Def Leppard and Tom Morello together for a new song

THE Def Leppard issued “Just Like '73“, a surprise collaboration with the very active guitarist Tom Morello.

Morello confessed that he has always been a fan of the Sheffield hard rock legends. “I played 'Rock of Ages' (from the 1983 album Pyromania) in my college cover band almost 40 years ago,” he said in a press release.

As the title suggests, Def Leppard had their early days as music fans in mind while working on new music. “When I saw David Bowie on TV in 1972 and 1973, everything I thought I knew about music went from black and white to vivid Technicolor,” said the guitarist Phil Collen. “Just Like '73' represents that awakening.”

The band took a retro approach on social media to tease the arrival of “Just Like '73,” announcing a “hotline” that fans could call to hear a snippet of the new song.

The video of “Just Like '73“, which features Def Leppard and Morello, will be available next week. A special 7″ vinyl single is available for pre-order.

This is their first original song since “Diamond Star Halos” of 2022. During a media briefing earlier this year, Collen opened up about their writing process. “It was never about choosing the 10 best songs out of the 30 written,” she told a reporter from the UCR website. “The approach has pretty much always been: Let's write 10 great songs.”

Def Leppard are preparing to change the setlist of their summer tour with Journey And Steve Miller Bands. The bass player Rick Savage announced in an April Instagram post that fans can expect a “brand new song” as well as “a few other” songs from “Pyromania,” as they continue to belatedly celebrate its 40th anniversary. “In fact, for those who are interested, we'll be trying out a song that we've never played live before to throw into the mix,” she added.

To celebrate 40 (+1) years since the release of the album “Pyromania” on April 26th, Def Leppard released an expanded deluxe editionwith the album, alternate versions, unreleased songs, videos (on BlueRay) and two unreleased concerts from '83 (Read here).