Retro Active

Retro Active is an album by English hard rock band Def Leppard, released in 1993. The album features touched-up versions of B-sides and previously unreleased recordings from the band's recording sessions between 1984 and 1993. The album charted at number 9 on The Billboard 200undefinedand No. 6 on the UK Albums Chart.

Overview
After releasing only five albums over the course of a twelve years, Def Leppard used Retro Active to break that habit, provide a treat for diehard fans, and close the door on the "Steve Clark" era of the band. It reached platinum sales in many countries.

Although many tracks were found on single releases, some parts were re-recorded on the road during the Adrenalize tour.

"She's Too Tough" and the electric version of "Miss You in a Heartbeat" were originally released as bonus tracks for the Japanese pressing of Adrenalize.

Two unfinished songs from the Hysteria recording sessions, "Desert Song" and "Fractured Love", were completed exclusively for the album. "Two Steps Behind", an acoustic ballad originally recorded in electric version, was given strings by conductor Michael Kamen and included onto the Last Action Hero soundtrack. It would become the band's last Top 20 single in the US, reaching No. 12.

The album also had covers, Sweet's "Action" (which charted higher than the original in the UK) and Mick Ronson's "Only After Dark". Although guitarist Phil Collen had written "Miss You in a Heartbeat", it was released first on the self-titled 1991 debut by The Law, a band featuring Paul Rodgers and The Who drummer Kenney Jones.

The version of "Ride into the Sun" is not the version that appeared on The Def Leppard E.P., but rather the 1987 re-recording. It differs slightly from the version of the recording used as a B-side in the Hysteria era, though. The one used as a B-side had a Rick Allen drum solo intro, whereas this one has a piano intro provided by Ian Hunter.

Retro Active features a hidden (final) track: a piano/vocal version of "Miss You in a Heartbeat".

This is the first Def Leppard album to feature songs recorded with newly added guitarist Vivian Campbell.

Album cover
The album cover, by Nels Israelson and Hugh Syme, is a photograph of a lady sitting at a dressing table, looking in a mirror. However, if the cover is viewed at arm's length or from a distance, it takes the form of a skull (a type of vanitas art), the woman's head forming the left eye socket, and her reflected head in the mirror forming the right eye socket. The mirror itself forms the shape of the skull and the accessories on the dressing table form the nose, nostrils and teeth. It was inspired by Charles Allan Gilbert's most famous work, All Is Vanity (1892).

Track listing

 * 1) "Desert Song" (Steve Clark, Joe Elliott, Rick Savage) – 5:19
 * 2) *Outtake from the Hysteria album sessions
 * 3) "Fractured Love" (Clark, Elliott, Savage) – 5:08
 * 4) *Outtake from the Hysteria album sessions
 * 5) "Action" (Andy Scott, Brian Connolly, Steve Priest, Mick Tucker) – 3:41
 * 6) *Original version released on the "Make Love Like a Man" single
 * 7) "Two Steps Behind" (Acoustic Version) (Elliott) – 4:16
 * 8) *Original version released on the "Make Love Like a Man" single
 * 9) *Originally released on the Last Action Hero soundtrack
 * 10) "She's Too Tough" (Elliott) – 3:41
 * 11) *Original version released on the "Heaven Is" single and is the bonus track for the Japanese pressing of Adrenalize
 * 12) "Miss You in a Heartbeat" (Phil Collen) – 4:04
 * 13) *Original version released on the "Make Love Like a Man" single
 * 14) "Only After Dark" (Mick Ronson, Scott Richardson) – 3:52
 * 15) *Original version released on the "Let's Get Rocked" single
 * 16) "Ride into The Sun" (Clark, Collen, Elliott, Savage) – 3:12
 * 17) *Original version released on the "Hysteria" single
 * 18) *First recording of the song released on The Def Leppard E.P.
 * 19) "From the Inside" (Elliott) – 4:13
 * 20) *Originally released on the "Have You Ever Needed Someone So Bad" single
 * 21) "Ring of Fire" (Clark, Collen, Elliott, Robert John "Mutt" Lange, Savage) – 4:42
 * 22) *Original version released on the "Armageddon It" single
 * 23) "I Wanna Be Your Hero" (Clark, Collen, Elliott, Lange, Savage) – 4:29
 * 24) *Original version released on the "Hysteria" single
 * 25) "Miss You in a Heartbeat" (Electric Version) (Collen) – 4:58
 * 26) *This was the Japanese bonus track for Adrenalize
 * 27) "Two Steps Behind" (Electric Version) (Elliott) – 4:29
 * 28) "Miss You in a Heartbeat" (Piano Version) [Hidden track] (Collen) – 4:09

Personnel

 * Rick Allen – drums
 * Vivian Campbell – electric guitars, acoustic guitars, backing vocals
 * Steve Clark – electric guitars
 * Phil Collen – electric guitars, acoustic guitars, backing vocals
 * Joe Elliott – lead vocals, backing vocals, rhythm guitar, piano, jungle orchestra on "Fractured Love"
 * Rick Savage – bass guitar, keyboards, backing vocals

Additional musicians

 * Ian Hunter – honky tonk messiah on "Ride into the Sun"
 * Michael Kamen – string arrangement on "Two Steps Behind" (Acoustic Version)
 * Robert John "Mutt" Lange – backing vocals
 * Fiachna Ó Braonáin – tin whistle on "From the Inside"
 * Liam Ó Maonlaí – grand piano on "From the Inside"
 * Peter O'Toole – mandolin on "From the Inside"
 * P.J. Smith – backing vocals on "Action"
 * Pete Woodroffe – piano on "Miss You in a Heartbeat"

Production

 * Def Leppard – producer
 * Pete Woodroffe – engineer, mixing
 * Janfred Arendsen – engineer
 * Albert Boekholt – engineer
 * Giles Cowley – mixing
 * Freek Feenstra – engineer
 * Nigel Green – engineer
 * Steve McGaughlin – engineer
 * Erwin Musper – engineer
 * Nial O'Sullivan – mixing
 * Ronald Prent – engineer
 * Robert Scovill – engineer
 * Mike Shipley –

Other Albums By Def Leppard

 * The Def Leppard E.P.
 * On Through The Night
 * High 'n' Dry
 * Pyromania
 * Hysteria
 * Adrenalize
 * Live: In The Clubs, In Your Face
 * Slang
 * Euphoria
 * X
 * Best Of
 * Rock of Ages: The Definitive Collection
 * Yeah!
 * Songs From The Sparkle Lounge
 * Mirrorball: Live & More
 * Viva! Hysteria
 * TBA (2015)