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"Hysteria"
Single by Def Leppard
from the album Hysteria
B-side	"Ride into the Sun"
Released	16 November 1987 (UK) January 1988 (US) 19 March 2013 (re-recorded version)
Recorded	1985–1987 2012 (re-recorded version)
Genre	Glam metal
Length	5:54 (album version) 3:50 (single edit)
Label	Mercury
Songwriter(s)	Rick Savage Phil Collen Joe Elliott Steve Clark Robert John "Mutt" Lange
Producer(s)	Robert John "Mutt" Lange
Def Leppard singles chronology
"Pour Some Sugar on Me" (1987) "Hysteria" (1987) "Armageddon It" (1988)
Music videos
"Hysteria" on YouTube

"Hysteria" is a song by English rock band Def Leppard. It is the tenth track on their 1987 album of the same name and was released as the album's fourth single in November 1987. The song became the band's first top 10 hit on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number 10.

Overview

On VH1 Storytellers: Def Leppard, lead singer Joe Elliott revealed that the song title came from drummer Rick Allen. The song features a clean guitar melody and heavily multi-tracked vocals in its chorus. The "extreme" nature of producer Mutt Lange's recording methods is also exampled in the pre-chorus, where the clean guitar chords were recorded one note at a time as opposed to the traditional method of strumming them, in effect "building" a chord by recording the notes that make them up. An acoustic rendition of the song was performed by Elliott and guitarist Phil Collen on the Hysteria edition of VH1's Classic Albums.

Cash Box called it a "solid rocker with sophistication, Supertramp-ish chorus backgrounds and a cutting edge vocal."

Track listing

7": Bludgeon Riffola / Mercury / 870 004-7 (US)

1. "Hysteria"
2. "Ride into the Sun"

12": Bludgeon Riffola / Phonogram (UK)

1. "Hysteria"
2. "Ride into the Sun"
3. "Love and Affection" (live)

CD: Bludgeon Riffola / Phonogram / U.K. LEPCD3 / INT. 870 004-2 (UK)

1. "Hysteria"
2. "Ride into the Sun"
3. "Love and Affection" (live)
4. "I Wanna Be Your Hero"

Other versions

• Lovedrug recorded a version of "Hysteria", along with a making-of video, for the fan-chosen covers album from the I AM LOVEDRUG campaign. The album, titled Best of I AM LOVEDRUG, was released 28 June 2011.
• Def Leppard themselves re-recorded the song in 2012 (along with "Rock of Ages" and "Pour Some Sugar On Me") and released it as a digital download on 19 March 2013.
• In 2018, singer-songwriter Matt Nathanson covered "Hysteria" on Pyromattia. The album is composed entirely of Def Leppard covers and features songs from High 'N' Dry, Pyromania, Hysteria, and Euphoria.

Charts

Certifications

References

1. "Def Leppard Reflects on the 'Early Years' and Why Those Iron Maiden Comparisons Were 'Tiresome'". Billboard. Retrieved 11 February 2021.
2. "How? Soft attack on clean guitars in first bars of Hysteria – Gearslutz Pro Audio Community". Gearslutz.com. Retrieved 12 August 2018.
3. "Single Releases" (PDF). Cash Box. 23 January 1988. p. 10. Retrieved 6 November 2022.
4. "Lovedrug Cover Def Leppard's 'Hysteria' – Song Premiere". Noisecreep. 7 June 2011. Retrieved 6 January 2012.
5. "Lovedrug Takes on Def Leppard, Darren Hayes, Stevie Nicks, and More » Cover Me". Covermesongs.com. 21 June 2011. Retrieved 6 January 2012.
6. "Iamlovedrug.Com". Iamlovedrug.xom. Archived from the original on 29 August 2011. Retrieved 6 January 2012.
7. "Melodic Net – Lovedrug Release "Best Of I Am Lovedrug" On June 28th". Melodic.net. 27 May 2011. Archived from the original on 30 June 2017. Retrieved 6 January 2012.
8. Reesman, Bryan. "Matt Nathanson Channels His Inner-Def Leppard Fanboy for 'Pyromattia' EP: Premiere". Billboard. Retrieved 8 June 2018.
9. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 86. ISBN 0-646-11917-6. N.B. The Kent Report chart (re-branded the Australian Music Report chart in July 1987) was licensed by ARIA between mid-1983 and 12 June 1988.
10. "RPM 100 Singles" (PDF). RPM. 47 (24). Ottawa: Library and Archives Canada. 2 April 1988. OCLC 352936026. Retrieved 25 February 2017.
11. "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Hysteria". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 25 February 2017.
12. "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 25 February 2017.
13. "Def Leppard Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved 23 February 2017.
14. "Def Leppard Chart History (Mainstream Rock)". Billboard. Retrieved 3 September 2020.
15. Whitburn, Joel (2014). Joel Whitburn’s Cash Box Pop Hits 1952-1996. Record Research Inc. ISBN 978-0-89820-209-0.
16. Scott, Gavin. "This Week In 1989: November 19, 1989". chartbeats.com.au. Archived from the original on 5 August 2020. Retrieved 19 April 2020.
17. "British single certifications – Def Leppard – Hysteria". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 14 October 2024.

• 1987 singles
• Def Leppard songs
• Song recordings produced by Robert John "Mutt" Lange
• Songs written by Phil Collen
• Songs written by Robert John "Mutt" Lange
• Songs written by Rick Savage
• Songs written by Joe Elliott
• Songs written by Steve Clark
• 1987 songs
• Mercury Records singles
• Glam metal ballads