10 Hard Rock Songs That Were Supposed To Be Classics (But Tanked)

Not many hair metal acts can boast the track record for amazing songs quite like Def Leppard can. Originally being lumped in with the New Wave of British Heavy Metal, Leppard stormed out of the gate like seasoned veterans on Pyromania, which gave them nearly half an album's worth of classic material. Though it's awesome to get that once, no one really get it's twice. Except Def Leppard did...and on a whim no less.

When going through the songs to release before the record came out, Leppard's manager had the idea of album opener Women being the first single. As far as classic Leppard songs go, it isn't too shabby, having just the right amount of crunch and melody to appease both the pop rock crowd and the heavy metal fans still holding on to the rougher sound of the group.

After a few weeks though, Women quickly sank like a stone, leading to Leppard taking a gamble on a song they wrote at the very end of the session, which became the '80s anthem Pour Some Sugar on Me. While Hysteria might be known as the group's unofficial greatest hits album at this point, Women is far from the most celebrated in their catalog, with fans even preferring deep cuts over this track. When taken in the context of the rest of the record though, this works as a worthy sendoff for the final days of the heavier side of Leppard's sound.