via Guitar World
In 1982, Phil Collen was appointed Def Leppard’s newest electric guitar player following the departure of Pete Willis. That same year, he was put straight to the test as the English rock icons set about recording their third studio album, Pyromania.
Widely considered one of Def Leppard’s finest albums, the diamond-certified LP is seen as a turning point in the band’s discography, and one that would allow them conquer the US. It has also been tipped by some as one of the greatest guitar albums of all time.
That is in part thanks to Collen and his starring guitar work, which can be heard in the form of blinding guitar solos on Photograph, Rock of Ages, and Stagefright.
Indeed, the lead effort that Collen contributed to Stagefright is one of the virtuoso’s most famous guitar solos – but it turns out it was also the first thing he ever recorded for Def Leppard. Not only that, he did it all in one take.
Discussing his standout guitar moments in Pyromania in the new issue of Guitarist, Collen recalls. “The first one I did was Stagefright. Mutt Lange, our producer, said, ‘Take this cassette home and see if you can come up with something for this song.’
“This was my first recording with the band and I literally plugged the [Ibanez] Destroyer straight into the Marshall. It was the only first take on the album. I just plugged in and that’s what came out. That was really exciting.”
Collen’s Stagefright turn is well-documented. In Definitely: The Official Story of Def Leppard (via MusicRadar), singer Joe Elliott recalled how it was at that exact moment that he and the rest of the band “felt like we’d found our Eddie Van Halen.”
