Def Leppard is trying to break new ground with their upcoming first foray into orchestral collaboration. On May 19th, the band will release Drastic Symphonies featuring, “tracks dramatically reimagined by London’s iconic Royal Philharmonic Orchestra” — along with new vocals and instrumentation from the band.
Frontman Joe Elliott spoke to Classic Rock and said the band is treating the project differently than others that have gone the orchestral route: “We’re stepping into territory previously visited by other bands of our ilk. But we’ve never done anything like this before, and what’s really interesting is how we’ve dug really deep.”
Elliot went on to say, “It’s all about expanding these songs. Most of it is stripping back our backing tracks to allow the orchestra to shine and be at the forefront, because that’s the point of the record. But it’s not just our greatest hits with orchestra on top — like slapping butter on a piece of toast. What we wanted to do with this album is glorify what we’ve done in the past as rock songs, and make them epic.”