Lightning to the Nations

There are a multitude of classic albums, which in my particular taste have not aged well, these are albums and bands that were in the right place at the right time and were lucky and resourceful enough to create a legacy with their name. Diamond Head with Lightning to the Nations is not such an example. This album to this day, 43 years after its release, still sounds authentic and fantastic and still stands as a cornerstone of the NWOBHM and as one of the major influences of early thrash metal.

But what makes this album so special? Far from being a single particular aspect, Lightning to the Nations is composed of a multitude of factors that fit together in a great way to form this final work. This is one of those albums where you can really say that all the songs are anthems of the genre, and this is because each song really has its own personality, they stand out for different aspects and are perfectly memorable. This is surely a consequence of musicians who spent years perfecting their style and when the time came for their debut album they showed the world the best they had. Being a band founded in 1976, the compositions were going around in the heads of the members for quite a long time, but you can also appreciate diverse musical influences from that time and earlier, such as psychedelic rock, progressive and even traces of punk in the music, passing through the clear influences of the heaviest, Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, Deep Purple .... All this forming a mixture with a lot of personality and own presence displayed in each of the songs.

Brian Tatler would sign his immortal legacy on this album simply by the amount of catchy and monstrous riffs created by him that would be readapted and even directly copied to satiety, and although "Am I Evil" has stood out far above the rest of the songs, the truth is that each of them has that same factor. But it is not only that. The composition of the songs is very intelligent and varied, there are songs with a more spectacular cut with a multitude of segments so that at no time you can even lose the attention of what you are listening to, and also there are the short songs with a simpler and easy going cut but that do not renounce to the heaviness and speed, being just as iconic.

All this added to a prodigious performance by Colin Kimberley on bass, which steals the show on many occasions, and also thanks to a performance by Sean Harris, which I began to appreciate much more when listening to the 2020 re-recording of this album, it is simply incredible how well his voice adapts to the music and how charismatic it is, being in many occasions the most vital part of the song. Overall you can't say anything other than this album is so much about the collective effort over the years coinciding with the members being in an absolute state of grace when it comes to recording the songs. Truly a lightning in a bottle.

Classic for a reason, so influential that you've probably listened to most of the album even if you've never listened to it directly just because of the amount of musicians that have appropriated its riffs. Everlasting and timeless, if you've never listened to it I don't know what you're waiting for, and if you have I'm sure you're looking forward to listening to it again.

The NWOBHM phenomenon is sometimes difficult to explain to non-metalheads or casual music listeners. To most of them, it will sound “more of the same”, referring to classic heavy metal, a thought and phrase that clearly denotes their lack of ability or interest in discerning between similar metal aesthetics, and also a disdain for learning. For those willing to become initiates with the curiosity to understand what it meant (and still means) to metal, my usual and simple approach is to describe it as a bridge between the past, the original creators of 70s hard rock/heavy metal music (Sabbath, Priest, Purple, Zep, Heep…) and the bright (and dark) future to come, with bands paying homage to the first metal sounds while simultaneously trying to surpass its heaviness and aggression, an ambition that ended up spawning many of metal's genres. Perhaps there's no clearer example of this than Diamond Head's debut, Lightning to the Nations, an album whose importance and impact looms much larger than the rest of Diamond Head's discography or career.

If classic metal albums are measured by their influence, I doubt there are few, from the 80s onward, that could compare to Lightning to the Nations. As a certain polemic Danish-American drummer once proclaimed, while introducing the remnants of this band to a new audience: “They're the fucking reason Metallica exists, it's that simple. If it wasn't for them, we'd all be doing something else”. That does the trick. The story of Metallica's love for the NWOBHM and Diamond Head in particular, is well documented. They've covered some tracks of this album several times, even live with other thrash metal legends. Diamond Head directly influenced the creation of thrash metal and Metallica (and therefore, subsequently, also Megadeth), themselves one of the most influential metal bands of all time. That alone warrants a tremendous, legendary status by itself. The reason of that influence becomes crystal clear while listening to some of compositions here.

Describing the sound of Lightning to the Nations to newbies could be accomplished by comparing this great metal masterpiece to a photograph, or more precisely, a photogram, of the exact instant when the 70s and the 80s collided. On one hand, Diamond Head provided the world with some of the strongest traits of the classic hard rock; a youthful but potent, charismatic and vocally seductive frontman in Sean Harris, with a good range and great attitude. Also, an axe-grinder with all the technical chops of the time and the creativity to build upon his influences, resulting in himself becoming an influence for the coming generations, and a rhythmic section that, while might sound dated for our current times, was rock solid and everything the vocals and guitars lines needed to shine. On the other hand, the expanded aggression of the Sabbath/Priest influenced riffs and the, literally, more evil imagery, sliced forth to lead the charge of 80s metal world domination.

