Def Leppard guitarist Phil Collen named the song on the 1987 album Hysteria that used to make him “cringe” – although he’s over it now.
In a recent interview with Music Radar, Collen recalled that they had run out of time to complete some of the songs – like “Run Riot.” “We just didn’t get enough time to work on it, like chorus-wise,” he said. “The verses are great, but we get to the chorus and it’s too … I don’t know. … That’s just my opinion, although Joe [Elliott] thinks the same thing. It went a bit too poppy, a bit too happy. The vocal melody was a little too major scale. It should’ve stayed more rock ‘n’ roll, especially with the title.”
Read the full interview from Ultimate Classic Rock here.
