The Good, The Not So Good, and Turning Both Into Great

In 1983, the biggest-selling album in the US was Michael Jackson’sThriller, still a pop classic more than 30 years later.

The second biggest-selling album was from a relatively little-known (at the time) UK rock band called Def Leppard. The album wasPyromania.

Selling more than 10 million copies in the US alone,Pyromanialaunched Def Leppard into the melodic rock stratosphere, and introduced music fans previously against rock into their brand of catchy hooks and excellent live shows.

The...