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  • ️Wed Jul 01 2015
"Animal"
Single by Def Leppard
from the album Hysteria
B-side Tear It Down (UK)
I Wanna Be Your Hero (US)
Released 1987 (UK and US)
Format 7"
12"
Recorded 1984
1985
1986
Genre Hard rock
Length 4:02
Label Mercury Records
Writer Joe Elliott
Phil Collen
Steve Clark
Rick Savage
Robert John "Mutt" Lange
Producer Robert John "Mutt" Lange
Def Leppard singles chronology
"Women"
(1987)
"Animal"
(1987)
"Pour Some Sugar On Me"
(1987)

Animal is a song recorded by British hard rock band Def Leppard in 1987 from the album Hysteria. It was the first single release off the album in many countries, and became the band's first Top 10 hit in their home of the United Kingdom.

"Animal" is usually noted by the band as having been the most difficult track to record for Hysteria. Although it was one of the first songs developed in early 1984, neither the band nor the producers who came and went (Jim Steinman, Nigel Green, & Mutt Lange) were able to produce the desired sound until two and a half painstaking years later.

However, the effort paid off when "Animal" was released as the lead single off the album in July 1987. In England, where the band was all but ignored during the Pyromania era, the song hit #6 on the singles chart and broke Def Leppard into the pop mainstream across Europe.

Over in America, the lead single "Women" performed poorly on the pop charts, which did give the band much momentum when "Animal" was released afterwards in October 1987. It did reach a respectable #19 though, starting their run of ten consecutive US Top 40 singles, and is still one of the more popular numbers at Def Leppard concerts today.

The single's UK B-side, "Tear It Down", was written during a recording session following the completion of the Hysteria album, where the band laid down several tracks intended as B-sides for the Hysteria singles. Subsequently, the song itself received radio airplay and was later performed by the band live at the 1989 MTV Video Music Awards.

The band later re-recorded "Tear It Down" for the Adrenalize album.

Track listing

7": Bludgeon Riffola / LEP1 (UK)

On the back there is a picture of the band on some train rails. The photograph was taken by Laurie Lewis.

  1. "Animal"
  2. "Tear it Down"

Video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9R2GLQDLFtM

Def Leppard
Current members
Joe Elliott | Phil Collen | Vivian Campbell | Rick Savage | Rick Allen
Former members
Steve Clark | Pete Willis | Tony Kenning | Frank Noon
Discography
Studio albums: On Through the Night | High 'n' Dry | Pyromania | Hysteria | Adrenalize | Retro Active | Slang | Euphoria | X | Yeah! | Songs from the Sparkle Lounge
Compilations: Vault: Def Leppard Greatest Hits (1980-1995) | Best of Def Leppard | Rock of Ages: The Definitive Collection
EPs: Warchild | Def Leppard EP (Getcha Rocks Off EP) | First Strike
Videography
Videos and DVDs: Historia | Live: In The Round, In Your Face | Visualize | Video Archive | Historia / Live: In The Round, In Your Face | Visualize / Video Archive | Classic Albums: Hysteria | Def Leppard: Pyro-Graphic | Hysteria: The Def Leppard Story | Best Of The Videos | Rock of Ages – The DVD Collection
Singles
"Wasted" | "Hello America" | "Let It Go" | "Bringin' on the Heartbreak" | "Photograph" | "Rock of Ages" | "Foolin'" | "Too Late for Love" | "Comin' Under Fire" | "Billy's Got a Gun" | "Action! Not Words" | "Bringin' on the Heartbreak" (remix) | "Women" | "Animal" | "Pour Some Sugar on Me" | "Hysteria" | "Armageddon It" | "Love Bites" | "Rocket" | "Let's Get Rocked" | "Make Love Like a Man" | "Have You Ever Needed Someone So Bad" | "Heaven Is" | "Stand Up (Kick Love Into Motion)" | "Tonight" | "Two Steps Behind" | "Action" | "Desert Song" | "Miss You in a Heartbeat" | "When Love & Hate Collide" | "Slang" | "Work It Out" | "All I Want Is Everything" | "Breathe a Sigh" | "Promises" | "Paper Sun" | "Goodbye" | "Day After Day" | "Now" | "Long, Long Way to Go" | "Four Letter Word" | "No Matter What" | "Rock On" | "20th Century Boy"
Concert tours
Def Leppard Early Tours 1978-1979 | On Through the Night World Tour | High 'n' Dry World Tour | Pyromania World Tour | Hysteria World Tour | Seven Day Weekend Tour | Def Leppard Slang Tour | Euphoria World Tour 1999-2001 | X World Tour 2002-2003 | Rock Of Ages Tour 2005 | Yeah! Tour 2006 | Downstage Thrust Tour
Related articles
Robert John "Mutt" Lange | Jeff Rich | Terror Twins | Def Leppard band members | Def Leppard discography

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