"Work It Out" is a 1996 song by the English

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a heavier subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and Distortion (music), distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the Garage rock, garage, Psychedelic rock, psychedelic and blues ...

band

Def Leppard Def Leppard are an English Rock music, rock band formed in Sheffield in 1977. Since 1992, the band has consisted of Rick Savage (bass, backing vocals), Joe Elliott (lead vocals), Rick Allen (drummer), Rick Allen (drums), Phil Collen (guitar, ...

from their gold album ''

Slang A slang is a vocabulary (words, phrases, and linguistic usages) of an informal register, common in everyday conversation but avoided in formal writing and speech. It also often refers to the language exclusively used by the members of pa ...

''. It was written entirely by new guitarist

Vivian Campbell Vivian Patrick Campbell (born 25 August 1962) is a Northern Irish musician. He came to prominence in the early 1980s as the guitarist of Dio. He has also been the guitarist of Def Leppard since 1992 (replacing Steve Clark after his death). C ...

. It was released as a single later that year, reaching number six on the US

Mainstream Rock Mainstream rock (also known as heritage rock) is a radio format used by many commercial radio stations in the United States and Canada. Format background Mainstream rock stations represent a cross between classic rock, active rock and alternativ ...

chart and number 22 on the UK Singles Chart.

Background

Lead singer Joe Elliott said in the album's commentary that ''Work It Out'' " was Vivian

Campbell's The Campbell's Company (doing business as Campbell's and formerly known as the Campbell Soup Company) is an American company, most closely associated with its flagship canned soup products. The classic red-and-white can design used by many Campb ...

first songwriting contribution to the band" and that Elliott "had this opportunity to channel isinner

Iggy Pop James Newell Osterberg Jr. (born April 21, 1947), known professionally as Iggy Pop, is an American singer, musician, songwriter, actor and radio broadcaster. He was the vocalist and lyricist of proto-punk band the Stooges, who were formed in 1 ...

instead of screeching in this high register like

e had E, or e, is the fifth Letter (alphabet), letter and the second vowel#Written vowels, vowel letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the English alphabet, modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others wo ...

always done in the past". The music video was directed by

Nigel Dick Nigel Dick (born 21 March 1953) is an English music video director and filmmaker. Originally from Catterick, North Yorkshire, he is based in Los Angeles, California. He has directed music videos for artists such as Britney Spears, Toto, Ba ...

in April 1996 at Occidental Studios in Los Angeles, California. The video was released in May 1996. "Work It Out" has not been played live by the band since the Slang World Tour in 1997.

Track listing

;CD Bludgeon Riffola - Mercury/LEPDD16 (UK)/578 271-2 (INT) This single contains collector's postcards of classic Def Leppard album covers. It contains the '' On Through the Night'', '' High 'n' Dry'', ''

Pyromania Pyromania is an impulse-control disorder in which individuals repeatedly fail to resist impulses to deliberately start fires, to relieve some tension or for instant gratification. The term ''pyromania'' comes from the Greek word (''pyr'', 'f ...

'' and ''

Hysteria Hysteria is a term used to mean ungovernable emotional excess and can refer to a temporary state of mind or emotion. In the nineteenth century, female hysteria was considered a diagnosable physical illness in women. It is assumed that the bas ...

'' postcards, with band members comments on the back. * "Work It Out" * "Work It Out" (original demo version) * "Truth?" (original demo Version) ;CD Bludgeon Riffola - Mercury/LEPCD16 (UK)/578 270-2 (INT) * "Work It Out" * "Move With Me Slowly" * " Two Steps Behind" (live acoustic version) ;CD Bludgeon Riffola - Mercury/LC0268 (UK)/578 293-2 (INT) * "Work It Out" * "Move With Me Slowly" * "Work It out" (original demo) * "Truth?" (original version)

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Notes

{{Authority control Def Leppard songs 1996 singles Music videos directed by Nigel Dick Songs written by Vivian Campbell 1996 songs Mercury Records singles