There's a black cloud looming over Def Leppard.Literally. For six sold-out shows on New York, the band has played outside in the pouring rain.Or, as Phil Collen says, "It's pissing down with rain here. You would not believe it!" Considering the long chain of misfortune that has been following the band, yes, you can believe it. The shocking part is that Mr. Collen is actually laughing as he says this.

And why not laugh? Def Leppards new album, Hysteria, ruled the charts and is selling like hotcakes; the video "Pour Some Sugar On Me" was number one on MTV; and their live shows are going very well despite the weather. But bear in mind that this is the same band whose drummer lost an arm in a tragic accident, whose singer had severe mumps and whose guitarists and producer have all been in auto mishaps. The black cloud has been mighty busy with these boys.

When Def Leppard recruited Phil Collen for their hugely successful Pyromania album, they solidified the heavy two-guitar sound that has catapulted them to super stardom. From the outset, Collen and co-guitarist Steve Clark ventured to do something different with the two-guitar format. According to Phil, "A lot of two-guitar bands either play exactly the same or are in compatition with each other. The way we view it, the song is the most important thing. And we're all working toward the same thing. There's no use in someone showing off if it's going to make the song sound crappy-then no one's going to like it."

Steve Clark is very happy in is partnership as well. "It's great. A lot of the groups can do things in the studio with one guitar, but when they try to reproduce it live, there are many things lacking. Phil and I decided, when we did the Hysteria album, that we really didn't want to be playing the same block of chords, as a lot of groups do. So we play two separate parts that, when you hear them together, make sense; but when you hear them on their own, they don't really relate to anything. We tried to do that from the start, and it's obviously paid off. There's virtually no time on the record when we are playing the same thing. It's really enjoyable."
The technique of playing two entirely different parts suits Collen and Clark just fine.