Hear Def Leppard’s Orchestral Reboot of ‘Hysteria’ Title Track

Def Leppard has unveiled the second single off their upcoming Drastic Symphonies orchestral album, a reworked version of the Top 10 ballad “Hysteria.”

You can watch the video below.

The rebooted “Hysteria” follows Drastic Symphonies‘ lead single “Animal,” which the band released in March. The 15-track album features reconstructed versions of many of Def Leppard’s best-known hits, combining the audio from the original tapes with new performances from the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.

The LP also features newly recorded vocals and guitars, with singer Joe Elliott duetting with his younger self at several points.

“Def Leppard has always enjoyed veering off the expected path — working with the likes of Tim McGraw, Taylor Swift and Alison Krauss, for example,” Elliott said in a previous statement. “So when the offer to revisit some of our back catalog with the Royal Philharmonic was presented to us, to a man we all jumped at it. … Although we’re far from the first band to ever do this, working directly with an orchestra at Abbey Road on some of our more orchestrated songs seemed too good of an opportunity to pass up.”

Guitarist Phil Collen added, “We didn’t just want an orchestra plonked over our previous recordings. We decided to create something special where we would have something classic, but present it in a brand-new way.” That process included “recording new parts, remixing previous sounds, taking some of our instruments out so the orchestra could breathe and literally making a new album.”

Drastic Symphonies follows 2022’s Diamond Star Halos, Def Leppard’s 12th album of new material. The orchestral collection is available to preorder now in CD, vinyl, limited color vinyl, picture disc, CD/Blu-ray and digital formats.