10 Rock Bands That Made Songs Specifically For Movies

The idea of having Def Leppard do anything that’s stripped down feels like it should be a mistake. These were the kings of the hair metal scene who layered choirs of harmonies on top of each other, so why would we want to hear them go the way of MTV Unplugged? There was a way to do it, and we saw a different side of Leppard thanks to a force of nature…a force named Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Though hair metal was on its last legs at the turn of the ‘90s, the soundtrack for Last Action Hero had Leppard break out the acoustic for the song Two Steps Behind, which turned into a sleeper hit after their record Adrenalize. While Leppard had flirted with acoustic guitars on some of their other ballads like Foolin in the past, hearing them in this more stripped down state is actually a breath of fresh air from them.

Without having the heavily processed vocals taking over the mix, this feels closer to seeing them in an intimate venue, with the harmonies blending much more naturally than they would in the Hysteria era of the band. The ‘90s were not going to be kind to any of the hair metal titans, but Leppard made their first steps into the next generation almost look easy.