The group has sold more than 65 million albums. Rocked for almost three decades before tens of millions of people on almost every continent.

After all that, Def Leppard wanted to glam it up and get back to its roots, so the bandmates recorded ''Yeah!'' to show they're more than just a hard rock group.

Singer Joe Elliot, whose band plays Wednesday in Tinley Park, explained why Def Leppard should not be lopped into the category of the new wave of British heavy metal.

Q. Why now, after 25 years of playing hard rock, did you decide to cover the glam rock era of the '70s?

A. People would ask if we're a heavy-metal band and we'd say, ''No, that's Black Sabbath, Anthrax.'' It may come as a bit of a shock to some people, but we weren't weaned on Black Sabbath and Deep Purple. These [glam] songs are a major part of where we come from. It was the opportunity to show the world where our true roots lie.

Q. Why call it ''Yeah!'' and not something like ''Glam It Up"?

A. I think it's more to the point. It's the one word that everybody shouts when their favorite band starts or your favorite team scores a goal. It's a collective, excitable utterance that really summed up what these songs meant when we heard them. I've wanted to do a covers album from as soon as I could walk. It's not like we've run out of ideas -- we have half the next album written.

Q. But you just put out ''Yeah!''

A. We have loads written and demoed. Hopefully, when we finish this tour, we won't be starting from scratch. We're one step ahead of ourselves for the first time in our careers. I doubt very much [the recording] will happen this year.

Q. Do you think you still rock out as hard now?

A. I think so. I could run faster back then but I couldn't sing as well. How fast do you actually have to run? I think [Mick] Jagger rocks out more now than he did back in the day. Now, he's like 62 years old ... and I'm like 18 years younger. We don't just stand around doing nothing, but we rock, I suppose.

Q. What's your biggest backstage diva request?
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