Def Leppard singer Joe Elliott said a collaboration with Ghost could be a possibility in the future.

His comments came after Ghost leader Tobias Forge revealed that he tried to emulate the British band’s approach to songwriting on their latest album Impera.

“I thought I would see if I could do it a little more like Def Leppard did it,” Forge explained. “Every song … starts with one thing, and then there’s a verse, then there's a pre-chorus that feels like a chorus, and then there's another pre-chorus and another thing and finally, after like five different sections, comes the chorus, in a completely different key.”

In a follow-up interview, Elliott was asked if Ghost had contacted him. "Not yet," he told Metal Hammer. "Maybe they will. We’ve got Alison Krauss on our new album, we did stuff with Taylor Swift 10 years ago. We’re not scared of collaborating with anybody. ... I saw that he’d said he thought we were great. He talked about he was inspired by the way we constructed songs – he’s not just wearing the T-shirt. It’s proper."

He said Impera was his “go-to album for the last couple of weeks. ... I’ve got it downloaded onto my Apple Watch so I can march away and listen to it. I’ve only got a few albums on there, and Ghost are one of them.” While he didn’t hear much comparison with his band in musical terms, he said he detected it “in the attitude.”

"Back in the ‘80s, when Hysteria came out, everybody heard it and went, 'Fuck, we’ve got to make an album that sounds like Def Leppard,'" Elliott said. "They’d mix their albums to try and copy it, but nobody admitted it. I like the fact that he actually admits to liking us. He’s not worried about losing cred with his fans by name-checking Def Leppard."

The British band will release the new album Diamond Star Halos on May 27, ahead of a long-delayed Stadium Tour with Motley Crue, Poison and Joan Jett.

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