Vault: Def Leppard Greatest Hits (1980–1995)
Vault: Def Leppard Greatest Hits (1980–1995) is the first greatest hits album and the second compilation album by English hard rock band Def Leppard. The album was originally released in the band's home country on 23 October 1995 by Mercury Records.[1] It was released in North America a few days later on 31 October by the same label. Vault went on to be certified gold in four countries, platinum in three and multi-platinum in two. In the US, the album is currently certified 5× platinum by the RIAA, and in June 2011 it topped the five million mark in sales there.[2] It won Metal Edge magazine's 1995 Readers' Choice Award for "Best Hits or Compilation Album."[3]
| Vault: Def Leppard Greatest Hits (1980–1995) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Greatest hits album by | ||||
| Released | 23 October 1995[1] | |||
| Length | 73:13 | |||
| Label | Mercury | |||
| Producer | Robert John "Mutt" Lange, Mike Shipley, Def Leppard, Pete Woodroffe | |||
| Def Leppard chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Singles from Vault: Def Leppard Greatest Hits (1980–1995) | ||||
| ||||
The album featured one newly recorded song, "When Love & Hate Collide", which was released as a single on 2 October 1995.[1]
The collection's track listing varied by region, although none of the releases had any songs from the band's 1980 debut album, On Through the Night on the track listings.
On 23 October 1995, to promote the release of Vault, the band played acoustic shows on three continents in one day: Tangiers, Morocco in Africa, London, England, UK in Europe, and Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada in North America. The feat also made the Guinness Book of World Records.
Overview
One new track was recorded for this collection, "When Love & Hate Collide", previously a leftover from the Adrenalize recording sessions. The ballad became the band's joint highest-charting single in the UK, along with 1992's "Let's Get Rocked", hitting No. 2 in the fall of 1995.
The songs are the original LP versions, with the following exceptions:
- "Pour Some Sugar on Me" is the video edit version. This version actually features an extended, distorted intro, making it longer than the Hysteria version, which has the shorter "Step inside, walk this way" intro.
- "Rocket" is the single edit, which runs shorter than its LP counterpart.
- "Bringin' on the Heartbreak" fades out slightly earlier than the LP version, where it segues into "Switch 625".
Artwork, design, and packaging
The art direction and design for Vault was handled by Exquisite Corpse with photography by Cythia Levine and Ross Halfin. Most covers of the album have a picture of an actual vault,[4] while a limited edition two disc collection has a picture of a green eye with a vault inside the eye.[5] The CD liner notes featured a three-page summary of the band's history by Peter Mensch, who appeared in two of the group's music videos.[4] Although not featured on the North American release, other liner notes feature a note signed by the band members talking about the group's upcoming album, Slang.[6]
Track variations in different regions
Although the releases of Vault had most of the same songs, there were some differences between the releases.
Exclusive to the North American release of Vault:
- "Miss You in a Heartbeat"
Exclusive to the European release of Vault:
- "Action"
- "Make Love Like A Man"
- "Heaven Is"
Exclusive to the Japanese release of Vault:
- "Rock! Rock! Till You Drop"
- "Can't Keep Away From The Flame" (new track)
"Foolin'" does not appear on the European release, but does appear on the North American release and the Japanese release.
The Japanese release features the only official release of the song "Can't Keep Away From the Flame," a song which has never been released in other regions. It was later released as a B-side on some of the "Slang" singles. Years later it was included on the deluxe edition of Slang.
