Di'Anno

The spirit of youth could be likened to an uncompromising fire that would sooner burn the entire world to cinders than entertain the idea of selling out, and metal could be analogized as a massive propane line that continues to perpetuate the blaze. Nevertheless, various flames from this towering inferno having found themselves prematurely burned out (pun intended) and find themselves looking to cash in and find some peace and quiet before reaching the age of 30. Such was the disposition that former Iron Maiden front man Paul Di'Anno found himself in after parting ways with the band, much to the chagrin of many an early fan of said NWOBHM icons as it coincided with him breaking literally every tie with his own musical accomplishments in favor of what was arguably little more than a passing fad. If anything can be said in defense of the resulting head first foray into mid-80s AOR with no accounting for subtlety that was Di'Anno's eponymous debut, featuring a cast of competent yet no-name rock musicians behind him no less, is that it preempted similar yet arguably more competent breaks with NWOBHM's roots such as Saxon's Innocence Is No Excuse and Tygers Of Pan Tang's The Wreck-Age. But regardless how one justifies going from a masterwork of metallic genius like Killers to something more appropriate to then recent outings by the likes of Journey, Survivor and even Jefferson's Starship, Di'Anno is ultimately a collection of rock songs, and not a bad one to be honest.

Perhaps the greatest strike against any album that walks this much maligned path is that the formula is, for lack of a better description, contrived into oblivion. Even when measured against the more commercial ventures of the time out of Scorpions, this forgotten chapter of 1984's musical rejects boasts a method where predictability and hook-oriented fanfare hold a dictatorial reign over any peripheral elements that would otherwise make for a distinct listening experience. This is most apparent in the rhythm section's largely methodical, mid-paced rock orthodoxy that finds the album moving at a largely uniform tempo, steering clear of even the fast-paced mayhem of Van Halen's "Hot For Teacher" but also largely avoiding excessive balladry. To be fair, bassist Kevin Browne does occasionally throw in a distinctive fill here and there that breaks away from outright AC/DC territory, but this is music geared towards supporting a vocalist and occasionally featuring a few signature riffs and solos from the guitars, which is this album's best selling point. Though there are usually scant few spots for riff oriented majesty on here even by the standard of say, Journey's Frontiers, a few moments on the Love At First Sting homage "Bright Lights" and the bluesy coaster "Heartuser" sees a guitar performance that goes beyond simply banging on power chords until a shred-happy, 15 second guitar solo breaks up the monotony of expected cadence points and cliche lyrical devices.

As with any solo project, though what goes on in the background courtesy of what can be best described as hired guns may prove competent, the buck stops with the participant whose name adorns the band's title. Putting aside the utter disappointment that the author of this review would have shared with the masses had he been older than 4 at the time this album dropped, Di'Anno's vocal performance on here fares quite well for what it seeks out to accomplish. There is little in the way of ballsy growls and raspy goodness to match his iconic contributions to Maiden's first two opuses, but there is definitely a clear level of versatility at play here that occasionally reminisces on his amazing work on his former band's cover of "Women In Uniform" (which was superior to the original), combining a more nasally high range that is appropriate to a mid-80s arena rock romp with a deeper and more soulful croon that is most obviously on display on the aforementioned "Heartuser", yet also employed to charming effect on the semi-ballad nod to early 80s Rainbow "Lady Heartbreak" and the piano driven anthem "Tales Of The Unexpected". Putting aside the sappy lyrics which would even make the likes of Bryan Adams blush, even more straight-line radio fair songs like "Flaming Heart", "Road Rat" and the oddly happier yet obvious predecessor to Robert Tepper's "No Easy Way Out" in "The Runner" are good fun for anyone looking to take a respite from ending war and solving world hunger for some lighter material.

To the average passerby, regardless of whether coming to this album with an expectation of metal or not, this is a largely average, by the numbers, and completely time specific affair. Even for the shameless trustee of all things 80s AOR who tirelessly defends everything that Saxon put out between 1983 and 1990, this goes pretty heavy on the sappiness and simultaneously fails to really break out of the conventions of the day. By contrast, when one ventures into the 80s content of Scorpions and Deep Purple, or even the short-lived Alcatrazz, there is a greater degree of musicality and adventurism that is notably absent here. It comes off as more of a compilation of 80s hits with individual songs that stand reasonably well on their own, but present a collective disunity that makes listening to the entire album a bit of a chore for even the most hardened 80s fanboy. Iron Maiden enthusiasts who never heard of this album and are expecting more of what they love are naturally encouraged to either outright avoid this or temper their expectations before blowing a proverbial gasket over something that even Di'Anno himself disowned decades ago. It is not metal by any estimation, nor was it ever really intended to be anything approaching such, but by hard rock standards of the time and particularly among other ventures into said territory by NWOBHM alumni, it's far from the worst thing to ever rear it's head from the vat of 80s commercialism.

