* * 1/2 Def Leppard, “Retro Active,”...

* * 1/2 Def Leppard, “Retro Active,” Mercury. This collection of B sides and unreleased material is a welcome relief from the overproduced recording approach that usually sucks the life out of the British band’s pop metal. But with 13 songs recorded over a nine-year period with three different lineups, Def Leppard has gone to the other, equally unpleasant extreme. Still, the album does feature a couple of cool, glam-era tunes and some pleasingly roughshod acoustic outings.

New albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor), two stars (fair), three stars (good) and four stars (excellent).