With a home recording studio, a two-year-old daughter and 6,000 miles between himself and his band, Rick Allen combined some very personal elements in the creation of Euphoria. Def Leppard's latest release evolved from Allen's garage in Calabasas, California, where he laid down the basic digital drum tracks and then shipped them off to Ireland for further musical layering and development by the rest of the band, working in Dublin at lead singer Joe Elliott's home studio. So why the 32-track commute?
"The first two years were very important for me to be around my daughter, Lauren," Allen replies. And to that end, a new chapter of recording was written for the band, whose Euphoria remains timeless, seamless, and reflects no hint of compromise. The waves of trademark vocal harmony wash over the songs like a never-retreating tide, and Allen's down-the-middle backbeat smacks with unshakable precision.
Playing to a click is an absolute necessity for such a trans-Atlantic undertaking, but Allen found a way to make it interesting and musically supportive for himself. "A click has no musical quality whatsoever. It's important for me to come up with something to play to, so I program a pattern into a drum machine to conjure up subdivisions I want to play along with. I think it's important for drummers to be somewhat self-indulgent in this regard."
As a result of this approach, combined with his years of studio playing, Allen's frequent flyer mileage to and from Ireland was kept to a minimum. "A few trips were necessary, and sometimes it would have been nice to be around the band more, but the trade was worth it," he says. "Compromise doesn't always sit well with people, but ultimately, it saved us a lot of time and money." And where else but California would he get to watch a pack of coyotes from his garage, roaming the verdant hills under a full moon between takes?
