The Struts Tap Def Leppard’s Joe Elliott, Phil Collen for New Song ‘I Hate How Much I Want You’

The Struts have enlisted two heavy metal heroes, Def Leppard’s Joe Elliott and Phil Collen, for a new song, “I Hate How Much I Want You.”

The track opens with a cheeky phone call between Elliott and Struts frontman Luke Spiller, who pitches the collaboration by saying, “I have this big, fat chorus that I need your big old pipes for.” It’s an offer, of course, that Elliott can’t refuse, and the singer splits vocal duties with Spiller on the booming track, while Collen adds some extra guitar riffs and solos to the proceedings.

In a statement, Spiller said the Def Leppard duo helped make the song sound like “a timeless glam rock stomper that your mum sang along to in the Seventies.” Collen added: “I loved the sound of the Struts since the moment I first heard them so it gives me great pleasure that Luke and the boys asked myself and Joe to participate in some mutual, mischievous, explosive rowdiness.”

Elliott also shared a statement: “When Luke called me up and asked if I fancied lending my voice to the Struts’ new album I said yes before I even knew what he wanted. I’ve been a massive fan of the band since I first heard them so it’s not just a pleasure, it’s an honor to be part of this ‘born-in-Covid’ album, and what a song! Makes me feel like a kid again every time I hear it!”

“I Hate How Much I Want You” will appear on the Struts’ next album, Strange Days, which arrives October 16th via Interscope/Polydor. The group recorded the LP  this spring, relocating from the U.K. to Los Angeles to work with producer Jon Levine after getting tested for Covid-19. Along with Elliott and Collen, the album will feature collaborations with Robbie Williams (“Strange Days”), the Strokes’ Albert Hammond, Jr. (“Another Hit of Showmanship”), and Tom Morello.