On Through the Night

{{Music ratings

| rev1 = AllMusic

| rev1score = {{Rating|3.5|5}}{{cite web |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/on-through-the-night-mw0000652946 |title=Def Leppard – On Through the Night review |last=Huey |first=Steve |work=AllMusic |publisher=All Media Network |access-date=13 August 2015 }}

| rev2 = Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal

| rev2Score = 8/10{{cite book | last1 = Popoff | first1 = Martin | author-link1 = Martin Popoff | title = The Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal: Volume 2: The Eighties | publisher = Collector's Guide Publishing | date = 1 November 2005 | location = Burlington, Ontario, Canada | isbn = 978-1894959315 | page= 92}}

| rev3 = Encyclopedia of Popular Music

| rev3Score = {{Rating|3|5}}{{cite book| last = Larkin| first = Colin| author-link = Colin Larkin (writer)| year = 2006| publisher = Muze| title = Encyclopedia of Popular Music| volume = 4| edition = 4| isbn = 978-0-19-531373-4}}

| rev4 = Sputnikmusic

| rev4score = 3.0/5{{cite web |url=https://www.sputnikmusic.com/review/28451/Def-Leppard-On-Through-the-Night/ |title=Def Leppard - On Through the Night (staff review) |publisher=Sputnikmusic.com |date=22 December 2008 |access-date=4 August 2011}}

}}

The album received mostly positive reviews.

AllMusic's Steve Huey noted in a retrospective review that On Through the Night "established the band as one of the leading lights of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal." Although he stated that "it may lack the detailed production and more pop-oriented songwriting of later efforts, (...) some Leppard fans prefer this sound." Canadian journalist Martin Popoff praised the album for being "one of the most polished and savvy of the NWOBHM", evoking the sound of "acts like Thin Lizzy, UFO, even Queen and Mott the Hoople." For him, On Through the Night was "a welcome breath of fresh air" among the dark, "thrashy" and "punky" music coming from the UK at the time. Rolling Stone's David Fricke reviewed the album favorably on the same wavelength, explaining that it "shows they not only respect their elders, they've taken cues from their New Wave peers, too." He also stated that "guitarists Pete Willis and Steve Clark shoot from the hip, packing their licks into tight, three-minute pop arrangements", and that lead singer Joe Elliott "wails wonderfully in a resonating tenor, fortified by backup harmonies and Tom Allom's battering-ram production." He concluded that the band "displays a wisdom beyond their years" in mixing melody and heaviness, coming up with an album that "is awfully impressive for a band making its vinyl debut."{{cite magazine |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/on-through-the-night-19800626 |title=On through the Night – Def Leppard |last=Fricke |first=David |author-link=David Fricke |magazine=Rolling Stone |date=26 June 1980 |access-date=13 August 2015 }} Sputnikmusic staff review noted that the "middle-class common-man image" of the "New Wave of British Heavy Metal" movement "partially played a part in making Def Leppard one of [its] leaders". He also stated that the band's ambition "would never allow [them] to be tunnel-visioned", but he concluded that On Through the Night "can be categorized as a grower of an album since the more superficial elements that would appeal to the mainstream will initially distract some listeners from what is actually an incredibly tight musical and vocal performance."

Record World said that the single "Rock Brigade" has "inventive guitar leads and pulsating dance rhythms."{{cite magazine|magazine=Record World|date=June 21, 1980|access-date=2023-02-20|title=Single Picks|page=14|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Record-World/80s/80/RW-1980-06-21.pdf}}

Most of the songs on the album were dropped from the band's live setlists after 1983, although "Rock Brigade" and "Wasted" would see periodic revivals after 2000. Also, the non-album track from the same era entitled "Good Morning Freedom" would be played live in 2013 during the opening to the "Viva Hysteria" shows.

{{track listing

| headline = Side one

| extra_column = Solos

| title1 = Rock Brigade

| length1 = 3:09

| writer1 = {{hlist|Steve Clark|Joe Elliott|Rick Savage}}

| extra1 = Pete Willis

| title2 = Hello America

| length2 = 3:27

| writer2 = {{hlist|Clark|Elliott|Savage}}

| extra2 = Clark

| title3 = Sorrow Is a Woman

| length3 = 3:54

| writer3 = {{hlist|Clark|Elliott|Savage|Willis}}

| extra3 = {{hlist|1 & 3 – Clark|2 & 3 – Willis}}

| title4 = It Could Be You

| length4 = 2:33

| writer4 = {{hlist|Elliott|Willis}}

| extra4 = Willis

| title5 = Satellite

| length5 = 4:28

| writer5 = {{hlist|Clark|Elliott|Savage|Willis}}

| extra5 = {{hlist|Willis|ride out licks: Clark}}

| title6 = When the Walls Came Tumbling Down

| length6 = 4:44

| writer6 = {{hlist|Clark|Elliott|Andrew Smith}}

| extra6 = Clark

}}

{{track listing

| headline = Side two

| extra_column = Solos

| title7 = Wasted

| length7 = 3:45

| writer7 = {{hlist|Clark|Elliott}}

| extra7 = Clark

| title8 = Rocks Off

| length8 = 3:42

| writer8 = {{hlist|Clark|Elliott|Savage|Willis}}

| extra8 = Clark

| title9 = It Don't Matter

| length9 = 3:21

| writer9 = {{hlist|Clark|Elliott|Willis}}

| extra9 = Willis

| title10 = Answer to the Master

| length10 = 3:13

| writer10 = {{hlist|Clark|Elliott|Savage|Willis}}

| extra10 = {{hlist|1 – Clark|2 – Willis}}

| title11 = Overture

| length11 = 7:44

| writer11 = {{hlist|Clark|Elliott|Savage|Willis}}

| extra11 = {{hlist|1, 2 & 4 – Clark|3 & 5 – Willis}}

}}

;Def Leppard

• Joe Elliott – lead vocals
• Pete Willis – guitar, backing vocals
• Steve Clark – guitar, backing vocals
• Rick Savage – bass guitar, backing vocals
• Rick Allen – drums, backing vocals

;Additional musicians

• Chris M. Hughes – synthesiser on "Hello America"
• Dave Cousins – voice on "When the Walls Came Tumblin' Down"

;Production

• (Colonel) Tom Allom – producer
• Louis "Snook" Austin – engineer
• Dick Plant – engineer
• Alan Schmidt – artwork

{{Certification Table Top}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Canada|type=album|artist=Def Leppard|title=On Through the Night|award=Platinum|relyear=1980|certyear=1991}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=United States|type=album|artist=Def Leppard|title=On Through the Night|award=Platinum|relyear=1980|certyear=1989}}

{{Certification Table Bottom|nosales=yes}}

{{reflist}}

• {{Official website|https://defleppard.com/album/on-through-the-night/}}
• {{MusicBrainz release group|mbid=23434a86-e665-3722-8dae-214f0fb97f3a|name=On Through the Night}}
• {{Discogs master|master=31089|name=On Through the Night|type=album}}

{{Def Leppard}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:On Through the Night}}

Category:Def Leppard albums

Category:1980 debut albums

Category:Albums produced by Tom Allom

Category:Vertigo Records albums

Category:Mercury Records albums

Category:New Wave of British Heavy Metal albums