10 Bands That Actually Got Better After Losing Members
6. Def Leppard
Contrary to popular belief, Def Leppard were never really in the trenches with the hair metal scene. Despite being the darlings of MTV in its golden age, the group's original incarnation as a borderline metal band was a bit strange for fans who saw Photograph and tried to play catchup. However, in order to actually get to where they were, they needed to lose a bit of dead weight.
During their hard rock years, the main supplier of riffs was Pete Willis, whose fantastic lead and rhythm lines can be heard on On Through the Night and High N Dry, which even resulted in their first big hit with Bringin on the Heartbreak. On the other hand, Willis's drinking problem could no longer be ignored when it came time to cut the tracks for their breakthrough album Pyromania.
Often stumbling into the control room, Willis would fumble over his guitar and get into spats with producer Mutt Lange. After giving him a few weeks to clean up, the rest of the guys ended up drafting in Phil Collen, who was just the right kind of guitar technician they needed to really wow the crowds. Though Willis did end up contributing rhythm tracks to Pyromania, the moment belongs to Collen, as Def Leppard had finally solidified the lineup that would take them to the top of the glam rock food chain.