Off the record

Is it OK to like Def Leppard?

The music industry may be struggling with falling CD sales and illegal downloading but it seems rock never dies.

At the Kerrang! Awards last night, some of the biggest bands in the world were among the winners, even though they must now be older than the parents of the heavy-metal magazine's average reader.

Metallica won the inspiration award and play an O2 arena show next month. Rage Against the Machine got the Hall of Fame gong ahead of their headlining slot at Reading Festival, and Hollywood star Jared Leto's group 30 seconds to Mars won for Best single and international Band.

But perhaps the most deserving winners were Def Leppard, a British institution who have endured for more than 30 years and sold millions of albums. The band are touring in the Us, so couldn't make the ceremony to collect the Classic songwriter gong.

"It's one of those awards they give to bands that have been around for a while," singer Joe Elliott tells me down the phone.

Does he think Leppard get the respect they deserve? "Humbly, I say no. The Maidens, the Leppards, the Bon Jovis of this world are the bastard cousin, or the redheaded stepsister who's locked under the stairs." He almost chokes when I ask if Leppard ever won a Brit award.

"We performed there once, but we should have won," the Yorkshireman grumbles (they lost out to Erasure). "But we didn't harbour a grudge. I'd rather have a lot of fans than a lot of awards."

Their tour is a return to the Eighties. Billy Idol is on the road with the sheffield band now ("it's great, we had a bit of a pool party the other night").

Leppard's set list includes some vintage head-banging anthems, including Animal, rocket, Pour some sugar on Me and Love Bites. "That's what makes the live thing so exciting," says Elliott, "people come to connect with their youth - you see a lot of our die-hards in their thirties and forties bringing their kids."

Elliott recently turned 49 and says hedonism on the road is "just long gone, all the energy goes into the show". He adds: "You don't see the Amy Winehouse factor anywhere with what we do. In fact, if I did some of the stuff she does, it wouldn't even make the papers."

Still, Def Leppard have acquired some showbiz fans. US country star Tim McGraw asked if he could sing on their new album and it turns out that the former Mr Angelina Jolie is also an admirer.

"We went out bowling with Billy Bob Thornton and his band in Grand rapids, Michigan," says Elliott. "He says he's first and foremost a musician who got into acting by accident. I knew he was a fan because I've seen photos of him in a Pyromania shirt. We just took the piss out of each other's bowling incapability."

Elliott's plain speaking would certainly benefit some of his contemporaries. When I mention the prospect of the first Guns N' Roses album since the mid-Nineties, he points out his own band's productivity.

"We've worked every year since then. I've never had a problem with Axl Rose but he's turned into some kind of headband-wearing Syd Barrett."

Def Leppard's new album, songs from The Sparkle Lounge, made the Top 10 in the UK and Us, and Elliott says the video game Guitar Hero means they can reach young metal fans even if radio won't play their songs.

Leppard must also be one of the few bands who have been together 30 years and "still share a dressing room and a laugh and a joke".

The singer admits he doesn't have to work again, but insists he's earned every penny. "To sell the kind of records we've sold, you can't put it down to fluke," Elliott insists. "It's not like we're a one-hit wonder."

Perfect sunny pop from an Icelandic Lily

Lily Allen is not sure when EMi will be putting out her new album - it may have to wait until 2009 because of the crowded release schedule.

Fortunately, there is a new record by Icelandic singer Emiliana Torrini out on 8 September that easily fills the Lily-sized gap.

Me and Armini is a perfect late-summer album, which you'll still find yourself listening to as the nights draw in.

The title track and current single is a Lily-style slice of ska-pop, in contrast to the tender songs on Torrini's previous album, Fisherman's Woman, although her co-writing credit on Kylie's number one, Slow, suggests she always knew how to write pop songs.

"i think this album's come out of having more fun," says Torrini, who has been based in Brighton for 10 years.

She sounds like Björk and clearly shares her eccentric artistry - when I ask Torrini about the album title it turns out that she has no idea who "Armini" is. "I don't remember writing the song because the spirit of the stalker woman entered me and was trying to serenade Armini," she explains helpfully.

She adds that her own experience with a stalker "wasn't a big deal, it was funny", which makes me wonder if it was a Lord of the Rings fan who heard her Gollum's Song from the movie soundtrack.

The next single, Big Jumps, is another joyous, affecting tune - and there's a gig at St Giles's Church, WC2, on 9 October.