Brian Tatler became a METAL GOD here, and his work will forever resonate thanks to the domino-effect his seminal and stellar guitar playing set forth as his compositions were put to tape. The combination of his six-stringed mastery with Harris' energy and swagger was almost virtually unmatched for a NWOBHM debut, barring Iron Maiden, but I'll take Lightning to the Nations over the Maiden debut due to the fact that there are two colossal, in every sense of the way, tracks here than manage to overshadow even “Phantom of the Opera” itself. Side A closer, “Sucking My Love”, and the iconic “Am I Evil?” opening side B, have a set of transcendental riffs that easily obliterate most things ever released under the NWOBHM tag. When you compose such delicious, headbang-inducing rhythmic units, you should exploit them like there's no tomorrow, and that's precisely what the band did. At nine and seven minutes long, there's just not a darn second wasted. Though not the only neck-pulverizing tunes here, those two towers of pure metal awesomeness constitute the core of this record, the next evolutionary step of the beast that arose from the embryonic sac of “Symptom of the Universe” or “Tyrant”.

While the foreboding, dark intro to “Am I Evil?”, a motif from Gustav Holst's "Mars, the Bringer of War" had already been used in rock music, among others, as heard in fellow Brit heavy psych band Andromeda's “Return to Sanity”, from their homonymous 1969 debut, Diamond Head made the most epic and spooky use of it. The added Purple-esque organs on “The Prince” also serve to increment the dark mystique of the album, and that song in particular, another of its highlights. But in reality, there are no fillers here, the upfront rockers “Lightning to the Nations”, “It's Electric” and “Sweet and Innocent”, are COVID-19-catchy, fierce, sexy and… well, more than sweet. Closer “Helpless”, almost reaching the seven-minute mark itself, successfully combines the long-winded approach with the dynamic, fast-hitter aesthetics of the shorter tunes, with some proggy stop-and-go sections thrown in. Diamond Head would try to explore their proggier side for their ensuing releases, a stylistic mistake that nonetheless just incremented the uniqueness of their incredible debut.

I'd probably kill to get the original Lightning to the Nations vinyl press, but have to conform myself with an expanded CD version that features a collection of b-sides and singles, most of which are decent and cute, but definitely lack the metalness of the original seven songs, with the exception of “Streets of Gold”, that has a cool Killing Machine vibe. The last couple of tracks from the Diamond Lights EP are also enjoyable. The line “only time will tell if I make it myself someday” from “Helpless” might still provoke some discussion when referring to the careers of the musicians involved in the creation of this classic, but there's no denying that Lightning to the Nations remains and will forever be a heavy metal top-tier highlight, a time-defying, decade-bridging marvel that will continue to gain adepts and cultists for as long as metalheads exist.

Hindsight is always 20/20, or so the old adage goes, but even the most legendary of moments in metal's history ought not be immune to review or even historical revision where appropriate. One would be remiss to gaze upon the timeless classics that shaped the genre from its most primordial state and not find the occasional flaw, be it the alleged earliest examples of metal found in Black Sabbath's and Deep Purple's earliest offerings, or even the auspicious pioneering efforts of the late 70s and early 80s that brought things full into view. Though there is definitely something to be said for the seminal offerings of Motorhead, Rainbow and Judas Priest in the late 70s and how they upped the ante in terms of speed and aggression, a fairly solid case could be made that the short-lived Stourbridge born proto-thrashers Diamond Head hold the most consequential place in the NWOBHM due to their highly influential debut offering Lightning To The Nations. It stands as probably one of the most bizarre cases of an unsung classic, all but shaping the very zeitgeist of the harder side of the 80s metal scene, yet largely being passed up by the masses in its day as an afterthought of the older guard rather than the trailblazing feat of innovation that it has since become seen as being.

