Description
Double album on white vinyls with gatefold cover, tour pass replica and A4 booklet. Limited 400 copies
Diamond Head is undoubtedly one of the most important names in the history of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal movement. Put next to giants like Iron Maiden and Saxon, the band’s music is a constant inspiration to various modern acts – Megadeth’s Dave Mustaine along with Metallica’s James Hetfield and Lars Urlich often mentioned Diamond Head as one of their most important influences in the entire music business. The group’s albums to this day impress NWOBHM enthusiasts and gather new fans, delivering all the best features of ambitious heavy metal music one could desire. ‘Lightning To The Nations’ (also called ‘The White Album’) was originally independently released in 1980 on their own Happy Face Music. This is one of the real highlights from the NWOBHM movement and the band have one of heavy metal’s most underrated and influential guitarists in Brian Tatler, who composed some of the catchiest and most memorable heavy guitar riffs of the ’80s. Metal Blade tried reissuing most of these songs back in 1987 on a compilation called Behold the Beginning, but their mistake at the time was the shoddy remix job they used trying to make the songs sound “modern.” Big mistake: the album sounded terrible, with way too much reverb and effects. With their latest reissue, no tampering was done other than making the master tapes digital. Lo and behold, it’s actually an amazing record although it was recorded on questionable equipment back in 1980. Diamond Head were at the forefront of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal (along with a host of others now either long dead or watered down and horrible) back in the early ’80s and were one of Metallica’s main inspirations. In fact, Metallica have actually recorded four of the seven songs on here. Diamond Head were no innovators themselves, borrowing liberally from old Black Sabbath and UFO, but their passion and songwriting made them more than a little distinctive from their peers. Along with their major label debut, Living on Borrowed Time (on MCA and long out of print), this album contains all of their best material–some of the most interesting metal to come out of the early ’80s.
Track list:
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
8. Shoot Out The Lights
9. Streets Of Gold
10. Waited Too Long
11. Play It Loud
12. Diamond Lights
13. We Won’t Be Back
14. I Don’t Got