Rocket (Def Leppard song)

Singer Joe Elliott came up with the idea of "Rocket" after he overheard a friend's cassette of "Burundi Black" by Burundi Steiphenson Black, which had previously had an influence on such UK bands as Adam and the Ants and Bow Wow Wow. Elliott then borrowed the tape to make a rhythm loop and overlaid guitar chords over it for a rough draft on the song. When he brought it to Lange and the band, they re-recorded and developed Elliott's idea in a higher key. The song was nearly developed as a near-instrumental with only a short chorus ("Rocket! Yeah"), but after the lyrics "Satellite of Love", which referenced the song of the same name by Lou Reed in 1972, were added to the chorus, the band expanded on the concept of the song and added musical influences of the 1960s and 1970s as lyrics for the verses, including the vocal melody to "I Feel Free" by Cream as part of the guitar solo.

During one break in the production of the song, the band were surprised to find that Lange had added the extended breakdown, complete with the vocal sampling, to the middle of the song. Lange also instructed the band to record monk-like chants, that were also similarly used by Adam and the Ants in their song "Dog Eat Dog", to emphasize a guitar solo during the breakdown.[https://archive.today/20130201160339/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/song-stories/rocket-def-leppard Rocket "Song Stories", Rolling Stone] Although the drumbeat samples, played at the beginning of the extended and edited version after audio from the Apollo 11 Moon landing{{cite magazine | url=https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/def-leppard-hysteria-at-25-classic-track-by-track-1066898/ | title=Def Leppard, 'Hysteria' at 25: Classic Track-By-Track | magazine=Billboard }} and again during the first half of each verse and the breakdown, are widely mis-attributed to be taken from the Royal Drummers of Burundi, they are actually a series of drum machines programmed by Lange and drummer Rick Allen to play slightly out-of-sync with one another to provide a tribal drum effect within the song.

The song features nods to other tracks on Hysteria. Producer Mutt Lange used backmasking effects to feature the line "We're fighting with the gods of war" (from "Gods of War") sung backward throughout the track, though this sample was omitted from the single version of the song. The words "Love" and "Bites" (from "Love Bites") are also used as a sonic effect midway throughout the song, in order to replicate the sounds of a rocket launch through musical samples.

In its single release, "Rocket" was heavily edited from its original length of 6:34 for radio airplay. The band alternate between the album version and the single edit in live performance. UK versions of the single release featured a cover of the Engelbert Humperdinck song "Release Me", credited to "Stumpus Maximus & The Good Ol' Boys", which was actually Malvin Mortimer, the band's future tour manager, backed up by the band members themselves.

Reviewing the single in the 4 February 1989 edition of Record Mirror, Phil Cheeseman chided the song for lack of class and supposed that the band "caught lethargy bug".{{cite magazine|last=Cheeseman|first=Phil|authorlink=|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/UK/Record-Mirror/80s/89/Record-Mirror-1989-Feb-04.pdf|title=Review: Def Leppard – "Rocket"|magazine=Record Mirror|date=4 February 1989|access-date=9 December 2021|page=29|location=London|publisher=Spotlight Publications Ltd.|via=World Radio History|issn=0144-5804|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210630134525/https://worldradiohistory.com/UK/Record-Mirror/80s/89/Record-Mirror-1989-Feb-04.pdf|archive-date=30 June 2021}} Stuart Maconie of New Musical Express echoed by saying "this thing sounds like a vile mating of Whitesnake. Actually, it doesn't since that sounds quite fun in a tasteless sort of way". B-side cover song, "Release Me", was called as "scuzzbucket".{{cite magazine|last=Maconie|first=Stuart|authorlink=Stuart Maconie|url=|title=Review: Def Leppard – "Rocket"|magazine=New Musical Express|date=4 February 1989|page=17|access-date=|location=London|publisher=IPC Limited|issn=0028-6362}} In turn, Mick Mercer of Melody Maker left more positive response on single. He found the title track "more amenable than their recent singles" and called it "positively trivial in parts".{{cite magazine|last=Mick|first=Mercer|authorlink=Mick Mercer|url=|title=Review: Def Leppard – "Rocket"|magazine=Melody Maker|date=4 February 1989|page=32|access-date=|location=London|publisher=IPC Limited|issn=0025-9012}} Cash Box said that "the song structure in 'Rocket' relies on stacked vocal harmonies that build to an almost facetiously simple chorus."{{cite magazine|title=Top of the Pops|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Cash-Box/80s/1989/CB-1989-03-04.pdf|magazine=Cash Box|date=March 4, 1989|accessdate=2022-12-21|page=20}}

