Def Leppard have released an acoustic medley featuring several tracks played during their 2012 live shows.

Available exclusively via iTunes, the 7-minute plus medley includes snippets of the following tracks: * "Where Does Love Go When It Dies"
* "Now" * "When Love and Hate Collide" * "Have You Ever Needed Someone So Bad" * "Two Steps Behind"

Leppard have also recently announced a Las Vegas residency in the spring of 2013 where they will be taking over the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino for an exclusive nine-show run entitled "VIVA Hysteria!"

The band will perform their iconic album, "Hysteria," in full, in addition to a greatest hits segment.

Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich confirms in a new interview that the band is working on their next studio album, and that the new material sounds like a continuation of their 2008 release "Death Magnetic."

Ulrich said, "The stuff that we were banging out yesterday, it felt heavy, it felt energetic, it was loud, it was fast, it was rocking, it was crazy,".

"The snare drum was on there and there were guitar solos, in case anybody was wondering. What we're doing now certainly sounds like a continuation of where we left off four years ago."

One thing that Ulrich would not confirm is who is producing the album, and had this to say about Rick Rubin who produced "Death Magnetic": "I love Rick, we all love Rick," said Ulrich. "We're in touch with Rick constantly. We'll see where it goes."

The band recently announced that they have launched a new record label, Blackened Records, and have obtained ownership of their complete catalog.