Synopsis

Def Leppard perform "Rock Of Ages" in a surreal medieval-inspired setting. Robed monks gather around a chained woman while the band plays among rocky landscapes and theatrical props. Joe Elliott takes on the role of a larger-than-life rock preacher, wielding a sword that transforms into a guitar. The video's deliberately exaggerated imagery matches the song's celebration of rock excess, combining fantasy, religious symbolism, and classic heavy-metal showmanship.

Factoids & Trivia

• The video was filmed on December 8, 1982, in Battersea, London. The date was guitarist Phil Collen's 25th birthday.

• Former Def Leppard co-manager Peter Mensch appears as one of the robed monks.

• The opening phrase "Gunter glieben glauten globen" is nonsense rather than German. Producer Mutt Lange used it as an improvised count-in instead of saying "one, two, three, four."

• The same count-in was later sampled by The Offspring at the beginning of their 1998 hit "Pretty Fly (For a White Guy)."

• The spoken line "It's better to burn out than to fade away" references Neil Young's "My My, Hey Hey (Out of the Blue)." The wording was later quoted by the Kurgan in the 1986 film "Highlander."

• The video became one of the defining visual documents of the early-1980s hair-metal era and was included by The New York Times in its list of 15 essential hair-metal videos.

• "Rock Of Ages" came from Def Leppard's 1983 album "Pyromania." The single reached No. 16 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and topped the US Mainstream Rock chart.

• Def Leppard recorded a new version called "Rock Of Ages 2012," released digitally alongside a new recording of "Pour Some Sugar On Me."