There is naturally a fairly strong case to be made that this seven song manifesto of heavy metal greatness is as much an exercise in affirming old traditions as it is in breaking new ground. The greatest indicator of this sense of metallic conservatism is Sean Harris' smooth, hard rock infused swagger, which definitely injects a strong UFO flavor into things given its heavy similarity to Phil Mogg's gleaming pipes. At times this more clean cut approach serves to bring out the more rocking and melodic throwback songs that occasionally chime in, perhaps lending some credence to the notion that this outfit was poised to be the next Led Zeppelin, while at others it plays a tiny bit against the harder hitting metallic assault of Brian Tatler's guitar work, or at least that is the impression that one might gather if approaching this album as the wellspring from which thrash metal eventually flowed. To a lesser extent, the humble production quality presented here plays a part in tipping this album away from the forerunner of Metallica and Megadeth and towards the immediate successor of Rainbow and Thin Lizzy. This is further bolstered by the bass work of Colin Kimberley being of a smoother character, even when compared to the mild raunchiness of Geezer Butler, and the fact that Duncan Scott's kit work doesn't get much fancier or more bombastic than Cozy Powell's contributions to Long Live Rock 'N' Roll.

When getting down to it, the element that ultimately dissociates this album from the hard rock paradigm is Tatler's impact-based riff work, and by extension the manner in which the rhythm section plays into that rather than reverting to a looser jam band feel in line with the Sabbath sound. Coupled with a songwriting approach that is 100% riff-centered and completely eschews any sense of restraint or balladry, these songs build upon precedents set by Ritchie Blackmore and Tony Iommi and distills them into an iron-clad gauntlet to the skull of a sound that is heavier than Rainbow yet also more nuanced and involved than anything Sabbath had done during their pioneering early to mid-70s albums. When specifically contrasting the heavy-ended yet still rocking character of the extended groove machine "Suck My Love", which was repackaged and then offered up as a slower offering by Metallica's debut album in "Seek And Destroy", and the fast-paced nod to Rainbow's "Kill The King" at a notably longer duration "The Prince", this approach does have a multifaceted character to it, but comes off as unrelentingly energetic and furious all the same. About the only thing more impressive than the songwriting is Tatler's technical guitar soloing feats, which crisscross a litany of blues, jazz and classical influences and essentially set the stage for every thrash metal guitar god from Kirk Hammet to Gary Holt.

There aren't any dull moments to speak of here, nor any songs that could be considered outright slouches by any standard, though there is a clear dividing line between what would be considered innovative versus what reaffirms what has already worked during much of the 70s. On the latter category where things tend to rock a bit more is a charming melodic anthem in "Sweet And Innocent" that sets the stage for a number of more mainline NWOBHM acts such as Demon and matching the more nuanced moments of Tygers Of Pan Tang's debut. Likewise, the upper mid-paced rocker "It's Electric" has more of a light and nimble feel to it that falls in line with more of a mid-70s character of sound. Though these songs want for little in the fun department, the true points of intrigue here are where this safer mode of metal is deviated from, as in the punchier swinging groove of "Lightning To The Nations" and the massive proto-thrashing epic "Am I Evil?". These two aforementioned songs alone account for a direct influence on more than half of Metallica's famed debut album and, to varying extents, the early alumni of the 80s thrash metal scene, with the latter standing as arguably the crown jewel of the entire NWOBHM between its menacing riff work and virtuoso lead guitar feats. In essence, it could be stated without a hint of hyperbole that "Am I Evil?" is Tatler's legacy, and to this day it continues to find parts of itself in the riffs of various thrash, speed and power metal bands.

All things considered, there is little question as to how great of an accomplishment this album was, but very much so as to why its objective greatness didn't meet with the same degree of recognition as the many bands that were immediately inspired by it. Even when accounting for the fact that this band was hyped intensely by several music journalists at the time, with Geoff Barton's hyperbolic statements placing a single Diamond Head song over the collective whole of Sabbath's first four studio albums and MCA Records marketing them as the next Led Zeppelin, the immediate response from consumers and concert goers was minimal. Metallica's continued promotion of their music either through live covers and their own songwriting was likewise unsuccessful in pushing the band into superstar status, though it did lead to many associating these songs more with Metallica than their original source. Then again, it may well be that this band didn't catch fire because the media and labels of the day were out to hype the NWOBHM as a revival of an old style rather than its own new and unique thing, cutting off a needed dose of youth appeal that was inevitably grabbed up by thrash metal, which was marketed as a rebellious and innovative movement. Nevertheless, while history will cause most to question why this band didn't ascend to the heights that Metallica would using the same basic formula a couple years later, this timeless album ought to be approached as neither a bridge to the past or a stepping stone to the future, but as a stand alone classic that is overshadowed by neither its immediate past or future.

