"We never get tired of playing arenas," Def Leppard bassist Rick Savage says cheerfully as he reclines in as over-sized chair in his Parker-Meridien hotel suite, in the heart of midtown Manhattan. "But what normally happens after a show or on a day off is that we'll go down to the local club and get onstage with whoever might happen to be playing there. It's always a kick to pick up somebody else's guitar and just play for a few minutes."

Rick's impromptu attitude runs throughtout the entire band, including frontman Joe Elliott, who still can't decide whether the group's next release should be an all-new studio Lp or a collection of B-sides and previously unreleased live tracks. "We never make those kinds of decisions until we walk through the doors of the recording studio!" he laughs.

"As far as putting together a collection of old stuff goes, we'd re-record the songs, changing arrangements here and there. As far as doing an all-new album, well, we already have one brand-new track recorded, but it would be more work-we'd have to come up with 10 brand-new songs. We'll probably just have a listen to the ideas we have on tape now, look at the sky and come to a decision," the fair-haired singer grins.

Among the possible tracks being considered is the Alice Cooper classic, "Elected," which the band has occasionally slipped into their sets as an encore. The tune may or may not be included on an undisclosed forthcoming movie soundtrack as well. Still, Elliott doesn't believe that cover songs are "legitimate" as singles. He explains, "You find that people start doing cover versions when they can't write anything for themselves. I'm not knocking it," he stresses. "I'm not making a criticism, but I've noticed that Heart has done a lot of Holly Knight songs on their last two albums. Maybe Ann and Nancy's creative juices have dried up. The same goes for Aerosmith>"

Despite Leppard's aversion to recording cover tunes for their latest albums, both the Pyromania and Hysteria tours often closed shows with a 20-minute medley consisting of an assortment of classic rock & roll chestnuts. Among these: Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Travelin' Band" (also covered live by Bon Jovi and Bruce Springsteen), Tommy James and the Shondells' "Mony, Mony" (resently a big hit for Billy Idol), Golden Earing's "Radar Love," T. Rex's "Jeepster," Gary Glitter's "Rock 'N' Roll" and Little Richard's "Good Golly Miss Molly." Obviously, Elliott and Company have not forgotten their roots, although unlike many of today's popular metal outfits, they claim little or no allegiance with the blues.

Joe says sarcatically (but honestly), "I wouldn't be able to sing the blues if they hit me in the face. I don't got no soul, I', afraid." He laughs, and adds, "I like listening to real blues, like Robert Johnson and Bessie Smith, but I hate these stupid white people trying to sing the blues. They have no rhythm. They're not quite there.

"It was an era even before we were born. Groups like Zeppelin grew up listening to the blues, so they had a tinge of it in their music. We're only aware of Willie Dixon because Led Zeppelin recorded his songs. We've become second generation to the blues in that sense."

Despite an ultra-tight touring schedule, the band members still try to fit outside projects in, both individually and collectively. They recently performed at Passaic, New Jersey's 3,000 seat Capitol Theatre as part of a radio station promotion where area high schools were treated to their own exclusive Def Lep show, and the band was quite happy to sign autographs and mingle afterwards.

In their nine years as recording artists, Def Leppard has seen metal bands and fads come and go, but they remain one of the originators of what is known today as "pop metal." Rick believes that the group is true to their original sound, which was based on Britain's great glitter explosion of the early '70s (Sweet, Slade, T.Rex, Gary Glitter, David Bowie-Ed.). "We were not into those big boots and flared trousers," says Rick, "but the hooks and melodies were great."

Putting the tag "pop metal" on Def Leppard (although they appove of it) may be limiting, because, while songs like their recent hit single, "Pour Some Sugar on Me," have a pop hook, tunes like their recent B-side, "Tear it Down," have a lot of raw metal energy. "It was recorded as a live track in the studio and its basic vibe was very immediate. It's much more metal than any of the songs that appear on Hysteria," says Joe.

Rick interjects, "If you listen to it now, though, it becomes very one-dimensional in comparison to anything that's on the album. It was recorded as a B-side and mixed in only two hours. It was very much like the first Poison album-it was just like 'Bang!Bang!Bang!' It sounds good, but it doesn't compare technically to the songs on Hysteria by a million miles. It has a great vibe, but it would have stood out like a sore thumb on the album. But that's one of the songs that we may mess around with when we do the next record. If it winds up on a record someday, it'll be in a much more serious version."

One thing's for certain about the new record-while the band is taking breaks from recording, they'll be wandering into other nearby studios and putting in a guitar lick there and a vocal here. While recording Hysteria in Hilversum, Holland, the group appeared on more than a dozen records, either individually or collectively. Obviously, the Sheffield rockers get a big charge out of appearing anonymously on other people's records.

"I swear, Phil became a full-fledged session musician for about a year," Joe cracks. "He played on everything that came through that studio!"

While the boys might find time for guest appearences on outside projects once they're in the studio, they've got their hands full at the moment. They've been on the road since August '87, and won't be returning to their respective homes until October. In addition to touring, the group is concurrently promoting their 90-minute videography, the appropriately titled Historia. The compilation features conert performances and never-before-seen-in-the-U.S. T.V. appearences, including clips from England's Top Of The Pops and several Japanese shows.

The coming year will allow Def Leppard's fans to see a whole new album, to their additional studio projects, on through Historia. To borrow a phrase from rap superstar L.L. Cool J, things can only get "bigger and deffer" in the days ahead.