DEF LEPPARD's PHIL COLLEN Says Songs For Next Album Are 'Very Varied'

DEF LEPPARD guitarist Phil Collen was recently interviewed by Shor Bazaar, Pakistan's first international artist management services. You can now listen to the chat using the SoundCloud widget below.

Asked about the progress of the songwriting and recording sessions for DEF LEPPARD's new studio album, Collen said: "This was really amazing, actually, [because] we are [usually] very slow at recording.

"This February, I went over to Joe's [Elliott, vocals] house in Dublin, to his studio, and was gonna write a couple of songs. Well, we got 12 songs started, so that was really rare for us. We went back a few months later, in May, and got 15, so they're really in good shape. We've still got more stuff to do on them, so that'll be ready next year. And they're very varied."

He continued: "You let other things influence you, but you still retain your integrity and your sound, if you like. So we feel that we've done that. These songs are a cross section; some of them are really heavy and very melodic, and then some are just very different, but you can still tell it's DEF LEPPARD.

"So we're very excited about that. And that'll be out next year, and we'll be touring a lot more next year as well."

DEF LEPPARD guitarist Vivian Campbell, whose cancer is once again in "remission," has just finished undergoing a new round of chemotherapy before receiving a stem-cell transplant later in the month.

While Campbell is undergoing stem-cell treatment, he will be unable to join his bandmates as they complete work on their new studio album. The guitarist will also be forced to miss the band's next few live appearances, including the pre-game show at the first of this year's three NFL International Series games on Sunday, September 28, when the Oakland Raiders host the Miami Dolphins; as well as shows in Las Vegas, Santa Ynez, Rancho Mirage and Temecula.

Regarding the progress of the recording sessions for DEF LEPPARD's next CD, Elliott told Crash Davis of the Omaha, Nebraska radio station KFAB earlier in the month: "We did a little bit of stuff on the road, because, to be quite honest, with Vivian's cancer, even though it's in remission, he's going in for stem-cell surgery in a week or 10 days time, and he's gonna be unavailable and incognito and wrapped up in, you know, basically, the boy in the bubble up to maybe Christmas so he can blitz this thing once and for all, which means that any work that he needs to do on the record, we had to make sure it was done before this happened. So we had him in… On days off [on the road], we had him in a hotel room with his guitar and a microphone ready to do backing vocals and guitar solos and all sorts of mad stuff, so that we could get on with the record when he's in hospital and the tour's finished. So we get back to work on that record this autumn, or fall, as you guys call it, and hopefully we'll have the thing — you know, artwork, titles, running order — all nailed by January. We wanna put the record out by April-May. And we'll start thinking then about where we're gonna go and play. It looks like we may start off on the other side of the world — in, like, Australia, New Zealand and Japan, etc. — and then work our way back through Europe and then come to the States [in] July-August."