How to create a rock anthem by Def Leppard

Guitarists Phil Collen and Vivian Campbell on the art of the stadium rock banger. Rule number one: "Respect the melody..."

- By Jenna Scaramanga

Only four British bands have had two ten-million selling albums in America. The first three - The Beatles, Led 0 Zeppelin and Pink Floyd. And the fourth? No, not The Rolling Stones. Not The Who. Not Queen. It's Def Leppard.

Formed in Sheffield in 1977, the band rose to fame in the 80s with the two blockbuster albums that sealed their place in that exclusive club - 1983's Pyromania and 1987's Hysteria. And the key to this success is their mastery of the rock anthem - as illustrated in hit songs such as Pour Some Sugar On Me, Animal, Photograph, Rocket, Rock Of Ages and Let's Get Rocked.

This summer they head out at last for the twice-postponed Stadium Tour in the US with Mötley Crüe, Poison and Joan Jett. But while Leppard could easily tour for the rest of their lives off their back catalogue, the urge to make new music is still strong within them. A lot of artists stop growing and creating, says guitarist Phil Collen. We haven't.

The making of new album Diamond Star Halos was a first for the band as they worked remotely from their homes, recording song ideas and individual parts on laptops, sharing material via Dropbox, which was then collated into finished tracks by the band's long-serving producer Ronan McHugh. But the band's signature sound remains very much intact on an album packed with new anthems in the classic Leppard tradition.

The first single, Kick, nods to their glam rock heroes from the early 70s. Even the album's title is taken from the lyrics to the T.Rex glam classic Get It On. And throughout the album, Phil Collen's partnership with Irish guitarist Vivian Campbell, is as strong as it's ever been - something that's evident from the get-go with the blazing trade-off solos in the opening track Take What You Want.