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   |
| Robert Christgau |  |
Track listing
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Album | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Pour Some Sugar on Me" | Steve Clark, Phil Collen, Joe Elliott, Robert John "Mutt" Lange, Rick Savage | Hysteria, 1987 | 4:52 |
| 2. | "Photograph" | Clark, Elliott, Lange, Savage, Pete Willis | Pyromania, 1983 | 4:08 |
| 3. | "Love Bites" | Clark, Collen, Elliott, Lange, Savage | Hysteria | 5:47 |
| 4. | "Let's Get Rocked" | Collen, Elliott, Lange, Savage | Adrenalize, 1992 | 4:56 |
| 5. | "Two Steps Behind" (Acoustic version) | Elliott | Retro Active and Last Action Hero: Music from the Original Motion Picture, 1993 | 4:19 |
| 6. | "Animal" | Clark, Collen, Elliott, Lange, Savage | Hysteria | 4:05 |
| 7. | "Foolin'" | Clark, Elliott, Lange | Pyromania | 4:34 |
| 8. | "Rocket" | Clark, Collen, Elliott, Lange, Savage | Hysteria | 4:07 |
| 9. | "When Love & Hate Collide" | Elliott, Savage | Previously unreleased, 1995 | 4:18 |
| 10. | "Armageddon It" | Clark, Collen, Elliott, Lange, Savage | Hysteria | 5:22 |
| 11. | "Have You Ever Needed Someone So Bad" | Collen, Elliott, Lange | Adrenalize | 5:19 |
| 12. | "Rock of Ages" | Clark, Elliott, Lange | Pyromania | 4:02 |
| 13. | "Hysteria" | Clark, Collen, Elliott, Lange, Savage | Hysteria | 5:56 |
| 14. | "Miss You in a Heartbeat" (Acoustic version) | Collen | Retro Active | 4:05 |
| 15. | "Bringin' On the Heartbreak" | Clark, Elliott, Willis | High 'n' Dry, 1981 | 4:32 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Album | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Pour Some Sugar on Me" | Clark, Collen, Elliott, Lange, Savage | Hysteria | 4:53 |
| 2. | "Photograph" | Clark, Elliott, Lange, Savage, Willis | Pyromania | 4:08 |
| 3. | "Love Bites" | Clark, Collen, Elliott, Lange, Savage | Hysteria | 5:47 |
| 4. | "Let's Get Rocked" | Collen, Elliott, Lange, Savage | Adrenalize | 4:56 |
| 5. | "Two Steps Behind" | Elliott | Retro Active and Last Action Hero: Music from the Original Motion Picture | 4:19 |
| 6. | "Animal" | Clark, Collen, Elliott, Lange, Savage | Hysteria | 4:05 |
| 7. | "Heaven Is" | Clark, Collen, Elliott, Lange, Savage | Adrenalize | 3:34 |
| 8. | "Rocket" | Clark, Collen, Elliott, Lange, Savage | Hysteria | 4:07 |
| 9. | "When Love & Hate Collide" | Elliott, Savage | Previously unreleased | 4:16 |
| 10. | "Action" | Brian Connolly, Steve Priest, Andy Scott, Mick Tucker | Retro Active | 3:40 |
| 11. | "Make Love Like a Man" | Clark, Collen, Elliott, Lange | Adrenalize | 4:15 |
| 12. | "Armageddon It" | Clark, Collen, Elliott, Lange, Savage | Hysteria | 5:22 |
| 13. | "Have You Ever Needed Someone So Bad?" | Collen, Elliott, Lange | Adrenalize | 5:19 |
| 14. | "Rock of Ages" | Clark, Elliott, Lange | Pyromania | 4:08 |
| 15. | "Hysteria" | Clark, Collen, Elliott, Lange, Savage | Hysteria | 5:55 |
| 16. | "Bringin' On the Heartbreak" | Clark, Elliott, Willis | High 'n' Dry | 4:32 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Album | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Pour Some Sugar on Me" | Clark, Collen, Elliott, Lange, Savage | Hysteria | 4:52 |
| 2. | "Photograph" | Clark, Elliott, Lange, Savage, Willis | Pyromania | 4:08 |
| 3. | "Love Bites" | Clark, Collen, Elliott, Lange, Savage | Hysteria | 5:47 |
| 4. | "Let's Get Rocked" | Collen, Elliott, Lange, Savage | Adrenalize | 4:56 |