By now, most people are pretty familiar with Diamond Head’s biggest album, Lightning To The Nations, also known as The White Album. Whether you found them through all of the covers Metallica did (all of which appeared on this record), or you’re of the rare breed that knew them on their own, this proves to be quite a smash record. In 2016, they put out a double disc reissue of this album with different sound quality, and an entire disc of singles that weren’t released to an album. I figured this is worth revisiting and discussing.

For those who aren’t familiar with Lightning To The Nations (disc 1), to put it briefly, it’s basically a very raw heavy metal record that uses a lot of speed metal and teeters into the thrash zone a little bit. Songs like “Helpless” kick out the blitzing drum beats and deep, heavy riffs, while others like “It’s Electric” are a little more on the classic side of things, somewhat reminiscent of Saxon. Of course, the legendary “Am I Evil?” takes all ideas presented here and mixes them all into one sequential slab of a song, utilizing a lot of suspense.

Despite all the heaviness, the lead singer’s vocals are anything but threatening, and that’s what I absolutely love about it. Never has whiny singing ever worked so well on anything. On this reissue, everything is taken from the original vinyl recording from back in the very early ‘80s and produced from there. Other previous versions of this came from cassettes, such as the one that came out a few years prior with everything on one disc, rather two. In all honesty though, unless if you’re a sound quality freak, you won’t notice much of a difference in production.

Disc two is what I mainly came here to talk about, because far fewer people are familiar with it. It’s essentially a compilation, but the songs were only released as singles. The musical makeup is far different as well. Gone are the thrashier vibes and in place are more rock ‘n roll oriented builds. “Waited Too Long” has a borderline power pop feel to it, as it’s all in major scales and doesn’t use much distortion. Plus, the melodies on this are super laid back and accessible as ever. “Play It Loud” takes a similar approach but has a little more umph to it. The solo on this one is absolutely stellar and the tone reflects Aerosmith. Even “Diamond Light” has so much vocal harmony and softness to it that you wouldn’t even believe it’s by Diamond Head.

But it isn’t all just a rock ‘n roll festival, because you can still find your classic metal bangers such as “Shoot Out The Lights” or "Streets Of Gold" that amp up the riffwork a little more and have a shred of force. There’s just a different energy from the speedy aura of disc one. Personally, I’m glad that these songs weren’t dropped back in the day as a full length, and were only singles, because I assure you that people would bitch about the fact that it’s “not metal enough” since they can’t let their “true” metal be ruined by calmer melodic rock. Smart move on the band's part. Overall, we get a rehash of a classic heavy metal banger torn straight from the first recordings, and a shining pile of rock ‘n roll that not many have dipped into, yet should feast their ears.

Originally written for Antichrist Magazine:
https://antichristmagazine.com/review-diamond-head-lightning-to-the-nations-hear-no-evil-recordings-reissue-2cd-deluxe/

Diamond Head is one of those bands that pop into your head when you hear the word "influential". However, I feel that for about 99% of that time, this is the only album that comes to mind...and I can see why. This is an album is not modern-sounding by any means, but dammit, it's awesome. This is actually pretty diverse. It features elements of blues rock, hard rock, and some garage rock, as well. For this reason, even people who don't like heavy metal could find themselves listening to this masterpiece, every once in a while.

The music on this album is pretty reminiscent of bands such as Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath, but it also managed to keep up with the changing sound of its genre. It's just a bit more blues-influenced, especially with the vocals and guitar work. This is also shown by the prominence of a pretty smooth bass. Colin Kimberle is not the most talented bassist out there, but he has some pretty nice bass lines here. Not really too much to say about the drumming, other than it doesn't suck. It keeps the music together. There is one song that breaks away from the usual sound of this album that I have to mention. "Am I Evil?" is much less bluesy and mainly just straightforward heavy metal. It's definitely the heaviest song on the album and has a pretty down-tuned, crunchy riff. Sure, Angel Witch had down-tuned, heavy riffs on their self-titled debut album, released in 1980, as well, but this album was recorded a year earlier. So for 1979, you can't get much heavier than this. This is probably why this is the most well-known song on the album.

