Mutt Lange

In returning to posting, I thought I should dedicate my comeback post to the musical genius, rock producer Mutt Lange. Actually not so much to recount his bio and achievements, as to give a hint of why I seek out his work and appreciate it so much.

I first came across Lange's name before I had any idea of what a producer did, on the back of Def Leppard albums Hysteria (1987) and Adrenalize (1992), among the first rock records I'd ever listened to, back in April-May 1992. The name was distinctive enough for me to recall it a few months later when I came across Bryan Adams's Waking Up The Neighbours (1991). I still remember how striking it was that Adams in this album sounded so much more similar to Leppard than, say, his own previous records or the Bon Jovi, Alice Cooper, Scorpions, Phil Collins, whatever other records I was otherwise listening to then. The similarity in sound, not just in relatively throwaway tracks like All I Want Is You or Touch The Hand but even in important sections of the more pivotal Thought I'd Died And Gone To Heaven and the cloyingly ubiquitous (Everything I Do) I Do It For You.

The common element was Lange, and here was something I could seek out. Sure enough, I soon picked up Leppard's Pyromania (1983) and here were all the familiar Lange elements, the big backing vocals, the distinctive guitar and bass tones, that curiously huge snare drum sound that would have seemed intrusive in a lesser producer's hands. I also picked the very first Leppard album On Through The Night (1980) - the only album of theirs at that point Lange had not been involved with - and the clash in sounds, styles, songwriting was violent to say the least. Clearly, as with Adams, Lange had had a major influence on the sound of the band, as if this needed any further confirmation.

I was already an AC/DC fan from their latter-day records and before long, I was thrilled to discover Highway To Hell (1979) and Back In Black (1980), two monster-sounding records that Lange had produced. What to me, then and now, distinguished the sound here from that on other AC/DC records was the obviously superior production, the innovative use of space in Hells Bells or Back In Black or Touch Too Much, the crisper drum sounds, the throbbing bass that so characterises a song like Shoot To Thrill. Lange hadn't gone so far with AC/DC as to make them sound like another band, but he did get them to pace their songs better, and to boost the power of the more energetic sections of their songs by emphasising contrast with the quiet better.

By now I was hooked: a few months later, I picked up the first Leppard record Lange had produced, High 'N' Dry (1981). The AC/DC influence that runs through the heaviest album is clearest from the opening track Let It Go and the title track. Lange's role here, as with AC/DC, was solely as producer, but the sonic links with future big-sounding Leppard records are also there, these all form one progression.

So far, so unremarkable. Records produced by the same producer tend to sound alike. Yawn.

But what then marked Lange out for me was that I'd be listening to all sorts of other unrelated songs and I'd just know he's produced or worked on them. Sometimes it would strike me randomly.. hang on, was that a Mutt Lange production by any chance? ...back in 1994-95 it was harder to check these details, especially in India, than it is today. Two songs I clearly remember realising this independently for were Drive by the Cars (1984), and Waiting For A Girl Like You by Foreigner (1981), in each case it was the rhythm tracks coupled with just how the keyboard sounds shimmered in layers that gave the game away. A further interesting case where my intuition ended up letting me down was Heart's All I Wanna Do Is Make Love To You (1990) which Lange had not produced. No. All he had done was write the song!

The ultimate case where this worked was one evening late in 1995, when I was watching a countdown show of US music videos and up popped this country music video featuring a most attractive female singer gyrating in jeans and a denim vest, belly-button prominently on display. Of course it was Shania Twain, the song was Any Man Of Mine. I just knew it was Mutt Lange's work, the song was essentially an updated Pour Some Sugar On Me with fiddles, but no less brilliant for being that. The song certainly made far more of an impression than any other video I saw by an attractive female singer that year! Twain's music was not on sale in India at that point, and it took me until the following year to make the connection, if I remember right from a Grammy Awards compilation cassette.

All just goes to show.. keep your ears open, watch out for similarities and patterns in the music you listen to, and before you know it you find gems in the unlikeliest of spots.