Def Leppard Unite With Royal Philharmonic Orchestra for New Album 'Drastic Symphonies' [DETAILS]

English rock band Def Leppard is taking their music to the next level by collaborating with one of the most prestigious symphony orchestras in the world for their upcoming album.

According to reports, Def Leppard teamed up with Royal Philharmonic Orchestra for their thirteenth studio album, "Drastic Symphonies," expected to drop on May 19.

Despite being formed decades ago, the rock band has consistently made themselves relevant and timely by constantly releasing new material and collaborating with younger artists.

"Def Leppard has always enjoyed veering off the expected path - working with the likes of Tim McGraw, Taylor Swift & Alison Krauss for example," said Joe Elliott. "So, when the offer to revisit some of our back catalog with the Royal Philharmonic was presented to us, to a man we all jumped at it."

"Although we're far from the first band to ever do this, working directly with an orchestra at Abbey Road on some of our more orchestrated songs seemed too good of an opportunity to pass up."

The first song off the album is reportedly their hit song "Animal," followed by some of their other fan-favorite hit songs like "Hysteria" "Pour Some Sugar on Me" "When Love & Hate Collide," and "Love Bites."

Royal Philharmonics Orchestra

Phil Collen, the band's guitarist, said: "When the offer of doing an orchestral album with the RPO was suggested we were honored;

"But we didn't just want an orchestra plonked over our previous recordings. We decided to create something special where we would have something classic but present it in a brand new way that would involve making everything work in the context of 'Drastic Symphonies.'"

Straight from Abbey Road Studios

This album, which took over a year to produce, will boast new parts, new remixes, and a little less of Def Leppard's own instruments.

"It was an amazingly inspirational process culminating in the live recording of the RPO at Abbey Road studios in London," Collen added.

"An absolute team effort that took a good part of a year. It's a new Def Leppard album, it's a greatest hits plus album, with some rarely heard songs, it's a live RPO album and we think it's perfect."

It has been a year since Def Leppard released their last studio album "Diamond Star Halos", but they ensure fans that despite having some of their old songs on the upcoming album, it will be something worth listening to.

"We're so proud of how 'Drastic Symphonies' turned out and can't wait to share it [with] the world," Collen remarked.

Tags

Def Leppard, New Album