What if Adrian had joined Def Leppard?

[Kalata]

I've found this picture of a magazine of Adrian (The Untouchables era).... here's what he says about the Def Leppard rumour back then(*the red line):

Smith also quashed the rumours linking him with the vacant six string slot in Def Leppard: ''I suppose we kind of had parallel careers when I was in Maiden, he said, ''so when I wasn't doing anything I suppose it was inevitable, really.

Mrs Smith seems a bit mixed up in the chronology: when Steve Clark died, Bruce was still in Iron Maiden.I have read that John Sykes had also been turned down - which reinforces the idea that the Leppard guys wanted not too big a name who risked hogging the spotlight... even if it meant renouncing to have good composers in the fold.

She indeed mixed up a bit the chronology.

...they ended up with Vivian Campbell who is a big name in metal (though he left DIO in 1986).

 

[Black Bart]

...they ended up with Vivian Campbell who is a big name in metal (though he left DIO in 1986).

I might be wrong (I was rather young then, and not yet into hard rock) but I think Def Leppard, Iron Maiden and "US" Whitesnake (from when Sykes joined to the Vai period included) were way bigger than Dio in 1991, in so far as they were even mainstream, that is: popular among casual listeners that were not hard rock afficionados.

 

[srfc]

I've found this picture of a magazine of Adrian (The Untouchables era).... here's what he says about the Def Leppard rumour back then(*the red line):

Smith also quashed the rumours linking him with the vacant six string slot in Def Leppard: ''I suppose we kind of had parallel careers when I was in Maiden, he said, ''so when I wasn't doing anything I suppose it was inevitable, really.

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She indeed mixed up a bit the chronology.

...they ended up with Vivian Campbell who is a big name in metal (though he left DIO in 1986).

"Ex British Lion bassist Gary Liedeman", is that the same British Lion?

EDIT: do I know Fabio Del Rio from somewhere else? Possibly Bruce? Also, is Carl Dufresne his brother in law or is it a coincidence?

 

[Diesel 11]

do I know Fabio Del Rio from somewhere else? Possibly Bruce?

He was the Tattooed Millionaire drummer.

 

[Kalata]

I might be wrong (I was rather young then, and not yet into hard rock) but I think Def Leppard, Iron Maiden and "US" Whitesnake (from when Sykes joined to the Vai period included) were way bigger than Dio in 1991, in so far as they were even mainstream, that is: popular among casual listeners that were not hard rock afficionados.

Well the bands that were huge in the 80's (this refers to all of the bands that you listed), in 1991, I think they still lived on their 80's success/albums, not that they're albums in the beginning of the 90's were so good..../ Maiden were still huge (until Bruce's leaving), they lost a key member (Adrian), but the NPFTD album went platinum. DIO has released an album (LUTW) which got mixed reviews and it was a weaker album that the ones he released in the 80's, but it was the best album from the 90's of DIO. Def Leppard released Adrenalize which was a great success for them (the last great success for the band) and they were still a big act. And Whitesnake's last album back then was Slip Of The Tongue (1989) which was a great album for them (!they released only one album in the 90's).

I do agree that Maiden, Def Leppard and Whitesnake were bigger than DIO in 1991. But Dio made Vivian Campbell famous with his first 3 solo albums and after that he joined Whitesnake, but played only the solo in the song ''Give Me All Your Love'' '88 version. And after that he joined Def Leppard. I think no matter how good or bad (or successful) the albums of these bands were at that time, Vivian Campbell was a big name in metal... after he joined Leppard he was not the same guitarist anymore.

"Ex British Lion bassist Gary Liedeman", is that the same British Lion?

EDIT: Also, is Carl Dufresne his brother in law or is it a coincidence?

I have no idea.

 

[Sth2112]

Thank God he never joined Leppard

 

[GhostofCain]

do I know Fabio Del Rio from somewhere else? Possibly Bruce? Also, is Carl Dufresne his brother in law or is it a coincidence?

Fabio Del Rio played on Tattooed Millionaire and yes, Carl Dufresne is Adrian's brother in law.

 

[GhostofCain]

"Ex British Lion bassist Gary Liedeman", is that the same British Lion?

Quite possibly, as Gary is credited on British Lion's A World Without Heaven.

 

[Diplomat]

I don't think Adrian would have brought a ton of Maiden fans over. I don't think Def Leppard and Iron Maiden share the same audience, except for maybe the casual fans that are into music less heavy than Maiden. As proven by A.S.A.P. and Psycho Motel, Iron Maiden fans are interested in Adrian as part of the Iron Maiden entity, and not in Adrian Smith. I'm sure Adrian's presence might have led to Iron Maiden fans checking Def Leppard out, but I don't think they'd keep fans that weren't interested in Def Leppard to begin with. I would, for instance, not listen to Def Leppard just because (if) Adrian played there.

I'm fan of both bands since 1983.