Perhaps one of the greatest stars of the NWOBHM that never were, Diamond Head had a rough time of it (I swear, first person that makes a pun about "rough diamonds"....) and never quite cracked the scene in the same way their contemporaries did. However, unlike other bands we have looked at in this series who "sold out" to the American way of doing things and changed their formula to suit the lucrative US market, Diamond Head weren't big in the USA either. They're fondly thought of here, and indeed acknowledged as a major influence on bands such as Metallica and Megadeth, but their own material hasn't exactly gone down in the ranks of classic heavy metal. To find out why this should be, we need to go back, as we always do, to the beginning.
Formed as one of those schoolfriends bands, Diamond Head were something of an oddity in that they refused, in the main, to play cover versions, which is almost always how most bands get their start. Formed by Brian Tatler and with longtime member Sean Harris joining as vocalist soon afterwards, they wrote their own songs and gigged anywhere they could. Turning down major label interest (what? It's true, apparently!) Harris's mother, Linda, who was at the time one of their co-management team and appeared to be calling the shots, had the band signed to an independent label on which they put out their first album, the no-frills, almost blank in terms of packaging "Lightning to the nations". The album was only made available originally through mail order, the idea being that the songs thereon would attract major label interest (huh? Again. I thought they had an offer and turned it down, now they're looking for a label? You can begin to see why Diamond Head may have been doomed from the beginning) but it was their live shows that ended up being the attraction. Support slots with two of the biggest bands around at the time, AC/DC and the emerging kings of the NWOBHM, Iron Maiden, at least made sure plenty of fans got to hear their music, but you can't help wondering what might have happened had they taken the deal they had been offered originally.
Lightning to the nations --- Diamond Head --- 1980 (Happy Face)
There's a punchy powerful guitar riff to start us off and this quickly ramps up to a full boogie rock rhythm as the title track opens the album, a track which would reappear on their second album. Sean Harris has a singular vocal style, almost crying the lyric and certainly with a distinctive voice that would not be mistaken for anyone else. Quite reminds me of a certain Mister Plant, actually. Brian Tatler immediately establishes himself as a force to be reckoned with on the guitar, with some quite Maidenesque riffing, while the rhythm section do what rhythm sections do. Although there are only seven tracks on the album, some are quite long, with the longest checking in at over nine minutes, almost unheard of for a metal band at the time. There are three over six minutes, and "The prince" is one of them. Not hard to see why Metallica were interested in covering this: it simply flies along, with some incredible shredding by Tatler and a powerful driving drumbeat from Duncan Scott.
Cool little bass twiddly bit in it too, just so we don't forget about Colin Kimberley, and though Tatler really excels on the guitar here it's again Harris who grabs the attention with his polished delivery, easily remaining the centre of attention. A very clear, crisp production considering this was self-recorded (originally on a four-track!) and self-financed and released. Guitar gets bluesy then quickly funky and then picks up the rocking beat again as Scott pounds away with gusto on the skins. Superb little solo from Brian, and this is a great song to headbang to. It's followed by the epic, nine-minute-plus "Sucking my love", which trundles along like the best of Creedence or Molly Hatchet, with Tatler throwing in a solo reminscent of Thin Lizzy, the song maintaining the fast pace of its predecessor, if not quite as breakneck in tempo. A very progressive rocklike interval then, very Marillion in fact, although they would not release their first album for another three years, so it's either a coincidence or my favourite band half-inched that riff!
The nine minutes and change just fly by and suddenly we're into "Am I evil?", another track they would reprise on their second album. Opening with the famous intro to Holst's "Mars, the bringer of war" from his "Planets suite", it's a great dramatic little number that just goes crazy with a frankly incredible guitar solo at the end. I'm listening now to see if it's any different to the version that appears on "Borrowed time", and ....not really no. Few vocal inflections are different, it's a little more polished on the next album but otherwise it's pretty much the same song. "Sweet and innocent" has again a Thin Lizzy "Fighting"-era style to it, kind of "Do anything you want to do" feel, but to be honest I find it the weakest track on the album; it's also the shortest, at just over three minutes. Then we have their signature song, "It's electric", and indeed it is. This song just pulses with power, energy and vitality, and must have been a real crowd-pleaser. More excellent shredding from Brian (didn't notice any of that on the previous song), and if things had worked out for the lads this should I think have been the song that broke them, but it never happened. The album then closes on "Helpless", with a big fast grinding guitar and to me a sense of Rory Gallagher's "Just hit town" about it. Great riproaring ending to an album you would never believe had been recorded in six months on such cheap equipment (though I'm sure the version I'm listening to now is a remastered one, as apparently all the original one thousand copies of the debut were lost in Germany), and would be similarly hard-pressed to accept did not lead to a massive surge in popularity for this talented band.
