Part Three of the Def Leppard Review Series
DEF LEPPARD – When the Walls Came Tumbling Down – New Theatre, Oxford 1980 (The Early Years Disc 3) (2019)
Of Leppard’s many live releases, When the Walls Came Tumbling Down is the most ferocious. The early Leppard including Steve Clark and Pete Willis was a different kind of predator. This particular setlist, captured after the release of the debut album On Through the Night, is extremely valuable to fans. The band performed all 11 albums tracks, a clutch of early singles, and unreleased material.
“When the Walls Came Tumbling Down” is played first, full speed ahead. Joe playfully changes one of the choruses to “When Oxford Came Tumbling Down”, and without pause they barrel right into the adrenalized “It Could Be You”. There are no touch-ups or fixes done to these recordings.
The single “Rock Brigade” has a different flavour, more focused on the melody, with the foot less on the gas pedal. Joe Elliot demonstrates confidence. Rick Allen is a monster on the drums and Rick Savage is audibly holding it down. Keeping to a similar tempo, “Satellite” swaggers all over the stage with determination, and Pete Willis absolutely slaughters on the solo.
There’s only a brief respite. “Medicine Man” is an unreleased song that was later reworked into “Rock Rock (‘Til You Drop)” from Pyromania. The quiet opening only lasts a moment before that now-familiar riff kicks in. There’s no question that “Medicine Man” benefited from its later evolution, but many elements of the song were already, joyfully, in place.
“Answer to the Master” is rolled out with that snakey riff, and Joe is extra-engaging. A trend is now apparent: virtually all these songs are better than they are on album. Another unreleased gem called “When the Rain Falls” might be more familiar under its later name, “Let It Go” from High N’ Dry. Some elements including the riff survived to the final track, but what a serious riff that is! When Leppard had both Willis and Clark in the band, they were a riff factory.
Back to On Through the Night, “Sorrow is a Woman” is more lively than it is on LP. Same with the non-album single “Good Morning Freedom”. From the drums to vocals to sheer energy, it’s better than its studio counterpart, with an intense solo to burn.
“It Don’t Matter” has a cool groove, and more drive than it does on album. This version is evidence that Joe already had ample frontman abilities. This takes us to “Overture”, the Leppard epic with the soft opening and big arrangement. This is where Leppard’s two lead guitarists get to show off in dramatic fashion.
The last unreleased song is “Lady Strange” from High N’ Dry, which is in more complete shape than the other two. As it is on album, it’s one of Leppard’s most impressive songs so far. Riff, verse and chorus are combined in perfect form. Only minor tweaking would be needed before it was album ready.
The final batch of album songs for the night are laid out. “Getcha Rocks Off” is a blast. “Hello America” is looser than album. And “Wasted”? Total blitzkreig. Unstoppable and unbelievable. Finally the very last track, “Ride Into the Sun” is the timeless beloved B-side, originally from the Def Leppard EP making it three for three EP tracks. It’s over before you know it, two and a half minutes are gone and that’s all folks!
Even though it is completely lacking in hit singles, it might not be going out on a stretch to say that When the Walls Came Tumbling Down is a strong contender for Best Live Def Leppard album.
4.75/5 stars
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- The Early Years Disc Four – Too Many Jitterbugs – EP, singles & unreleased
mikeladano.com 
Def Leppard were much more hungrier and intense in those early years with Pete and Steve. Unfortunately, they were never the same again when Pete was let go and it got worse when Steve passed away. I still love the band, but man they could’ve been huge (bigger that ‘Hysteria’ even). I love hearing tracks like “Medicine Man” and “When the Rain Falls” in their early stages before they were released because it shows how far the band has come and how the hard work would pay off when those tracks were finally released.
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I disagree, they could never have gotten bigger than Hysteria. That was the biggest album of any heavy metal band, former or otherwise. They tried to top it and have never been able to.
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Yeah, but maybe they weren’t reaching for the right people with the ‘Hysteria’ album. If the band aimed for a different audience, maybe those guys would’ve dug their heavy rock sound they had going in the earlier years and made the band big without going too commercial.
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No they aimed for the right audience: the mainstream. The majority. Everybody else aimed for every audience you can think of. Only Leppard nailed it.
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Ok yes, aiming for the mainstream helped the band make big money. But come on, I’d pick ‘Pyromania’ and ‘High ‘n’ Dry’ over ‘Hysteria’ any day! They were more mean back then and they kind of went soft with the ‘Hysteria’ album.
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You would have picked, but several million people preferred Hysteria.
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Which would you pick then? ‘Hysteria’ or ‘High ‘n’ Dry’?
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Great review sir. There is no argument from me on any of this because as you say, this could quite possibly the best live show they’ve ever released. They are crazy hungry, aggressive and the guitar duo of Willis and Clark is the what makes this shine. Amazing stuff.
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I wonder if they have more live albums like this in the can? They were hanging onto these for so long, I bet they must have.
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They have to have something.
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I know that they do — whether it’s up to quality or not, that’s not up to me!
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I have a bootleg from one of those early shows…almost identical to what was released here.
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In other words it’s great?
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ABSO”F’NG”LUTELY!!
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The 1983 L.A. Forum show on the deluxe release of Pyromania is a great show as well.
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It’s awesome! I reviewed that one a little further into the series. I think you’ll dig the review.
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Agreed. great show. I wish they would release more early 80’s shows. I think we only have 2 so far (and I have a 3rd bootleg).
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Nice one Mike – this was a RSD release on vinyl this year and it sounds absolutely amazing. I prefer my Lepps rockier and this really does just hit the spot.
oh and ‘Joe is extra-engaging’ – it’s just a Joe thing Mike, its what we do.
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PAH, RSD vinyl. Making you pay extra for the privileged of surface noise. Or just buy this 5 CD and get 5 times the music.
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Life has surface noise, Mike.
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This is an undeniable truth that I have spent much of this afternoon trying to refute.
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I remember listening to this and thinking, Willis and Clarke are a pretty ferocious guitar duo on this.
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They are pretty damn awesome.
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It is precisely because it lacks hit singles that I would say this is probably their best live album. I love the early years best, and we’ve just heard all the hits so many damn times.
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This is all true. But there being no singles, it’s all pretty heavy too — which doesn’t hurt at all!
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Hell no. Let’s go! \m/ \m/
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