Def Leppard frontman Joe Elliott says the band still believes in the art of the long form, full-album format. Blabbermouth reported that Elliott spoke in depth about the band in the current issue of Rock Candy magazine and explained why creating full-length LP’s still works for the band and its fans: “When we got together in 2014 we noticed a trend of people releasing one song a month. They might bang them all together on an album two years later. Other people were just doing EP’s.”

Elliott went on to explain, “Maybe for a younger generation, an album isn’t important, because they didn’t grow up when it was. But we did. We grew up in the era of (The Rise And Fall Of) Ziggy Stardust (And The Spiders From Mars), (The) Dark Side Of The Moon, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road — the greatest double album of all time, in my humble opinion. That’s where we come from. You can’t unscramble an egg. We invested in laying on the bed and looking at the sleeve, reading every word.”

Joe Elliott, who’s thrilled with the reaction Leppard’s new album Diamond Star Halos has received, remains realistic about presenting new music in concert: “I don’t think many legacy artists perform new music. We do. We play new stuff, but it’s horses for courses. Leppard fans want ‘Photograph.’ They want ‘Pour Some Sugar. . .’ Only a fool goes, ‘I’m gonna play you my entire new album.’ Anyone who goes, ‘Here are 12 songs from my new album’ is going to clear the dance floor. Don’t batter people with the new s***. If it’s good enough, let it become part of the set further down the road.”

We caught up with Def Leppard guitarist Phil Collen who’s celebrating his 40th year as an integral part of the Rock Hall inductees: “It just flies by. I know more than I did the day before and we, we kind of take that approach with the band. It’s like, y’know, I honestly think so many artists and bands don’t reach their full potential, ’cause they actually give up before that happens. And I think will all that experience and everything that we’ve had in 40-odd-years, if you can apply that moving forward, then you’re way ahead of the game than anyone else because they never get to reach that magical period.”