Def Leppard back in studio action

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By ( Classic Rock ) published

Joe Elliott tracking vocals for “basic and raw” 10th album - as Viv Campbell pulls double duties with Last In Line

Def Leppard frontman Joe Elliott has revealed the band have restarted studio work on their tenth album.

He recently said the follow-up to 2008’s Songs From The Sparkle Lounge would be “a lot more basic and raw” than previous outings. Work had been slowed by the band’s live commitments and guitarist Vivian Campbell’s stem-cell treatment for cancer.

Now Elliott tells the Belfast Telegraph: “We’re back on it now and hoping to get it finished by early spring. I was in the studio last night, actually, and I’ll be in again tonight – if I don’t wear my voice out.”

The project was kickstarted earlier this year with a pair of marathon songwriting sessions that yielded material for 15 tracks.

Meanwhile, Campbell – who left hospital weeks ahead of schedule following surgery to address Hodgkin’s lymphoma – is also working on new recordings with Last In Line, featuring former Dio members Vinny Appice, Claude Schnell and Jimmy Bain along with new frontman Andrew Freeman.

He says: “We’re back in the studio this week, writing the final songs for the new record. Recording recommences in early January with Jeff Pilson producing. It’s such a rush to wrestle my Les Paul like this again.”