1. Diamond Head - The One Band Who Should Have Ruled Them All
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpavSXoAPC0 The NWOBHM was characterised by heavy riffs, fast tempos, punishing power chords, intricate guitar solos and melodic - often soaring - vocals and leading the charge in all departments was the NWOBHM band that should have ruled the world; Diamond Head. Diamond Head should have been big, monumentally, planet-destroying big. Here was a band that could finally have been Britain's new Led Zeppelin. Not only were they blessed with a singer whose pipes and attitude could rival Robert Plant but they also boasted a guitarist whose coruscating and utterly original riffs were light years ahead of the pack in content and style; to call them influential would be an understatement of massive proportions. Have a listen to those riffs on The Prince from 1980's Lightning to the Nations album, remind you of anyone? Metallica? Megadeth perhaps? It may sound ridiculously familiar but that's because these boys were first; writing, recording and touring long before Lars Ulrich had even put down his tennis racket and decided to have a bash on his drum skins. On their debut album, Lightning to the Nations, can be found the extraordinary Am I Evil?, possibly the single greatest metal song ever recorded (the jurys still out, you decide) while Sucking My Love may not be a particularly subtle re-interpretation of Zeppelins The Lemon Song but its still a great track, the clichés of Rock lovingly adapted for a band wishing to take on the 1980s and win. The rest of the album is equally as impressive, no filler, just all killer. Lightning to the Nations catapulted Diamond Head to the forefront of the early 80s NWOBHM scene and was a huge influence on many metal bands who borrowed extensively from their sound but adapted it far more successfully; most notably Metallica. Theres a reason Metallica ripped these guys off wholesale in the early days this music was at the vanguard of modern rock/metal and remains as thrilling now as it did 34 years ago. Oddly, their second album was an entirely different beast. On 1981's Borrowed Time, the bands feral, untamed riffs were noticeably absent, replaced with sleek, smooth and well groomed pop-rock which had its eyes set firmly on the mainstream and the stadiums and the arenas of the world. Make no mistake, it's a great album but this was a radical change in sound that came way too soon. Metallica may have pulled off the same trick when they released the Black Album in 1991 but they had learnt from Diamond Head's mistakes, waiting until their fifth album before streamlining their sound. Diamond Head should have waited and solidified their fan base but their intense desire to progress led them to discard their original sound before it had even been established, confusing and alienating fans overnight. It was to be the start of the band's rapid decline and they never recovered, a cautionary tale for any band who experiments too much in their infancy. So, influential? Undoubtedly. Famous? Rich? Not really. Bad management, bad decisions and plain old bad luck resulted in a fraction of the success achieved by Iron Maiden, Judas Priest etc but at least Diamond Head are still receiving royalties from all those Metallica covers; Lars, James and Kirk owe them everything. Are there any other favourites we've missed? Let us know in the comments!
Christopher Jennings
Contributor
I love Heavy Metal, and generally anything that involves a guitar and loud noises, so I figured it was about time I put all the useless information in my head to good use and start writing a few things. Most of the time I'll be writing nonsense but occasionally I may surprise myself and appear half-way knowledgable.....but you can be the judge of that. Thanks for your fleeting attention!
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Christopher