Def Leppard frontman Joe Elliott revealed that the band has been working on new material the way it always has. Blabbermouth reported on Elliott's conversation on the Download Reloaded podcast, in which he spoke about the band's plans to followup 2015's self-titled studio set, explaining, “When we finished that (2015) album, we never really thought about making another record until we just felt the timing was right. . . We're constantly writing songs, so when it comes to piecing songs together, it's not like they're all absolutely brand spanking new, just written, hot-off-the-press stuff. Some of them are ideas that have been percolating for a year or two with a piece missing.”
Elliott went on to say, “And you wait and you wait and you wait, and then you have this epiphany, or one of the other guys goes, 'Why didn't you ask? I've got a bit that would fit in there perfect.' So there's been a lot of that going on. But that's a constant; that's nothing to do with coronavirus. We've been doing it since the Def Leppard album came out, and we will continue to do it, whether we release an album or not. We've got songs in our heads.”
Joe Elliott spoke frankly regarding the vast difference between what classic artists sell with new product as opposed to what they earn on the road: “The industry being what it is, we're all aware of the fact that there's an element of the media that can't let go of the fact that records aren't that important anymore. And I know that's a sad thing to say, but it's a fact of life. Touring is massively important — way more than it was when you went out promoting records when they were important. Especially for legacy bands or whatever you wanna call 'em. Listen, I went to see the Rolling Stones in 1989 in case one of them died. That's 1989. They haven't had a death since the 1960's.”
Joe Elliott told us he sympathizes with the dilemma the Stones and every other classic artist has when trying to play new music to an audience that came to hear the hits: “Let's be honest — not many people go to see a Rolling Stones concert hoping they're gonna play something off the new album, and that's no disrespect to the Stones at all. 'Out Of Tears' off their album from, like six, seven years ago, I still think is one of the best songs they've ever written. But I may be on my own when I think that. Most people go to see 'Jumping Jack Flash' and 'Satisfaction' and 'Brown Sugar,' and that's just the sad, tragic fact.”