Guitar World magazine voted Rocket's guitar solo the 17th worst of all time in a countdown published in December 2004's issue. The magazine commented that "[Rocket has] a solo that any four year-old with a rack-mounted effects unit could play."{{cite web|last1=Bienstock|first1=Richard|last2=Bosso|first2=Joe|last3=Epstein|first3=Dan|last4=Gill|first4=Chris|last5=Paul|first5=Alan|last6=Wiederhorn|first6=Jon|title=100 Worst Guitar Solos|url=http://www.guitarworld.com/100-worst-guitar-solos|website=Guitar World|publisher=New Bay Media|access-date=11 July 2014|ref=Guitar World worst guitar solos}}

The music video for this song was directed by Nigel Dick.[http://onlinemusikvideos.com/director/nigel%20dick Nigel Dick Videography – Music Video Database – The Base Of Music Videos] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080220165238/http://onlinemusikvideos.com/director/nigel%20dick |date=20 February 2008 }}

The video is the band's last with Steve Clark before his death in 1991.{{citation needed|date=May 2018}} It was filmed in the same warehouse in the Netherlands used nearly two years earlier for the "Women" clip in 1987.{{citation needed|date=May 2018}} The lyrics and video are centered around the 1970s with various newsreels including Richard Nixon's disgrace, Edward Heath's fall from power to Margaret Thatcher as leader of the Conservatives, the Apollo 13 crisis, and a variety of clips/newsreels of 70's music icons. Clips of the classic rock names from the lyrics (see below) are flashed during the video, along with footage of the various artists performing live or on BBC TV's Top of the Pops. The 1971 FA Cup Final, won by Arsenal, also features; particularly goal scorer, club legend and crowd favourite Charlie George.

For its lyrics, the names of classic rock artists, songs or albums of the 50s, 60s and 70s are dropped as a tribute to the music of the band's youth.

• "Jack Flash" – The song "Jumpin' Jack Flash" by the Rolling Stones, 1968
• "Rocket Man" – The song of the same name by Elton John, 1972
• "Sgt. Pepper & the Band" – The album Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band by the Beatles, 1967
• "Ziggy" – The track/character of "Ziggy Stardust" from David Bowie's album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust, 1972
• "Bennie and the Jets" – The song of the same name by Elton John, 1973
• "Satellite of Love" – The song of the same name by Lou Reed, 1972
• "Laser Love" – The song of the same name by T. Rex, 1976
• "Jet Black" – A reference to the drummer "Jet Black" from the band The Stranglers
• "Johnny B." – A reference to the song "Johnny B. Goode" by Chuck Berry, 1958
• "Jean Genie" – The song of the same name by David Bowie, 1973
• "Killer Queen" – The song of the same name by Queen, 1974
• "Dizzy Lizzy" – A reference to the song "Dizzy Miss Lizzy", made famous by the Beatles, 1965 (also a nod to Thin Lizzy)
• "Major Tom" – A reference to the song "Space Oddity" by David Bowie, 1969

1. "Rocket" (edit)
2. "Release Me"

1. "Rocket" (edit)
2. "Women" (live)

1. "Rocket (Lunar mix)
2. "Release Me"
3. "Rock of Ages" (live)

1. "Rocket" (Lunar mix)
2. "Rocket" (radio edit)
3. "Release Me"

• 12" picture disc

1. "Rocket" (Lunar mix—edit)
2. "Rock of Ages" (live)
3. "Release Me"

1. "Rocket" (extended Lunar mix)
2. "Women" (live)
3. "Rock of Ages" (live)
4. "Rocket" (Lunar mix)

• Only 5000 copies pressed

1. "Rocket (Lunar mix—edit) (video)
2. "Rocket" (edit) (audio)
3. "Release Me" (audio)
4. "Rock of Ages" (live) (audio)

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Category:1987 songs

Category:1989 singles

Category:Def Leppard songs

Category:List songs

Category:Music videos directed by Nigel Dick

Category:Song recordings produced by Robert John "Mutt" Lange

Category:Songs written by Robert John "Mutt" Lange

Category:Songs written by Rick Savage

Category:Songs written by Joe Elliott

Category:Songs written by Steve Clark

Category:Songs written by Phil Collen

Category:Mercury Records singles

Category:Music with NASA audio