posted Part 1 of a new 6-part series, The Hysteria Files With Phil Collen, in celebration of the 30th Anniversary of the band's Hysteria album.   Check it out below.

Celebrating the 30th Anniversary of their smash hit Hysteria album, Def Leppard have reissued it multiple deluxe formats and have been doing a huge amount of press. Bassist Rick Savage recently spoke with Music Radar about Hysteria, offering up a track-by-track overview. Following is an excerpt from the rundown:

"Animal"

Savage: “It’s a very strange song, in that we completely finished the demo in Dublin where we had been writing. The vocal line was all finished, same with the lyrics and by the time we got to recording it properly, it was a little bit to leaden. The guitar parts were a little too heavy for the nature of vocals that Joe had in mind, so we stripped it back – which we’d never really done before. Normally, we create the guitars first and put the melodies on top. So we had the finished song and decided to keep the melody but completely rewrite the backing track, which was really different for us!

There isn’t part of the original song that stayed, except for a bit of the breakdown section. We wanted to make it more lightweight and pop-orientated because originally it sounded like a second-rate Van Halen riff that didn’t quite match up to the friendly, commercial-sounding vocals.”

"Pour Some Sugar On Me"

Savage: “It’s a strange one, this. You sometimes have to ask yourself, ‘Why did this song become so popular?’ It defied a lot of logic. I’ve got to be honest, it’s one of the songs I had the least amount of input in. In fact, I wasn’t even in the country! As far as I was concerned, the album was finished, recorded and ready for mixing. So I’d left – I had mentally checked out and was back at my home in Dublin.

Then all of a sudden, Joe was finishing off some random vocals and came up with the rhythm and vibe of the verse. Mutt walked into the room and was like, ‘Stop what you’re doing – we need to make a song out of this!’ So my phone rang and they were like, ‘Dude you need to come back, we’ve written another song!' We reconvened back in the studio and finished the song in about four days. Which is interesting, considering the album took four or five years to make! It happened because Mutt heard something that the album didn’t have.

When it was first released, it wasn’t a hit at all… this song was a slow-burner. It wasn't until the live version had aired on MTV a year later that it all took off and became the anthem we’re most known for.”

Go to this location for the complete overview.

As part of the 30th anniversary celebrations of Hysteria, Def Leppard has released the following video clip, 11 Things You Didn't Know About Hysteria.

Def Leppard celebrate the 30th anniversary of their seminal album, Hysteria, one of the best-selling and most influential releases in music history, with the release of Hysteria (Remastered 2017). Available now, the remastered anniversary edition is offered in various formats via Bludgeon Riffola / Mercury / UMe.

Essential listening for fans across the board, Hysteria indisputably ranks as one of the most decorated and revered rock albums of all time. As the group's second consecutive RIAA Diamond-certified record (10 million sales in the US), it would go on to sell over 30 million copies worldwide and 12 million in the US. Moreover, the record staked a spot in the US Top 40 for 96 weeks matched only by Born In The U.S.A. Dominating multiple charts, it captured No. 1 on the Billboard Top 200 and U.K. album charts, bolstered by immortal Top-5 anthems such as "Pour Some Sugar On Me”, "Animal”, "Love Bites”, "Hysteria”. "Rocket" and "Armageddon It”.

Hysteria left an indelible mark on rock 'n' roll. Powered by stadium-filling drums, rapturous guitars, and unshakable choruses, the record saw Def Leppard rightfully claim their place among rock's divinities forever. As a result, its influence now reverberates through three generations of artists to follow. It also historically marked their third straight collaboration with producer Robert John "Mutt" Lange.

The reissue is available in multiple formats: the 1-CD "Vanilla" version, a 3-CD Deluxe version, a 2-LP set on black vinyl, a 2-LP "Direct to Consumer" version on limited-edition colored vinyl and a massive, 5-CD/2-DVD Super Deluxe Edition.

The Deluxe edition includes a slew of additional rare tracks, including B-sides, radio edits, extended versions, alternate mixes and a BBC Radio "Classic Albums" documentary on Hysteria.

The Super Deluxe Edition also includes four books (Story Of, a Ross Halfin photo book, vintage tour program and poster). The two additional CDs include an audio version of the band's 1989 concert film, Live: In The Round, In Your Face, recorded during the US Hysteria tour. The two DVDs feature a series of promotional videos and live performance clips, along with the "Classic Albums" doc.

Step Inside: Hysteria At 30 mini-documentary:

Part 1:

Part 2:

Order via the Amazon widgets below. More options at MusicVaultz.com.