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UNCOVERED: Mutt lange | History Defined

“We opened for bands we really hated, like Styx. People were relating to us and not them. They got a little pissed”: the stellar rise and sudden fall of The Cars, the new wave band who soundtracked America

For nearly a decade in the late 70s and early 80s, The Cars were one of America’s most popular bands

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"I swear to God I turned the radio off because I got sick of hearing us every 20 minutes!" The story of how Pyromania sold 100,000 copies a day and turned Def Leppard into superstars

Def Leppard made an album so huge that only Michael Jackson’s Thriller prevented it from reaching No.1 in America

Louder

“Mutt definitely had a signature style of working. On my records, Mutt and I did all the background vocals together; with a band like Def Leppard, he was almost like the other member”: Shania Twain discusses producer Mutt Lange's unique hit-making prowess

"I used to do this song as part of my rock repertoire once I was a little older," she says of one particular Def Leppard hit. "I am a rock chick at heart”

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"The band's accountants possibly didn't figure in the cost of their eccentric new guitarist insisting upon recording his parts inside a bespoke chicken coop." The 10 most eye-wateringly expensive rock albums ever recorded

The rock albums that almost bankrupted the music business

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“People have told me they’ve heard it at weddings – with a guy singing it at the organ. Oh God! I can’t imagine what that was like”: Bryan Adams and the ballad that ate the world

The Groover from Vancouver’s record-breaking hit

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“We were labelled ‘the new Led Zeppelin’. I mean, wow! But it was a blessing and a curse. There could never be another Led Zeppelin, just like there could never be another Beatles”: The strange tale of a great rock band that had it all – and then blew it

As one critic said, this band had “more good riffs in one song than there are in the first four Black Sabbath albums”

MusicRadar

“Lou sang his vocal to a girl that just walked into the studio. Everybody thought she was with our group and she wasn’t – but Lou fixated on her and the vocal was done in one take”: How Foreigner and super-producer Mutt Lange created a classic rock ballad

“We put ourselves under a lot of pressure making that record”

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“Brian Johnson was screaming. A producer working in the studio next door came in and said to Mutt, ‘You’re gonna kill him!’ Mutt said, ‘Yeah! But doesn’t it sound great?’”: How AC/DC’s singer suffered during the making of the classic Back In Black

Producer Mutt Lange told the story to Nickelback frontman Chad Kroeger

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“Mutt Lange would always make me play rhythm. He liked my feel. I’m technically not very good, but I have a feel that’s intuitive to me”: Bryan Adams says he’s no guitar hero, but believes he’s written songs that cover versions can’t beat

The Canadian songwriter extraordinaire on what he learned from Mutt Lange, how he got his long-sold Les Paul back, why he dug his Rockman out of the basement, duetting with Taylor Swift and the single piece of technical advice he has to offer

Guitar World

“We’d done 11 songs. Nobody wanted to do another except me and Mutt. But I said, ‘Sorry, boys – you can’t turn this chorus down!’”: How Def Leppard created a mega-hit song in 10 days after spending three years on an album

"It was really based on rap stuff – not your standard rock song”

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“They had the arrangement and I went, ‘Oh, this is finally my David Gilmour moment.’ The hair on my arms stood up”: Keith Scott on the making of Bryan Adams’ (Everything I Do) I Do It For You – the record-breaking hit no one saw coming

Scott remembers how a “plaintive melody” from Michael Kamen intrigued Mutt Lange and was shaped into Bryan Adams' biggest, hit, giving Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves the anthem it needed

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“They’ll go, ‘Oh, I wouldn’t tell you what to do.’ But then you hear the record later and you’re not on it! They took you off and there’s a saxophone solo on there instead”: Ace session guitarist Brent Mason reveals how he made it to the top

And he admits: "I've messed up a lot!"

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“Don’t get too precious about your songs. We’re probably going to tear them apart”: Legendary producer Mutt Lange’s first words to the young Def Leppard

How Leppard's 'sixth member' took them to a new level

MusicRadar

“I was in a club and Duran Duran’s Simon Le Bon came up to me and said, ‘I hear we’re in the running for the prize for spending the most time and money in a studio!’”: The epic story of Foreigner 4, the AOR masterpiece that helped shape 80s rock

Foreigner 4 is one of the greatest rock albums of the 80s – and one of the most expensive

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“After every take, Mutt would say, ‘Check the tuning, man!’ This went on and on for almost a year. One day, I just gave him the guitar and said, ‘You tune it. I can’t take this anymore!’”: How legendary producer Mutt Lange drove the Cars half-mad

And the result? 'A beautiful record,' says guitarist Elliot Easton

MusicRadar

“I called out to Mutt and said, ‘How about this?’... It was a complete fluke": How Def Leppard created a rock anthem - with a little bit of divine intervention

"Thank God we let that church choir in!”

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“We had a request from the studio guys: ‘Is it okay if this local church choir comes in to record for a day?’ And thank God we let them in!”: How Def Leppard created a rock anthem - with a little bit of divine intervention

"It was a complete fluke," singer Joe Elliott said

Metal Hammer

“We were heartbroken. The world had lost a big talent. But as a band we had lost much more”: The rollercoaster story of AC/DC’s Back In Black, the 50-million selling album that emerged from tragedy

How AC/DC recovered from the death of iconic singer Bon Scott to make the biggest rock album ever

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“In six months, we got through 300 bottles of vodka, 400 bottles of whiskey and cases of beer. It was insane”: The unbelievable story of Def Leppard’s 80s hard rock masterpiece Hysteria

Four years, one near-fatal car crash and an ocean of booze in the making, Def Leppard’s Hysteria is the 80s hard rock album against which all others should be measured

Louder

"The Boston Symphony hasn't changed its name, so why should Foreigner?": Mick Jones looks back on 50 often fractious years with one of rock's most successful bands

Mick Jones steered Foreigner to instant success, but with a self-confessed "bit of a control freak" at the helm it was often far from plain sailing

MusicRadar

“He sings on all our stuff. You hear him on AC/DC, Bryan Adams, Shania’s stuff. He has the best voice in the room”: Phil Collen says Mutt Lange is an ace vocalist who can nail it in one take – and it’s the same with guitar

For Collen, working with Lange is like “going to school for your favourite subject” but recreating the studio magic live on Def Leppard tracks such as Live Bites can be very tricky at first

MusicRadar

“I wondered if I was insane for wanting to do this”: How Def Leppard drummer Rick Allen learned to play again after losing his left arm

The full story of his heroic comeback

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For years Tommy Henriksen has played guitar for others: Now's he's spreading the gospel of Crossbone Skully, avenging superhero from outer space

Welcome to Alice Cooper guitarist Tommy Henriksen’s Mutt Lange-produced 80s-rock-leaning project

MusicRadar

“He didn't want his credibility blown by being named on a Def Leppard album!”: The rockers’ secret weapon was a synth pop boffin

“He added a new dimension to our songs,” Leppard’s singer says

Louder

"If God gets in his way he'll burn the heavens down": Tommy Henriksen's track-by-track guide to Crossbone Skully's Evil World Machine

Evil World Machine is the debut album by Crossbone Skully, formed by Alice Cooper and Hollywood Vampires guitarist Tommy Henriksen

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