There are two things that stand out to me the most on this album. One is definitely the vocals. Sean Harris delivers some quite soulful, bluesy vocals on this album and he has an absolutely amazing ability to shift pitch. He sounds very Howlin' Wolf-influenced (minus the growling tone), as well as quite a bit of Robert Plant. He puts quite a bit of chest and throat into his voice, which results in a voice that is both hollow and rich if that makes any sense at all.

The other thing that really stands out to me on this album is the guitar work. Brian Tatler is an extremely talented musician. His guitar work isn't exactly ahead of its time (with the exception of "Am I Evil?"), but it's really fucking good (and I just swore, so you know that I mean it)! His riffs are very catchy and have a pretty nice, thin tone. His solos, on the other hand, are also catchy, but in addition to that, are played with technicality. There aren't really a lot of guitarists out there who know how to do that. Being a guitarist myself, he has definitely inspired my to try a few new things out.

As musically dated as this album is, it isn't an album that hasn't aged well, in its genre. There is no older heavy metal album older than this one that I enjoy more. It took what heavy metal already was, and brought in some wider influences. Sure, heavy metal didn't really end up being like this, but this album has been an influence on many bands, most notably Metallica. If you're looking for a diverse, hard-edged album, this is probably a great album for you!

Diamond Head, a band that (kinda) came to fame with the help of Metallica, after they covered not one, but 2 songs from this LP. I looked it up to see what all the commotion was about, and what I discovered, was one of the best albums in the entire new wave of British heavy metal movement, and an album that still gets regular plays from a person who is much more a thrash fan than a NWOBHM fan.

I can't talk about this album and not make comparisons with the Metallica versions, so may as well get it over with quickly. Very simply, the Metallica covers are insanely different from the originals. The Metallica versions are heavy and played tightly while here the songs are not even close in terms of heaviness and are played quite loosely. I personally by far prefer these versions to Metallica's take on them, not that they are bad, but you'll have to make an opinion on this yourself. If you prefer the Metallica versions, you'll probably get very little, if any, enjoyment out of this album. Make sure to listen to more than just Metallica's version of "Am I Evil" is not one of the covers where Metallica changed too much around (although they clearly did make it their own song).

I forget the name of the critic, but when it was released, it was said that this album contained more good riffs than the first 4 Black Sabbath LPs, many called Diamond Head the next Led Zeppelin. Of course, these are all overstatements, but really the quality of songwriting on this album is awesome. In the Japanese magazine Burn! ranked it at #3 for album with the best riffs and the Guitarists' Book of Heavy Metal put "Am I Evil" as the fifth best riff ever, so understand, these really are some awesome songs with great riffs.

All 7 songs here are all equally awesome, and every song has an identity. All the songs here are blues based, but they defiantly aren't a blues band at heart that just so happens to play their blues in another style, like bands such as Led Zeppelin did. This leads to riffs that sound familiar (assuming you have listened to a lot of older metal), almost as if you've heard the record before. You may view this as a good thing or a bad thing, depending on if you want something that in a way you already know or if you prefer to be challenged.

Fans of Angel Witch will love this album, as it is probably the best NWOBHM record made. All the songs kick ass, and there is never a dull moment. They are all very melodic compared to many other NWOBHM bands, and for me this is the album's best feature. From the starting riff of "Lightning to the Nations" to the closing notes of "Helpless" you always think that the song that is playing right then is going to be the albums best song. As I look back, I think the title track, "The Prince", and (obviously) "Am I Evil" but even they barely stand out when compared to the other almost as good songs. The riffs are honestly catchy without having to ever compromise their "metalness".

This is a must own for any metal fan. Heck, even country and rap fans should own this album! it is worthy of the praise it gets.

This is, in my humble opinion, one of the best albums in the whole NWOBHM movement. Not saying that I have heard everything from that era, but it is up there competing with classics such as Satan's Court in the Act, Iron Maiden's self titled debut, Venom's Black Metal and Tygers of Pan Tang's Wild Cat.

As so many before me, I was introduced to most of these songs by Metallica before I finally went into my favorite music store and bought this great 1980 album. Naturally, the songs on here have more of a NWOBHM blues feel than the Metallica covers and the production is less clear. This is not necessarily a bad thing for either Metallica or Diamond Head, they simply have different approaches to the songs. For example Metallica left out bits and pieces of both “The Prince” and “Helpless” and the drum-intro to “Helpless” sounds quite silly in Diamond Head's version. At least Metallica fixed that. Enough with the Metallica comparisons.