Paul Di'Anno was excellent in Iron Maiden and has one of the best voices in metal, so naturally I was very enticed when I heard he had a solo outing coming out. While not a bad release it isn't what you'd expect either. This is a very keyboard dominated pop-metal album, musically it's very comparable to Blue Oyster Cult's more pop-rock oriented material with some Journey thrown in. As for the lyrics, think along the lines of Don Dokken's typical "heartbreak" material.

While this sounds pretty disappointing for a metal album, it comes off great as the pop rock/metal album it is, for the most part rocking along quite nicely, despite the synth domination. The only complaints that can really be made here is that while Paul's vocals do shine on this album, he doesn't really seem to go all out at any point here like he did with Iron Maiden and later with Battlezone and Killers, and they don't sound as rough either he does manage to add in some of his screams at the end of a few songs though.The keyboard/piano dominating over the guitar is slightly annoying on this on too. It does fit in with the songs nicely, but more soloing & riffs would be much better than synth shit any day. The songwriting sounds pretty together for the most part here, with only one or two songs sounding uninspired. As for the production, it sounds pretty good.

As for the individual songs themselves, the album starts off great with one the best songs "Flaming Heart" which is a great rocker that actually manages to get some good guitar work and yes even a solo, as does the next song "Heartuser", and they come off pretty great in spite of the synth. "Here To Stay" and "The Runner" in particular remind me of the formula BOC used on "Mirrors" and for the most part aren't very memorable but are very enjoyable and fit the album well with the latter of the too being more of a rocker as well. "Tales Of The Unexpected" is the one in particular that sounds like Journey, right down to the bass effects and is pretty close to being a ballad. "Razor Edge" is another one of the more rockier songs on the album, and features a great riff and a convential piano as opposed to a keyboard and gets the album back up to pace after the previous slower song. "Bright Lights" features some nice riffs, but is one of the less memorable ones here the same goes for "Lady Heartbreak" and "Antigua" which follow it. "Road Rat" is a very poppy rock song which closes the album on an upbeat note, but it isnt that bad either.

All in all, something more metal would've given Paul a better chance to do what he does best, but this album is great for what it is, and compared to alot of the 70's pop rock it sounds like, "Di'Anno" easily comes out on top of these. I suggest getting it if you like Paul's voice, and that kind of pop-metal/rock, but don't expect something Maiden-esque here. In that case, the three albums he did with Battlezone and his work with Killers is more the heavier route you'd expect.

I have a very hard time calling this piece of art metal. It has distorted guitars but not much. There is more piano in this music then there is guitars. I wonder if this is the same Di'Anno from Iron Maiden? If it is, then Di'Anno surely has lost his touch for metal. The best band I could compare this with is John Cougar Mellencamp meets Journey, yeah it's that scarry!

The production isn't the greatest. The first song that busts out is Flaming Heart, which right away you can hear the pretty crappy production. It almost sounds like it was recorded in 1970. Flaming Heart isn't really a bad song, but it's just not metal, and most definetly not Iron Maiden sounding. The riffs are chessy, the distortion guitars and solo (not much), the piano and symphonics are way overdone. Almost sounds like a video game at certain points in the song.

The whole album comes out in this fashion. Not many good guitar riffs. Some of the good riffs and solo's are: solo to Road Rat and main riff of Razor Edge (the only real song that is really good on this album). The piano rules this album with an iron fist. Meaning there is way to much piano. And I am not talking about Symphony X keyboards, I am talking about Elton John type rock n roll piano playing. The singing isn't as great as I thought it would be. Paul Di'Anno doesn't cut it off with his ruff cut vocal tone that was present on Iron Maiden's Killer album. This vocal tone hardly moves, and doesn't have the rough edge cut. An example of his vocals are on the song Tales of the Unexpected which reminds me of some tv show anthem. Very girly like, and definetly not cut throat range.

This isn't a bad album at all, if it were mentioned as a pop rock album. There are only three decent songs on this album: Razor Edge, Here To Stay, and Flaming Heart. Everything else is decent if you like pop rock, or very soft rock n roll. Not heavy metal, not Iron Maiden, Di'Anno lost his touch for metal on this album!