Viva! Hysteria is shot at the Hard Rock Cafe in Las Vegas over two nights in March 2013 and showcases Def Leppard's best selling album HYSTERIA in its entirety (Hysteria which was released in 1987 has sold 20 million record and has gone 12x platinum in the US alone). The film opens with a nostalgic trip through the bands history, containing concert clips and interviews with the band talking about things such as the death of guitarist Steve Clark and drummer Rick Allen's accident. Once the concert itself begins,the band rocks through an album full of hits and fan favourites, without missing a beat. The only thing of note is lead singer Joe Elliot's voice sounds strained on the songs where he has to sing in the higher registers. With only a drummer, a bassist, two guitarists, lead singer (3 of the other members sing back up) and a couple of sound effects and audio clips, the band who are now in their fifties, play the songs extremely faithful to their source material, which is quite an achievement considering Hysteria is famed for its multi-layered vocals and guitars. Viva! Hysteria will come as a treat to fans of Def Leppard, as the band hasn't had an official concert release since the last century; but for people who only know the band for "Pour Some Sugar On Me" and their one armed drummer, they won't find much of interest in this film.

I think it's Another Live Great Show from the rock men band I love the most, but I didn't like that as intro has the same documentaries -fragments- that it has the "VISUALIZE/..." DVD. If it's a new offer from the band, why not to use another things not seen before? BTW, is there a way of getting a DVD with subtitles? For me it's a little bit hard to understand it all, who could help me sending me the subtitles is there any available???!! Is the only band in the world that made a video and put it in theaters all over the world? Is there any other band that has done this before? For me is better to make comment here than the Official Def Lep's page, where I am tired of putting comments and I never see them on the page, is a sort of afraid to a Cuban Def Leppard's fan? Thanks for the ones who reply me! The audio is best -higher- on the CDs than the DVD! it's a pity! Long Live the Rock from The Best Rock Band in The World! :-))

Def Leppard: Viva! Hysteria (2013) *** 1/2 (out of 4) This concert was filmed over a nine day stint in Las Vegas where Def Leppard apparently put on some terrific shows. I will say this from the start that the band here is certainly on fire and they deliver a great show. I think the crowd is without question the weakest thing here but I'm guessing that many times in Vegas people who aren't really fans or don't know the music just show up to shows because it's a party. I'm not saying that's the case here but the crowd just didn't add too much energy to the show. With all of that said, the setlist is one with many of the hits and the band does a terrific job bringing them to life. Fan favorites like Love Bites, Pour Some Sugar on Me, Rock of Ages and Photograph are all here and the band really drives these songs home and shows why they are classics and some of the best rock songs you're ever going to hear live. I thought the entire band was in fine form and that includes the lead vocals, which were very strong throughout the show. The setlist contains fourteen songs but depending on what you're viewing, more are available including an acoustic set. The video quality is top-notch throughout as is the audio quality.

I've seen the band 6 times in the last 5 years and I think this film really did not do the live show justice. Probably over-mixed on the audio. Secondly, the intro footage and clips are all recycled from prior VHS/DVD releases. Further, the actual show in Vegas had a whole set by Ded Flatbird, the parody tribute band which does not show up anywhere in this video. Would have also been nice to see more behind-the-scenes footage during the run of shows in Vegas. The quality of the band's performance is top-notch, albeit Joe's vocals are clearly under pressure. If you have never seen Def Leppard live, go watch this film.