Released 3 February 1983 Length 4:12
3:55 (7") | Format 7-inch single Label Mercury | |
Recorded 1982 at Park Gates Studios in Battle, East Sussex, England, and Battery Studios in London, England Genre Hard rock
glam metal
power pop | ||
"Photograph" is a song performed by English hard rock band Def Leppard and produced by Robert John "Mutt" Lange. It is the lead single from the band's third studio album, Pyromania (1983). Their lead vocalist Joe Elliott has described the song as generally about "something you can't ever get your hands on". When released as a single it reached No. 1 on the Billboard Top Tracks chart, where it stayed for six weeks, and No. 12 on the Pop Singles chart. In 2006 the song was used in promotional adverts for the DVD release of Blades of Glory. In 2009 it was named the 13th greatest hard rock song of all time by VH1. It was also listed as the No. 17 greatest song of the past 25 years by VH1.
Contents
- Music video
- 7 Vertigo Phonogram Ltd VER 5 UK
- 7 Vertigo Phonogram Ltd VERP 5 Photograph pop up cover UK
- 7 Vertigo Phonogram Ver 9 605 960 8 UK
- 7 Mercury PolyGram 811 215 7 US
- Cover versions
- Popular culture
- Charts
- Year end charts
- References
The 1993 live recording of the song in Sheffield, England appeared in the music video game Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock as part of a Def Leppard downloadable track pack, as did the 1993 live recording of "Rock of Ages". The song was also included in the track listing of the rhythm music video game Battle of the Bands. In 2008 they performed the song with country pop singer Taylor Swift on CMT Crossroads.
The studio recording of the song appears in the video game Grand Theft Auto V on the Los Santos Rock Radio station.
Music video
There are two slightly different versions of the music video. The uncensored version shows a knife scene at the beginning, and on the censored version of the video, it is almost the same except the knife scene is replaced with a stationary black cat among other minor bits removed. There are several appearances of a look alike impersonating Marilyn Monroe in the video, as the song is actually about the star and lead singer Joe Elliott's declaration that he does not just "want [her] photograph" but that is all he has of her, and he must admire her from afar.
The music video was directed by David Mallet and was shot on 2 December 1982 (bassist Rick Savage's 22nd birthday), in Battersea, London, England. It featured the video debut of their co-lead guitarist Phil Collen.
7": Vertigo / Phonogram Ltd / VER 5 (UK)
This version of the 7" single has a standard cover.
- "Photograph"
- "Bringin' On the Heartbreak"
7": Vertigo / Phonogram Ltd / VERP 5 / Photograph pop-up cover (UK)
This version of the 7" single has a camera on the cover, that pops up and you can see a picture of Marilyn Monroe.
- "Photograph"
- "Bringin' On the Heartbreak"
7": Vertigo / Phonogram / Ver 9 – 605 960-8 (UK)
This version of the 7" single resembles a wallet.
- "Photograph"
- "Bringin' On the Heartbreak"
7": Mercury / PolyGram / 811-215-7 (US)
This is the US version. The front cover is the same as the UK version
- "Photograph"
- "Action! Not Words"
Cover versions
British band Oval recorded a cover of "Photograph" for their 1992 EP on Icerink Records.
Jani Lane recorded a version of this song back in 2000 for a Def Leppard tribute album entitled Leppardmania.
The All-American Rejects performed a cover version of this song live on VH1 Rock Honors.
The band Santana covered the song for their 2010 album Guitar Heaven: The Greatest Guitar Classics of All Time. The song features Daughtry frontman Chris Daughtry on lead vocals.
The Swedish/Greek Melodic Death Metal band Nightrage covered the song along with Firewind singer Apollo Papathanasio providing clean vocals. The song appears as the Japanese bonus track to their 2011 album Insidious.
Popular culture
The song is a part of Grand Theft Auto V's soundtrack, played in-game on Los Santos Rock Radio, and is featured as downloadable content for Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock and Rock Band 3.