The British band Def Leppard joined forces with the Royal London Philharmonic Orchestra and they created a unique album. ‘Drastic Symphonies’ contains 15 distinct and more contemporary arrangements of the band’s greatest hits accompanied by the London Philharmonic Orchestra.

“Def Leppard have always enjoyed going off the beaten track,” singer Joe Elliott told Planet Rock. “So when the offer was presented to us … we jumped at the chance.”

The album was produced by Def Leppard, Ronan McHugh and Nick Patrick, with arrangements by Eric Gorfain. Royal Philharmonic Orchestra recordings began in March 2022 at London’s legendary Abbey Road Studios.

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“We decided to create something special, where we would have something classic but present it in a brand new way. So by recording new parts, remixing older sounds and removing some of our instruments we literally made a new album,” said Def Leppard guitarist Phil Collen and added. “It was an amazingly inspiring process culminating in RPO recording live at Abbey Road Studios. A completely team effort that lasted about a year.”

Drastic Symphonies is set to be released on Friday, May 19. The planned tour with Mötley Crüe will begin in May from Sheffield, England.