SHOW ME COUNTRY AND ROCK

Nearly a year after the release of their latest album, "Adrenalize," British rockers Def Leppard will bring their refined heavy metal sound to the Show Me Center Wednesday night for a 7:30 concert.

Since forming in 1977, Def Leppard has pleased audiences with hits like "Rock of Ages," "Photograph," "Women," "Animal," "Hysteria," "Pour Some Sugar On Me," "Love Bites," "Armageddon It," "Rocket," and, most recently, "Let's Get Rocked."

Def Leppard will perform in a "theater in the round" setting, so everyone in attendance will be privy to the best seat in the house.

The 100-by-75-foot stage and the band's complex system of lighting and lasers are expected to take up a majority of the floor space at the Show Me Center.

Though it has released only three albums in the last 10 years, Def Leppard has dominated the charts with each new recording.

Their first album, "Pyromania," sold eight million copies in the U.S. alone. But the band was not even recognized in their home country until the success of their second album, "Hysteria."

In their native Britain, "Hysteria" - which has sold nearly 15 million copies to date - jostled with Michael Jackson's "Bad" for the chart pole position for weeks.

Like "Hysteria," the making of "Adrenalize" has been governed by the attitude that if it sounds good the band is prepared to go the extra mile to make it sound great. Songs have been written and scrapped, rewritten and cannibalized, recorded and re-recorded until the band members are satisfied.

"That's the beauty of spending so much time making a record - you can come back to something four months later and say, `That was horrible,' " said Joe Elliott, lead vocalist for the band. "But with most people, that's already in the (record stores)."

Other band members concur.

"We'd never rush anything out," said bassist Rick "Sav" Savage. "We have to be 100 percent happy with the way a record sounds before it's released."

But the road to success has been rocky for this "working-class band," as they have been dubbed by a multitude of music magazines.

Def Leppard spent a majority of their early years proving themselves worthy while overcoming successive tragedies.

On New Year's Eve 1984, drummer Rick Allen lost his left arm when his car overturned just outside the band's hometown of Sheffield. Microsurgery failed to reconnect the limb.

Allen recovered by the spring of 1985 and returned to the band by playing a customized electronic drum set.

The death of guitarist Steve Clark two years ago devastated the group. Clark's death was caused by a lethal combination of alcohol, anti-depressants and painkillers.

The band got back on track in March 1991, when Phil Collen filled the gap left by Clark's absence.

As "Adrenalize" was released in March 1992, plans were under way for a world tour, a new chapter for the band that refuses to get stuck in its ways, the band that triumphs over adversity.

Will Lofdahl, events coordinator for the Show Me Center, said a few tickets are still available for the concert. All tickets are $20.

"Tickets have been selling pretty well," Lofdahl said. "But there are still plenty of good seats available."

About 7,000 Def Leppard fans are expected to attend.