10 Biggest Sell Out Albums In Hard Rock Music History

Ever since hitting their heights in the ‘80s, Def Leppard were never considered snobs for the way they presented themselves. These guys were just fans of music like the rest of us, and they loved the British pop of the ‘70s just as much as they loved the beginnings of hard rock and heavy metal that came their way. Though Hysteria was the perfect marriage of both sides of their sound, the rest of their days would be a struggle to hit that balance again.

Though Slang had given them a reputation as trend chasers, X was the first Def Leppard album to have almost every ounce of rock and roll sucked out of its body, bringing together big name producers at the time to create a very ‘00s style pop record. Before any of the seasoned rock fans cry “sell out” over this, the years of writing hooks in the ‘80s actually worked to their advantage here, and their knack for pop rock is actually not too bad on songs like Long Way to Go or Four Letter Word.

Since these guys had been in the game for a while, you can’t blame them for wanting to take a risk, let alone one that actually worked pretty damn well. The classics aren’t going anywhere any time soon, but the new school of Leppard wasn’t going to be a total loss or anything.