Back in the day of its release, Diamond Head was praised with now famous quotes such as “the natural successors to Zeppelin” and “there are more great riffs in one of these songs than on the first five Black Sabbath albums”. But does the album live up to it? Well, they didn't become the new Zeppelins and even though the riffs are plenty and great on this one, it is probably an overstatement in regards to the Black Sabbath comparison. But looking at the hype in a less literal way, then yes, this band had a lot to offer. Comparing them to other bands from Britain in that period, there most definitely was more talent in this band.Which this album is proof of.

The record opens with the awesome title track and maintains the high quality level right to the end. The music is very varied both in tempo and intensity which makes the whole album very interesting. The drums have this pre-thrash groovy feel to them and the guitar work is impressive. Not only the riffs but also the lead work delivered by Brian Tatler is amazing, see e.g. “The Prince” and “Am I Evil” (the solo in “Am I Evil” is almost identical to the one Kirk did in 1984 on their cover). Also the vocals work very well. Sean Harris is no Cronos and comparisons go more in the direction of Paul Di'Anno (imagine he could hit notes) and the great Brian Ross, i.e. less aggression and more singing. He has a great tone and I have always enjoyed his singing and even his moaning on the extended part of “Sucking My Love”, with Tatler's impressive blues solo. The bass has leading parts in several songs, so in conclusion every member really does a good job. Combining this with seven great tracks and you got a really unique and interesting album.

Very recommendable.

This album right here suffers from a fairly unique problem. It's nothing to do with the music, or at least it's not directly responsible for the problem- the songs here are of a pretty excellent quality. I'll just be frank and say that before (a long time before) I bought this album, I had already heard most of these songs done a good deal tighter, faster and sounding a lot heavier. The problem is that someone has already played these songs a good deal better, and since I heard the covers first it's hard to really get into this.

Sure, it's a bit unfair to say "I don't like this album as much as I should because Metallica made these songs a good deal better", but that's the plain out truth to it. And it's a shame, because if I hadn't heard these songs before then chances are I'd be raving about how damn excellent this thing is. Instead, I'm sitting here thinking "man this sounds like a sloppy english version of Garage Inc."

But anyway, the songs. Well, they are pretty good. Very good, really. Diamond Head traffic in a fairly complex, progressive-ish sort of NWOBHM, but not really knowing anything about that genre I'd say it sounds like a lot of early thrash/speed stuff, just in a much looser, less aggressive style- it seems that perhaps at this point metal was still somewhat enamoured with Led Zeppelin and those other late 60's/early 70's proto metal bands. These somewhat unfortunate remnants of earlier music styles cause this thing to suffer a little bit- certainly a bit more distortion, a tighter approach, a bit less "groove", as it were would be nice- but overall this is surprisingly heavy. Am I Evil is an absolute brute of a song- I dare say the bridge riffs in this tune are so heavy that light can't escape from it. You could do a 50's crooner cover of this tune and it would still be super heavy.

The album doesn't quite continue on at that level, but there's still plenty of big riffs- Helpless kicks along with a ton of power and quite a few excellent, speedy riffs, Sucking My Love's man-sodomy (double tracking orgasm noises is never a good idea) is made up for by a really sweet main/verse riff that sounds like some particularly upbeat Sabbath outtake, and while Sweet and Innocent seems to get a bit of a bad rap for being quite rocky and less metal it's still got some rather nice riffs. Reminds me of a heavier Thin Lizzy- (although I imagine people who listen to more trad metal/hard rock would probably laugh at that), it's a pretty nice tune- catchy, not overlong - and it goes extremely well with beer. While It's Electric does sound a little bit prissy and fey at times, that's the production more then anything. It's still a pretty cool hard rock tune. Yeah, overall there's a lot of good things to say about this album.

Nonetheless this album comes off as less then the sum of its' parts. The vocals are probably the main reason why this just isn't as good as it should be. It's never the classiest insult to use, but damn, does Sean Harris sound like a poof/fag/man with gender/sexuality issues. Mariah Carey's vocals are manlier. I guess a basic summary of his style would be "weak and wailing" and/or "faggy". It sounds terrible and it makes everything sound a good deal less heavy.

And the second reason that this just isn't as good as it should be is, well, Metallica. I find this record really hard to listen to... why play this stuff when I've got better versions of these songs? I understand that these guys wrote these songs first and that's cool, but just as the 486 has been superseded, so these songs have been. There are better versions of these tunes out there, that have better vocals, better guitars, with everything much tighter, heavier, and produced better. Why would I want to listen to a fruitier (seriously, they use major chords at the start of Am I Evil? wtf?), weaker sounding version of the same tunes?

