"Animal"
Single by Def Leppard
from the album Hysteria
B-side
  • "Tear It Down" (UK)
  • "I Wanna Be Your Hero" (US)
Released
  • 20 July 1987 (UK)
  • September 1987 (US)
Recorded1984–1986
Genre
Length
  • 4:04 (7")
  • 4:52 (12")
LabelMercury
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Robert John "Mutt" Lange
Def Leppard singles chronology
"Bringin' On the Heartbreak" (remix)
(1984) 		"Animal"
(1987) 		"Women"
(1987)
Music video
"Animal" on YouTube

"Animal" is a song recorded by English rock band Def Leppard in 1987 from the album Hysteria. It was the first single release off the album, and became the band's first Top 10 hit in their native UK, reaching No. 6 on the UK Singles Chart.[3]

Recording

"Animal" is usually noted by the band as having been the most difficult track to record for Hysteria. It was one of the first songs developed in early 1984, but neither the band nor successive producers Jim Steinman, Nigel Green and Robert John "Mutt" Lange were able to produce the desired sound until two and a half painstaking years later. It was the only Hysteria track demoed by Rick Allen on an acoustic drum kit prior to his car accident; the drummer having recorded a beat for the song on a four-track tape during early sessions.[4] A later studio version, tracked to a drum machine, remained largely the same as the earlier demo, which the band felt was starting to sound dated, until Joe Elliot recorded a lead vocal over it in Paris in July 1985. Lange and the band were so impressed with that vocal that they rewrote and rerecorded the backing track around it.

The effort paid off when "Animal" was released as the lead single from the album in July 1987. In the UK, where the band had less success during the Pyromania era, the song hit #6 on the singles chart and broke Def Leppard into the pop mainstream across Europe. "When people saw us on Top of the Pops doing 'Animal'," remarked Elliot, "they heard a really great song that, style-wise, had more in common with INXS or U2, The Police with 'Roxanne'… And that was the band we wanted to be."[5]

In America, the lead single "Women" performed poorly on the pop charts, which did not give much momentum when "Animal" was released afterwards in October 1987. The latter did however reach a respectable #19, beginning Leppard's run of ten consecutive US Billboard Top 40 singles, and became one of the most enduringly popular numbers at Def Leppard concerts. The line "Like the restless rust, I never sleep" is a reference to Neil Young's album Rust Never Sleeps.

The single's UK B-side, "Tear It Down", was written during a recording session after the completion of the Hysteria album. The band laid down tracks intended as B-sides for the Hysteria singles; 'Tear It Down' itself received radio airplay. The band later rerecorded it for the Adrenalize album.

Track listing

7": Bludgeon Riffola / LEP1 (UK)

On the back there is a picture of the band on some train rails. The photograph was taken by Laurie Lewis.

  1. "Animal"
  2. "Tear It Down"

12": Bludgeon Riffola / LEPX 1 (UK)

  1. "Animal" (extended version)
  2. "Animal"
  3. "Tear It Down"

7": Mercury / PolyGram / 888-832-7 (US)

  1. "Animal"
  2. "I Wanna Be Your Hero"

Personnel

Charts

Chart (1987) Peak
position
Australia (Kent Music Report)[6] 46
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[7] 32
Canada Top Singles (RPM)[8] 21
Ireland (IRMA)[9] 3
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[10] 20
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[11] 8
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[12] 17
UK Singles (OCC)[13] 6
US Billboard Hot 100[14] 19
US Mainstream Rock (Billboard)[15] 5

Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[16] Silver 250,000‡

‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

See also

References

  1. ^ "36 Essential '80s Pop Metal Tracks". Stereogum. 5 April 2017. Retrieved 11 April 2021.
  2. ^ Edwards, Gavin (1 November 2006). "Hysteria". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 30 May 2021.
  3. ^ Neil Warwick, Jon Kutner, Tony Brown (2004) The complete book of the British charts: singles & albums Omnibus Press, 2004
  4. ^ DVD - Classic Albums: Def Leppards Hysteria. Bonus Features.
  5. ^ Wall, Mick (May 2018). "A wild ride over stony ground". Classic Rock. No. 248. p. 35.
  6. ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (Illustrated ed.). St. Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 36. ISBN 0-646-11917-6. N.B. The Kent Report chart was authorized by ARIA from 1970 to 1988.
  7. ^ "Def Leppard – Animal" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved February 23, 2017.
  8. ^ "RPM 100 Singles" (PDF). RPM. Ottawa: Library and Archives Canada. 47 (12). 26 December 1987. OCLC 352936026. Retrieved 23 February 2017.
  9. ^ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Animal". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved February 23, 2017.
  10. ^ "Def Leppard – Animal" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved February 23, 2017.
  11. ^ "Def Leppard – Animal". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved February 23, 2017.
  12. ^ "Def Leppard – Animal". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved February 23, 2017.
  13. ^ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved February 23, 2017.
  14. ^ "Def Leppard Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved February 23, 2017.
  15. ^ "Def Leppard Chart History (Mainstream Rock)". Billboard. Retrieved September 3, 2020.
  16. ^ "British single certifications – Def Leppard – Animal". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 15 December 2023.
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