"We want to play as loud and as often as possible, and if anyone can't take what we play, let 'em listen to the bleedin' Bee Gees."

"We're so pleased with the addition of Phil Collen. I had known him before when he played with a band called Girl. He was a great guitarist then, and since he was working in tandem with another guitarist in that band, we figured he'd be able to step into our two-guitar lineup without much problem. We were right, Phil's been just great to work with. He was able to contribute a lot to Pyromania, and he's been a joy on tour. His addition has made us stronger than ever."

"People always ask me how we got the name of Def Leppard. Actually, it came from a poster I had made which depicted a rather strange-looking jungle cat with a hearing horn at his ear. I called him the deaf leopard. The guys in the band loved the poster, and after a bit of work, we decided to call ourselves Def Leppard. The name is funny, but it has strength."

"One of my favorite songs on Pyromania is "Die Hard The Hunter." The story it tells is very important. It's about a soldier who returns from war, yet who can't adapt to regular life. It's a problem that's happening more and more often these days. I know in America they have that problem with their Vietnam veterans. In fact, the movie The Deer Hunter touched on much the same topic."

"Pyromania is the best album we've ever done. It has a strong rock and roll feel, yet we've been able to inject a lot of melody into each song. Some hard rock bands view melody as a dirty word - not us. We think it's possible to be heavy and still write songs that are melodic. that's what separates us from a lot of other bands. They've heavy metal, we're light alloy."

"We've toured with a lot of bands. We went through Europe with Ritchie Blackmore and we covered the States with AC/DC. We love going on the road. We're at our best on stage. A record can't capture what we sound like once those lights go up. There's a special electricity there, and we make the most of it."

"Our first album was a record for the 1970s. High 'n' Dry was a record for the 1980s. Pyromania is a record for the 1990s. It's taken everything we've done before and expanded on it. We worked harder on this album than on any of the others, and the hard work paid off. This album really rocks!"

"Our producer, Mutt Lange, is perfect for us. He doesn't just accept what we do and say, 'O.K. that's great.' He's always pushing us and challenging us. We like to think that we push ourselves, but having someone like Mutt, who you know is going to always give you an honest opinion, is an invaluable help. He's helped make Def Leppard the band it is today."

"People have accused us of not being very spontaneous on stage. They say, 'You don't jam enough.' They want us to play like Cream did 20 years ago. Those days are gone. We produce our music to be succinct and powerful. We don't want to lose our power by playing every song for half an hour."

"I started out in a band called Atomic Mass. We played a lot of old Thin Lizzy and T. Rex tunes in clubs. We fired our vocalist one day and hired Joe in his place. That's when things started to happen. We got Steve (Clark) and Rick (Allen) to join up and Def Leppard was born."

"Our fans are the best in the world. We know if we ask them to stand and cheer, they will. If we ask them to clap along they will. I guess you could call it a love affair - we love our fans and they love us."

"We've learned that videos can play a big part in helping a band become successful in America. We released the video for "Bringin' On the Heartache" quite a while after the release of High 'n' Dry, yet the response was unbelievable. MTV played it, and the record went back up the charts. It was unbelievable. We realized then that videos were going to play a big role with this band."

"Our first single wasn't put out by any big-name record company. We had been playing in clubs for a while and we wanted to put out an EP. None of the record companies would have us. They told us that our type of rock and roll wasn't happening. We decided to show 'em they were wrong, so we recorded the stuff on our own and put it out on our own private label, Bludgeon Riffola Records. When it started to sell a lot of copies, the record companies 'suddenly' discovered us. It was strange, but we felt vindicated."

"It's an incredible feeling to stand on stage and see so many people getting into your music. I can't imagine there being a more satisfying feeling in the world. How many other professions have instant gratification like that? The crowds make us feel loved, make us feel wanted, every night. We're so thankful to the fans who come out and cheer us on. They are the show."

"We've developed a reputation as pretty heavy drinkers. I don't know if that's really true. Sure, we enjoy hoisting a few pints. but then, who doesn't? We're surely not a bunch of alcoholics, though some guys in the papers would have you believe that we couldn't go on stage unless we were really crocked. That's a load of rubbish. When it comes to performing we're very professional, but after the show, we may let our hair down a bit."

"When we first started touring after the release of On Through The Night, a lot of people kept calling us a 'punk' band. Obviously they never saw us. Evidently, a paper would assign a writer to cover the show, and the guy would unload his ticket for a few quid, go home and write the review anyway. They all called us 'punk,' because the name sounded that way."