I know it's a bit unfair- this album was a real influential one, the songwriting's great, etc etc. These versions of the songs just aren't as good as the ones I'm used to, that's all. I'd recommend it, but if you really want to hear some good Diamond Head, buy this album then download Garage Inc. and listen to those versions instead.

Probably the band that influenced Metallica and Megadeth the most, Diamond Head still is a relatively unknown metal band. Their debut is an absolutely great record, an example of the power of the NWOBHM movement: all the songs are relatively fast and extremely energic and dynamic.

The guitar playing is melodic as hell and that may have led people to regard Diamond Head as one of the acts that helped to create power metal. The solos are all very tasteful and lenghty, “Sucking My Love” is an obvious example of that, since it contains a long middle section filled with many guitar solos. There are sweet riffs smattered throughout the record too, but we'll get to them later. As for the vocals, Sean Harris is clearly influenced by Robert Plant's style, if you listen to the afore-mentioned “Sucking My Love” all becomes very obvious (his screams on the middle section are very reminiscent of “Whole Lotta Love”). The drumming is not that complex but extremely tasteful; the drummer isn't the biggest virtuoso out there, but knows how to write some interesting beats and fills that actually fit with the atmosphere and structure of the songs. The bass is rather inaudible during most of times.

But the reason why Diamond Head is hailed as one of the best NWOBHM bands is its songwriting skills. The songs are pretty long and the structures intricate; yet, all the tunes are extremely catchy. “The Prince” is an example, with its tempo changes and different sections. “Sucking My Love”, despite being a bit weaker, is another example. “Am I Evil?” another one. Sometimes, I think that Diamond Head is also one of the most progressive heavy metal bands out there and it's a shame nobody recognizes that. The production is pretty thin; in the end, that's not a problem, since it gives a very special atmosphere and feeling to “Lightning to the Nations”.

Highlights? The title track, which also is the opener, is great, a little straight-forward and catchy song; also features a good vocal performance by an inspired Harris. “The Prince” is another tremendous song, I simply love it. It also probably is the fastest track of the bunch and I bet it influenced a big number of thrash/speed metal bands out there. The solo at the beginning kicks ass, and so does the chorus. The best part of the song is at 3:38, though... OH MY GOD, THE BEST GUITAR RIFF EVER MADE! That's right, the best one. Well, not the best. The best is the first one on Sabbath's “A National Acrobat”, but this one is a close second. Moving on, “Am I Evil” is excellent too, great intro, the song then progressing to a speedy section, containing more great riffs... sweet! “Helpless” is the last highlight, competent drum intro leading us to a nice main riff (Hell, this record is full of great riffs, dude!). “It's Electric” is a bit on the average side, and “Sucking My Love” and “Sweet and Innocent” are both pretty damn weak. Ok, the first one is decent, I hate that middle section filled with those erotic screams though, but the latter is just a worthless tune.

Concluding, a great album, absolutely recommended. Competent vocals, great guitar work and fine drum work... All the songs are excellent in the songwriting field and the record is very energic and dynamic. Need more reasons to buy it? I'll give just one more: it's influential as hell! Worth checking out, definitely!

Best Moments of the CD:
-the “drum” section on “Helpless”.
-the first time the main riff of “Am I Evil?” is played.
-3:38 on “The Prince”.

“Cannot squeeze the life from meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!”

The influence that this album has had on the metal scene is immense, especially in the thrash sub-genre. That's a particularly striking fact when you realise that this album never sold in large numbers, and that Diamond Head wouldn't be more than a footnote in most metal histories if it were not for Metallica having covered them so extensively. That's a damn shame, because this is a very good album.

The vocals have a nice mid-ranged-to-slightly-falsetto quality to them, with Harris going for something similar to Led Zeppelin's Robert Plant (sometimes with just a bit too much emulation going on, such as in the middle interlude of Sucking My Love). Overall the vocals are exactly what was needed with this music, having a nice 70's rockish, yet 89's metallic, quality. The lyrics range from good to corny, but that's not really important as most groups from the period had at least a couple-few bad lyrical endeavors.

