POP MUSIC REVIEW : Problem-Plagued Def Leppard Doesn’t Show It at Forum Gig

When Def Leppard lead singer Joe Eliot shouted “Do ya wanna get rocked?,” the crowd response Wednesday night at the Forum was a predictable, if resounding, chorus of “Yeah!”

That tried and tired rock ‘n’ roll intro set the stage for the British band’s first Los Angeles appearance in four years.

Beset by problems during its 15-year-existence, including the 1991 death of guitarist Steve Clark and the 1985 car accident and subsequent loss of an arm for drummer Rick Allen, Def Leppard has nonetheless carried on, purveying anthemlike, highly commercial rock rife with lush backing vocals and memorable choruses.

Though Def Leppard’s 1987 “Hysteria” album sold nearly 15 million copies worldwide, the group is the standard-bearer of a genre rapidly losing popularity with younger rock fans as more raw, unpredictable, underground music gains prominence. Still, the easygoing quintet appears to be one of the few of the old style left who can fill an arena.

Despite its problem-plagued existence and obsessive perfectionism when it comes to recording albums, Def Leppard’s material still generally consists of sanitized, upbeat songs about love and lust.

Wednesday’s show introduced new guitarist Vivian Campbell and, barring his presence, there wasn’t much new in the nearly 2 1/2-hour set.

Older numbers, including “Foolin’,” “Pour Some Sugar on Me” and “Rocket” sounded nearly raucous when pitted against the more stylized, bombastic approach of Def Leppard circa 1993.

That’s not to say Def Leppard doesn’t have fun: the group’s likable demeanor was fully realized during a mid-set acoustic departure dubbed “Def Leppard Unplugged” by Eliot. Conducting a successful audience sing-along to AC/DC and Metallica songs, the band segued into an electric rendition of its own “Bringin’ On the Heartbreak” before concluding the evening with an encore of two older favorites, “Photograph” and “Love Bites.”

The group’s only nod to late guitarist Clark were Eliot’s remarks about “fate” and a moving number partially inspired by Clark’s death, “White Lightning.”

As Def Leppard has stated many times, however, the band’s goal is escapism, pure and simple. And on that level, it succeeded.