On Through the Night

On Through the Night
Studio album by
Def Leppard
Released14 March 1980 (1980-03-14)
RecordedDecember 1979
StudioStartling (Ascot, Berkshire)
Genre
Length43:47
LabelVertigo
Producer(Colonel) Tom Allom
Def Leppard chronology
The Def Leppard E.P.
(1979) 		On Through the Night
(1980) 		High 'n' Dry
(1981)
Singles from On Through the Night
  1. "Wasted"
    Released: 2 November 1979[1]
  2. "Hello America"
    Released: 8 February 1980[2]
  3. "Rock Brigade"
    Released: 14 May 1980 (US)[3]
Audio
"Album" playlist on YouTube

On Through the Night is the debut studio album by the English rock band Def Leppard, released on 14 March 1980.[4] The album was produced by Tom Allom. It charted at No. 15 on the UK Albums Chart[5] and No. 51 on the Billboard 200.[6] The album features re-recorded versions of "Rocks Off" and "Overture", tracks from the band's original independently released EP, The Def Leppard E.P.. Other tracks are re-recorded versions of early demos, some of which later appeared on the 2020 box set The Early Years 79–81.[7] The album was certified gold by the RIAA on 18 November 1983 and platinum on 9 May 1989.[8]

"Wasted", "Hello America" and "Rock Brigade" were released as singles. However, the version of "Wasted" that appears on the single is a different recording from that of the LP, as is its B-side, "Hello America".

The spoken word intro to "When the Walls Came Tumbling Down" was performed by Dave Cousins of Strawbs. Joe Elliott had done the spoken portion in earlier live performances and demo recordings that showed up on some early bootlegs. In his biography, Cousins claims that he did his best Laurence Olivier impersonation for the song's intro.

  1. ^ "Music Week" (PDF). p. 46.
  2. ^ Hung, Steffen. "Def Leppard - Hello America". Hitparade.ch. Retrieved 3 August 2024.
  3. ^ Hung, Steffen. "Def Leppard - Rock Brigade". Hitparade.ch. Retrieved 3 August 2024.
  4. ^ Peacock, Tim (14 March 2023). "'On Through The Night': Def Leppard's Debut Remains A NWOBHM Classic". uDiscover Music. Retrieved 1 September 2023.
  5. ^ "Def Leppard Official Charts". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 13 August 2015.
  6. ^ "Def Leppard Chart History". Billboard.com. Billboard. Retrieved 30 April 2022.
  7. ^ Grow, Kory (29 January 2020). "Def Leppard Collect Unreleased Earliest Recordings for New Box Set". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
  8. ^ "RIAA Searchable Database: search for "Def Leppard"". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 14 August 2015.