Slang (deluxe edition)

Slang is the sixth studio album by British hard rock band Def Leppard, released in 1996. The album marked a radical musical departure from their signature sound, and was produced by the band with Pete Woodroffe.The album charted at #14 on The Billboard 200 and #5 on the UK Albums Chart. It is also the only Def Leppard album that does not feature their recognisable logo in its artwork.
Between the releases of Retro Active and Slang, Def Leppard endured hardships including Phil Collen's divorce, the death of Rick Savage's father and Savage's battle with Bell's Palsy, and the arrests of both Rick Allen and Joe Elliott for spousal abuse and assault, respectively. Though the band says Adrenalize was recorded during a bleaker time, the absence of Mutt Lange (for the first time on a Def Leppard record since 1981) made it possible for the band to show what they were really feeling. Says Joe Elliott, "There was a period with Mutt where if you came out with anything slightly negative, it was 'Fuck it!' and it was gone!" Continues Phil Collen, "We've all got personal things that have happened during the recording of Slang, and we've just ploughed on and some of it has come out on the record."
Doing without the services Mutt Lange, the band changed another habit by recording together as a band, in a townhouse in Marbella, Spain. Slang would feature less production in favour of a more organic sound, catalysed by drummer Rick Allen's reversion to a semi-acoustic kit. "We'd got so sick of recording the old way. We didn't want to do it any more. We wanted the music to be more personalised and let the character of the individuals to come out," explains Rick Savage.
Songs such as "Turn to Dust" introduced sarangi and other instrumentation atypical for the band. The album's lyrical content featured a darker and more introspective turn for the most part, with lighter fare restricted to the Prince-influenced "Slang".
Slang was the first Def Leppard album to fail to achieve platinum sales in the US. Elsewhere, the album performed better: it placed four singles on the UK charts, and did go platinum in Canada. On the supporting tour the band performed for the first time in Southeast Asia, South Africa and South America.
A limited edition release included a 6-track bonus disc, "Acoustic in Singapore", recorded live in October 1995.
On 22 November 2011, Phil Collen revealed in an interview to the Birmingham Express And Star newspaper that the band plan to reissue Slang in the future with extra tracks included. He stated the band "...did have a lot of songs when we recorded, different versions, songs that never quite got finished." On 26 December 2011, Vivian Campbell gave an update on the re-issue whilst speaking on his Facebook page in response to fan questions about Christmas songs. "We did once record a song called "Heavy Metal Christmas" during the Slang sessions - tongues very firmly in cheeks! It was actually a proper (and rather good!) song but was lacking lyrics - hence the goof-off title. It'll likely see the light of day when we re-release Slang soon. Some unheard stuff, too, as far as I know."
On January 18th 2012, Vivian mentioned on his Facebook regarding the proposed re-issue that "Ownership of Slang masters (and all out-takes) revert to us later this year, so there's a good chance that we'll re-release with bonus material."
Joe Elliott confirmed on his August 25th Planet Rock radio show that "...in a few months time we are re-releasing Slang as a double vinyl, a double CD with loads and loads of different mixes, bonus tracks and all sorts of stuff." This was followed by Elliott playing the bands 1999 Euphoria B-Side 'Burnout' (which was first released on the "Goodbye" CD single) at the end of the show and revealed it had been recorded during the 1995/1996 Slang sessions, which the singer described as "...a little teaser", implying that the song may be included on the upcoming re-issue.
Vivian Campbell has confirmed on his FaceBook that the Slang re-issue has now been pushed back to "early 2013".