Last spring, Def Leppard began releasing newly-rerecorded versions of some of their classic hits.
First up were "Pour Some Sugar On Me" and "Rock Of Ages," redone as precisely as possible from their original 1980s versions.
The band later explained that the move was based on a situation created by their former record label, Universal Music.
Now, in a new interview with Classic Rock, vocalist Joe Elliott reaffirms the band’s position.
“We’re trying to wrestle back our career and ownership of these songs,” explained Elliott. “They [Universal] own the originals, we’re at loggerheads with them over the digital rights. And as long as they’re playing silly buggers we’ll just keep recording them again.”
“Until we can come to some kind of humane conclusion to this ridiculous stand-off, we’re going to say: ‘F you!’ he continued. “We were offered a great deal two years ago and shook hands on it. And then some other twat at the label put a stop to it. It’s our life and our music and we’re not going to let them exploit us to the extent that they’re trying to.”
“Between us and Bon Jovi, webuilt that company,” he insisted. “We built their penthouse sushi bar, wherever it may be, and they just treated us like s**t. We can either roll over like little dandelions or we can stand up and punch them in the bollocks. And that’s exactly what we’re doing.”
Last month, Leppard released an acoustic medley featuring several tracks played during their 2012 live shows.
The spring, the band will host their first-ever Las Vegas residency with an exclusive nine-show run entitled “VIVA Hysteria!”, where they will perform their iconic album, “Hysteria,” in full, in addition to a greatest hits segment.
The shows will run from March 22 through April 10, 2013 at the Hard Rock Casino's venue The Joint.
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