TRACKLISTING
1. Lightning to the nations
2. The Prince
3. Sucking my love
4. Am I evil?
5. Sweet and innocent
6. It's electric
7. Helpless
Well, to be fair, their profile did increase after this, but more on the back of the reception to their gigs than due to any huge album sales. In 1982 they were signed to MCA who released their second album, the epic "Borrowed time", which used the story of Michael Moorcock's fantasy hero Elric of Melnibone as its basic theme, and again featured only seven tracks, two of which, as already noted, were reissues of ones from "Lightning to the nations". Odd, really, when you consider how much material the band had stored up. Still, perhaps they felt these were some of their strongest, and possibly best-known and loved songs. At any rate, I have already reviewed this album in depth so I won't be looking at it here, but if you want to read my review that's here
http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...ml#post1080675.
"Borrowed time" catapulted Diamond Head into the album charts for the first and last time, breaking into the top thirty, and their popularity was now such that they could headline their own major concerts. However they then shot themselves in the foot, and in a way you have to have a problem finding any sympathy for them. Bored of singing and writing straight heavy metal, they decided to change direction and turned in a more progressive one, with their third album therefore not being the huge success it could and should have been, and failing utterly to capitalise on "Borrowed time"'s positive reception. In fact, "Canterbury" was seen to be so removed from their previous work that it alienated fans, who turned away from the band, the album failing to make it into the top thirty. However they did not learn from this, as will be related later. Right now I want to look again at this album, which I mini-reviewed for "Bitesize" some time ago.
Canterbury --- Diamond Head --- 1983 (MCA)
Originally to have been the title of the album, "Making music" starts off heavy enough, with clanging guitar and pounding drums, though you can hear the metal riffs are being toned back and a more sort of progressive style is entering Tatler's playing. Good anthemic chanted chorus I feel, and not the biggest shift so far from their other work, with more Lizzyesque guitar and Harris as ever on fine form vocally. Mind you, I can hear Irish band Aslan strongly in here. "Out of phase" though changes everything, with a more indie-rock, almost verging on pop sound: nothing heavy about this, it's almost The Housemartins! Kind of a return to metal then with the Dioesque "Kingmaker", which sounds as if it has keyboards, though none are credited. A very eastern/Egyptian sound to it, a slow grinder with a sort of chorus chant running through the whole thing. It's very repetitive I have to say, and it runs into "One more night", which sounds like it doesn't know if it wants to be a rock song or an indie one, kind of bits and pieces of rockabilly thrown into the mix too. Oh dear. It's certainly catchy, but for me it just isn't Diamond Head. Now that was definitely a piano! I defy anyone to tell me that was not a
glissando on the keys!
"To the devil his due", up next, opens on a soft little acoustic guitar piece, accompanied by wailing electric, with a real smooth hook and certainly the standout on the album so far. Reminds me of the material on "Borrowed time", a slowburning cruncher with a feel of progressive metal and real emotion and power in it. Returning to that album's theme, "Knight of the swords" digs again into Moorcock's repertoire for its subject matter. This time it's Corum, another facet of the Eternal Champion (seriously: read the books. You won't regret it) and the song itself has echoes of the title track to the prior album in it, a mid-paced track that trips along nicely and has a smouldering guitar line to it with a great vocal performance by Sean Harris.
"Ishmael" has more progressive rock in it, and a guitar riff which seems very close to BOC's classic "Don't fear the Reaper", a thumping drumbeat and a mostly lower register for Harris vocally. Eastern influences here too, quite Rainbow in places. More straight ahead rock then for "I need your love", which ups the tempo and involves some great guitar work from Brian, another shouted chorus and then we're into the closer, and title track, which opens on soft piano --- definitely piano --- which reminds me of the later work of Neil Hannon with the Divine Comedy. Very medieval sound to it, also brings to mind some of the work of Manowar and Virgin Steele. Trumpeting keyboards add to the sound and it's very slow and low-key until halfway in when there's a big cymbal wave and everything takes off on the back of Tatler's guitar as the percussion ups the stakes. Strange little closer, if I'm honest.
TRACKLISTING
1. Making music
2. Out of phase
3. Kingmaker
4. One more night
5. To the devil his due
6. Knight of the swords
7. Ishmael
8. I need your love
9. Canterbury
After listening to it again I concur with what I said when I looked at this for "Bitesize". I can see some differences in Diamond Head's style from the previous two albums, but I don't mark a huge departure for this album. There are some, shall we say, unexpected influences on it, certainly, but it's not after all like they went and recorded "Hot space" or "Never say die!" Still, the fans didn't like it and it served to show the guys that they should head back in the direction of heavy met --- oh wait, no it didn't! Undeterred by the lukewarm reception to their third album, Diamond Head went about recording their fourth, which was never released, moving even further away from metal and into a softer, less guitar-led sound as they lost both drummer and bass player and having replaced Scott and Kimberley, recruited a keyboard player. Er, guys, weren't you listening to your fans? They did not want keys, prog rock or less guitar solos: they wanted you to go back to your roots, the music that had won them for you in the first place!
Dropped by MCA after the disappointing album sales for "Canterbury", the boys were hard at work on "Flight east", with Harris starting to write songs that had a more religious bent (way to win back the hardcore fans there, Sean!) but when it became clear no label was interested in their new direction, and money was running out the guys decided to call it a day, for now, and split in 1985.