| 5. | "Two Steps Behind" (acoustic version) | Elliott | Retro Active and Last Action Hero: Music from the Original Motion Picture | 4:19 |
| 6. | "Animal" | Clark, Collen, Elliott, Lange, Savage | Hysteria | 4:05 |
| 7. | "Action" | Connolly, Priest, Scott, Tucker | Retro Active | 3:40 |
| 8. | "Rocket" | Clark, Collen, Elliott, Lange, Savage | Hysteria | 4:07 |
| 9. | "When Love & Hate Collide" | Elliott, Savage | Previously unreleased | 4:16 |
| 10. | "Rock! Rock! (Till You Drop)" | Clark, Elliott, Lange, Savage | Pyromania | 3:54 |
| 11. | "Armageddon It" | Clark, Collen, Elliott, Lange, Savage | Hysteria | 5:22 |
| 12. | "Foolin'" | Clark, Elliott, Lange | Pyromania | 4:34 |
| 13. | "Have You Ever Needed Someone So Bad?" | Collen, Elliott, Lange | Adrenalize | 5:19 |
| 14. | "Rock of Ages" | Clark, Elliott, Lange | Pyromania | 4:08 |
| 15. | "Hysteria" | Clark, Collen, Elliott, Lange, Savage | Hysteria | 5:55 |
| 16. | "Bringin' On the Heartbreak" | Clark, Elliott, Willis | High 'n' Dry | 4:32 |
| 17. | "Can't Keep Away From the Flame" | Collen, Elliott | Previously unreleased, 1995 | 2:36 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Let's Get Rocked" | 5:00 |
| 2. | "Armageddon It" | 6:12 |
| 3. | "Foolin'" | 4:52 |
| 4. | "Rocket" | 9:28 |
| 5. | "Two Steps Behind" | 5:01 |
| 6. | "Pour Some Sugar on Me" | 5:00 |
| 7. | "Rock of Ages" | 5:55 |
| 8. | "Love Bites" | 7:37 |
| 9. | "Photograph" | 7:08 |
Personnel
The following people contributed to Vault:[4]
- Joe Elliott – lead vocals, backing vocals, producer, piano on "Miss You in a Heartbeat"
- Steve Clark – guitars, backing vocals
- Phil Collen – guitars, backing vocals, producer
- Rick Savage – bass, backing vocals, producer
- Rick Allen – drums, backing vocals, producer
- Robert John "Mutt" Lange – producer, backing vocals
- Nigel Green – engineer
- Pete Willis – guitars, backing vocals
- Mike Shipley – mixing, producer, engineer
- Vivian Campbell – guitars, backing vocals, producer
- Pete Woodroffe – producer, engineer, piano on "Miss You in a Heartbeat"
- Michael Kamen – string arrangements on "Two Steps Behind" and "When Love & Hate Collide"
- Stevie Vann – backing vocals on "When Love & Hate Collide"
- Randy Kerber – piano on "When Love & Hate Collide"
- Bob Ludwig – mastering
Charts
| Chart (1995) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Top 50 Albums[8] | 9 |
| Belgium (Flanders) 100 Albums[9] | 30 |
| Canadian Top Albums[10] | 7 |
| Danish Albums (Hitlisten)[11] | 2 |
| Finnish Top 50 Albums[12] | 7 |
| French Compilations[13] | 24 |
| German Albums[14] | 31 |
| Netherlands Top 100 Albums[15] | 88 |
| New Zealand Top 50 Albums[16] | 2 |
| Swedish Top 60 Albums[17] | 10 |
| Swiss Top 100 Albums[18] | 7 |
| UK Albums Chart[19] | 3 |
| US Billboard 200[20] | 15 |
| Chart (1996) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Norwegian Top 40 Albums[21] | 7 |
Certifications
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| Canada (Music Canada)[22] | 2× Platinum | 200,000^ |
| Denmark (IFPI Denmark)[23] | Gold | 25,000^ |
| Japan (RIAJ)[24] | Gold | 100,000^ |
| Mexico (AMPROFON)[25] | Gold | 100,000^ |
| New Zealand (RMNZ)[26] | Platinum | 15,000^ |
| Norway (IFPI Norway)[27] | Gold | 25,000* |
| United Kingdom (BPI)[28] | Platinum | 300,000^ |
| United States (RIAA)[29] | 5× Platinum | 5,000,000^ |
|
*sales figures based on certification alone | ||
References
- "Certified Awards Search" (ASPX). British Phonographic Industry. Set Search By to Artist and type "Def Leppard" under Search to see results.
