In an age of five-CD deluxe versions creaking with armfuls of outtakes that were outtakes for a good reason, Def Leppard have cut to the chase. This newly remastered set is available as a single vinyl album in two vinyl packages: one pressed in standard black in a matching textured black sleeve, the other, the 2026 tour edition, on ‘blood red marbled’ vinyl in a picture sleeve.
The look of the minimalist first package begs comparison with Queen’s original Greatest Hits album from 1981. That shifted 25 million copies and became the band’s biggest seller, so it might also be what Leppard had in mind. But Queen’s collection ran for nearly an hour and had 17 tracks; Leppard’s lean, mean fighting machine clocks in at just under 48 minutes and settles for a (near) perfect 10. The Eagles’ 1976 collection – still the planet’s fifth-best-selling album of all time – had 10. Elton John went for 10 tracks, too, in 1984. And Leppard deserve a place among such company.
