10 Hard Rock Albums That Were Worth The Wait
“Trees that are slow to grow bear the best fruit” - a quote definitely about any Metallica album.
Music fans are a patient bunch.
While film fans often only have to wait a year for the latest release in their preferred franchise (shout-out to fans of the MCU who get roughly three films a year) and gamers occupy a similar release schedule for content they could potentially enjoy ad infinitum; even the most energetic, money-conscious corporate pop punk band averages a 40 minute slab of gold every two years.
Studio albums are just a sea of time-sensitive variables. For the more upfront mainstream artists, it's a matter of collating producers, studio musicians, external writers, guest artists and for smaller independent artists, it's many of those same walls, with the added pressures of costs and mutual free time for those involved as many independent artists still hold full-time jobs.
There's also the obstacles that both sides face, such as tragedy, legal issues, or rampant egos.
Whatever the reason, it's always welcome (and somewhat wholesome) when an album comes along from our favourite artists that meets every expectation that fans have given it, even after all that time away. It's not enough to survive off the relief of seeing these musicians making music again, it's more about seeing these people return and absolutely slaying it.
10. Def Leppard - Hysteria
In January 1983, glam metal was in its stride.
Quiet Riot were topping the charts, the likes of Kix, Mötley Crüe, and Lita Ford were all coming through, Kiss steering even more heavily into glam, and some lads from the Steel City in the UK decided to challenge all of them as Def Leppard released Pyromania.
Armed with the likes of 'Photograph', 'Rock of Ages' and 'Foolin'', Leppard achieved mainstream success particularly in the US as it averaged around 100,000 sales per week in its debut year. Packed with momentum, new popularity, and a new guitarist in Phil Collen, the band set to work on a follow-up.
However, the journey to what would be Hysteria was marred by problems. The band struggled to secure a producer, frontman Joe Elliot had a bout of mumps, and most famously, drummer Rick Allen lost his arm in a car accident on New Year's Eve 1984.
The delays in-between albums only made the hearts of Def Leppard's UK fanbase grow stronger as when Hysteria was finally released in 1987, the album dominated the tops of the UK charts. Sporting iconic hits such as "Pour Some Sugar on Me", "Women", and "Animal", Hysteria remains a staple of hard rock, glam, and drunken karaoke to this day.