Songs from the Sparkle Lounge
by Def Leppard
  • Record Label: Mercury
  • Release Date: Apr 29, 2008
User Score
8.1

Universal acclaim- based on 24 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 19 out of 24
  2. Mixed: 5 out of 24
  3. Negative: 0 out of 24

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  1. BitBurn
    May 20, 2008
    4
    Nowhere near close to the glory days of Pyromania and Hysteria. Def Leppard without Mutt Lange is like bread without butter. They should stop wasting their time making records and focus exclusively on touring.
  2. Mislav
    May 16, 2008
    6
    I like Def Leppard, and I generally prefer newer music to older music, but this is a somewhat lacking album compared to most of their previous works. 'Go' is a great opener, but Bad Actress is the only thing that comes close it its intensity throughout the remainder of the album. They just play it too safe this time around, and it's not particularly engaging.
  3. DamienS.
    Jun 26, 2008
    5
    This is easily the worst album of Def Leppard's mostly-stellar career. The few songs where they truly throw themselves into something approaching the '70s glam rock that populated the 2006 covers album "Yeah!" ("C'mon C'mon," "Hallucinate," "Gotta Let It Go," and "Only the Good Die Young") showcase a newfound energy within the band, but that energy does not find its This is easily the worst album of Def Leppard's mostly-stellar career. The few songs where they truly throw themselves into something approaching the '70s glam rock that populated the 2006 covers album "Yeah!" ("C'mon C'mon," "Hallucinate," "Gotta Let It Go," and "Only the Good Die Young") showcase a newfound energy within the band, but that energy does not find its way onto the other tracks (espeically "Love" and "Bad Actress," two of the sleepiest performances in rock history) as the band trudges through a heavier version of their patented sound minus the hooks that were so plentiful in their heyday. Also, a note for country fans: "Nine Lives" is simply not the slightest bit country and Tim McGraw's presence is so unnecessary that it could easily go unnoticed. I've listened through it 4 times now (it is, after all, a Def Leppard album) and I simply cannot rank the album as a whole or any single song on it as belonging among the band's earlier output. Here's hoping they push the '70s glam rock envelope more on their next album and leave the attempts at recreating the '80s behind.… Expand
  4. danielcardoso
    Apr 12, 2013
    5
    It's an average album. It has ups and downs. The album's first songs are epic and awesome, but then it just lacks in quality as it's not consistent. Go is an epic song, opening the spectacle with strength. Nine Lives and C'mon are awesome. Then the album starts to let me down. Hallucinate is hearable and Gotta Let It Go is awesome but Elliott's ballads are awful. They remind me of cheesyIt's an average album. It has ups and downs. The album's first songs are epic and awesome, but then it just lacks in quality as it's not consistent. Go is an epic song, opening the spectacle with strength. Nine Lives and C'mon are awesome. Then the album starts to let me down. Hallucinate is hearable and Gotta Let It Go is awesome but Elliott's ballads are awful. They remind me of cheesy awful boys bands. Anyway the album is an average artwork… Expand

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
47

Mixed or average reviews - based on 8 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 0 out of 8
  2. Mixed: 7 out of 8
  3. Negative: 1 out of 8
  1. AllMusic
    60
    It's a partially successful successor to "Yeah!," following through on some of the overall feel and punch but lacking enough songs to truly bring it across the goal line.
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  2. Billboard
    60
    The band's first new set since 2002 is full of these well-intentioned attempts to recapture some of that '80s pyromania (or in the case of the absurdly large power ballad 'Love,' herculean '70s prog-rock balladry), but without producer Robert "Mutt" Lange, who left for the much more profitable world of country years ago, the results are solid if unspectacular.
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  3. NOW Magazine
    60
    While they must know they won’t be reinventing the wheel any time soon, Sparkle Lounge is their most upbeat music in a while.
    Read full review
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