- "Week Ending June 12, 2011. Albums: The Tortoise & The Hare – Chart Watch". New.music.yahoo.com. 15 June 2011. Retrieved 13 August 2011.
- Metal Edge, June 1996
- Vault: Def Leppard Greatest Hits (1980–1995) (CD liner). Def Leppard. Mercury Records. 1995. 314,528,718-2.CS1 maint: others (link)
- Vault: Def Leppard Greatest Hits (1980–1995) [Limited Edition] (CD liner). Def Leppard. Mercury Records. 1995. 528,657-2.CS1 maint: others (link)
- Vault: Def Leppard Greatest Hits (1980–1995) (CD liner). Def Leppard. Mercury Records. 1995. PHCR-3035.CS1 maint: others (link)
- Christgau, Robert. "Def Leppard". Robert Christgau.
- "Def Leppard – Vault (Greatest Hits) (Album)" (ASP). Australian Charts. Hung Medien. Retrieved 10 July 2011.
- "Def Leppard – Vault (Greatest Hits) (Album)" (ASP). Ultratop. Hung Medien. Retrieved 10 July 2011.
- "100 Albums (CD's & Cassettes)" (PHP). RPM. 62 (18). 4 December 1995. ISSN 0315-5994. Retrieved 10 July 2011.
- "Listen - Danmarks Officielle Hitliste - Udarbejdet af AIM Nielsen for IFPI Danmark - Uge 44". Ekstra Bladet (in Danish). Copenhagen. 5 November 1995.
- "Def Leppard – Vault (Greatest Hits) (Album)" (ASP). Finnish Charts. Hung Medien. Retrieved 10 July 2011.
- "Les "Charts Runs" de chaque Album Classé" (PHP). InfoDisc (in French). Find "DEF LEPPARD" under the drop-down menu to see statistics.
- "Chartverfolgung / DEF LEPPARD / Longplay". Music Line (in German). Media Control Charts. Retrieved 10 July 2011.
- "Def Leppard – Vault (Greatest Hits) (Album)" (ASP). Dutch Charts. Hung Medien. Retrieved 10 July 2011.
- "Def Leppard – Vault (Greatest Hits) (Album)" (ASP). New Zealand Charts. Hung Medien. Retrieved 10 July 2011.
- "Def Leppard – Vault (Greatest Hits) (Album)" (ASP). Swedish Charts. Hung Medien. Retrieved 10 July 2011.
- "Def Leppard – Vault (Greatest Hits) (Album)" (ASP). Schweizer Hitparade. Hung Medien. Retrieved 10 July 2011.
- "Chart Archive: Top 40 Official UK Albums Archive – 4th November 1995". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 10 July 2011.
- "Vault: Def Leppard Greatest Hits – Def Leppard". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved 10 July 2011.
- "Def Leppard – Vault (Greatest Hits) (Album)" (ASP). Norwegian Charts. Hung Medien. Retrieved 10 July 2011.
- "Canadian album certifications – Def Leppard – Vault". Music Canada. Retrieved 24 April 2019.
- "Listen - Danmarks Officielle Hitliste - Udarbejdet af AIM Nielsen for IFPI Danmark - Uge 47". Ekstra Bladet (in Danish). Copenhagen. 26 November 1995.
- "Japanese album certifications – Def Leppard – Vault" (in Japanese). Recording Industry Association of Japan. Retrieved 24 April 2019. Select 1995年10月 on the drop-down menu
- "Certificaciones" (in Spanish). Asociación Mexicana de Productores de Fonogramas y Videogramas. Retrieved 24 April 2019. Type Def Leppard in the box under the ARTISTA column heading and Vault in the box under TÍTULO
- "New Zealand album certifications – Def Leppard – Vault". Recorded Music NZ. Retrieved 4 March 2020.
- "IFPI Norsk platebransje Trofeer 1993–2011" (in Norwegian). IFPI Norway. Retrieved 24 April 2019.
- "British album certifications – Def Leppard – Vault". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 24 April 2019. Select albums in the Format field. Select Platinum in the Certification field. Type Vault in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
- "American album certifications – Def Leppard – Vault - Greatest Hits". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 24 April 2019. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH.