In the days that followed, Steinman suggested some song titles. And Steinman says: ‘I think we got that one.’ We all looked at each other, and Phil said: ‘We haven’t even tuned up yet!’ Steinman says: ‘Yeah, but it’s got a vibe.’ That wasn’t a good sign.” “We played a loose, Stones-y version of Don’t Shoot Shotgun – just the riff and a part of the melody. “That first afternoon, we were warming up,” he says.
But from the start, Elliott sensed trouble. Working alongside him was Neil Dorfsman, described by Collen as “a fucking brilliant engineer”. “It was exactly what happened,” he says, “because Steinman was less than useless!”Īugwas Steinman’s first day in the producer’s chair at Wisseloord studios in Hilversum, Holland. When Steinman was hired, Elliott consulted Lange, who told him: “Give it a go – and if it doesn’t work, get rid of the guy.” Elliott laughs when he reflects on that advice. But at the time, Steinman was literally the only option we had, so we ended up going with him.” But because Mutt was a producer who assists in songwriting and arrangements, Cliff thought we might need help more in the songwriting department than in the sonics of the record. “Steinman was not a producer,” Elliott says. But there was a flaw in his logic: although Steinman wrote the songs for Bat Out Of Hell, it was actually Todd Rundgren who produced that album. It was Cliff Burnstein who suggested Steinman. Phil Collins was also briefly considered. “Who the hell do you get to replace Mutt Lange?”Īpproaches were made to Roxy Music/Sex Pistols producer Chris Thomas, and Trevor Horn, former member of The Buggles and Yes and producer of Frankie Goes To Hollywood. Present were the band and their co-managers Peter Mensch and Cliff Burnstein. “When Mutt dropped that bombshell, we had an emergency meeting,” Elliott says. They had planned to work again with Lange, whose influence on Leppard’s sound, as producer and co-songwriter, was so important that he was considered their “sixth member”.īut in April 1984, after Lange had written several songs with the band in Dublin, he told them he was too exhausted to produce their new album, having worked flat out for years on end, making hit records for AC/DC, Foreigner and The Cars as well as Leppard. The truth is that Def Leppard never wanted Steinman as their producer in the first place.
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