The guitars have a crunchy and potent sound, and when songs like Am I Evil and The Prince get going, there's definitely a headbanging vibe being generated. The solos not only sound good, but they compliment the music to the last possible degree. There are no solos here for the sake of solos, but rather they all add to and enhance the song. After St. Anger came out, Kirk Hammett said that they had experimented with solos, but that they decided not to, because they didn't fit, because St. Anger was a "collaborative effort". Well, the solos on this Diamond Head record are a great example of how solos should fit into the collaberation, how one musician taking the spotlight for a moment can make the song as a whole a lot better.

Throughout the album, Diamond head flirts with both rock and metal, without really seeming like they are undecided. They are both, and they can do both equally well. They don't need to be playing over 200 bpm the whole time--but they can play fast when the song calls for it. There's a reason that this album
has had such a huge influence on metal: it's a damned good album, with great riffs, song writing, etc. Definitely one to pick up if you don't own it yet.

Any serious metalhead is more than familiar with the New Wave of British Heavy Metal scene, and any serious metalhead should be familiar with Diamond Head. Lightning to the Nations marked the album debut of the band from Stourbridge and is one of the real highlights of the scene. Being highly regarded by many Metal bands, Metallica and Megadeth namely, is due mostly to this release.

Sean Harris' high, somewhat over the top vocals are some of the best of the kind, and the bass playing of Colin Kimberley is actually pretty catchy. Brian Tatler's guitarwork is the backbone of the album of course, containing some of the most memorable riffs ever, and also some nice solos. Tatler epitomises Heavy Metal guitar playing here.

The album opens with 'Lightning to the Nations' a catchy, typical NWOBHM number that isn't particulary fast. The chorus jumps out at you as being pretty dramatic, "to the natiiiooons!" Moments like that are all over this album. This one is a solid opener.

Following is 'The Prince', one of the best songs on here. The song doesn't waste anytime getting started, providing nice headbanging material the second it begins, soon with Tatler soloing over the intro riff, then comes the main riff. Very catch stuff! "Time to die!" Also look out for that guitar melody at about the 3:35 mark, you know you love it. More than anyother song are the basslines so good too here. Epic, heavy, catchy, this is what Metal is all about.

Does the album let up after that? No! 'Sucking My Love' has one of the most memorable riffs of the album, maybe that's why so many bands have ripped it off! The song goes on for over 9 minutes, managing to hold the listeners attention throughout. Here demonstrates some of Harris' cheesiest moments "Oooohhh yeah yeah yeah". Does anyone do this better than him? The guitar solos(three?) are phenomenal here. There is even a psycadelic-sounding section in this song, similar maybe to 'Fly to the Rainbow' that is strangely appropriate. Another album highlight here.

Then comes the peak of the album, 'Am I Evil' a classic Metal song if there ever was one. There is that unforgettable double guitar intro, which is as 'evil' as Diamond Head would ever get. After some flashy guitar work, comes THE riff, and it is absolutely crushing. If you don't like that, you aren't Metal, period. Even though the chorus is kind of cheesy(its effectiveness isn't in question however!), the song also contains the best lyrics of any on the album. And the guitar solo kicks ass. It just doesn't get much better than this, not only the best song on the album, but the best NWOBHM song.

'Sweet and Innocent' is a very innocent song as it turns out, when compared to the four song previous at least. Here you've got a midpaced Rock N' Roll song more than a crushing Metal one. Not bad, but definately a step down or five from the last song.

'It's Electric' picks up the pace a bit, the intro riff is nothing special compared to previously heard ones, but is good nonetheless. Here you have Rock n Roll lyrics about becoming a star. This song is most similar to the the first one of the album and has a similar dramatic chorus. Just as much as the guitar playing carries the song, the simple drum beats of this song really standout.

The album concludes with 'Helpless' an appropriate finish, it's fast, but with some serious tempo changes that slow it down in places. It's catchy, and just about sums up the album as a whole. The song is also one of the best to sing along to.

Regarding the production, it is about perfect. The guitars dominate, but not overly so, as the bass and everything come in very clear. Yet it still has just a tad of rawness in the sound. In conclusion the band's sound is captured wonderfully.

If you like catchy, traditional Heavy Metal/Power Metal you can't ignore this one, it has some of the best Metal moments you'll ever hear. Thrash fans should dig this too, it is very similar to early Metallica(no coincidence, they were obviously influenced by Diamond Head and covered half of this album). Why not a higher rating? The second half of the album cannot keep up the excellence of the first four songs. That being said, there isn't a bad song on here, don't hesitate to pick this one up!

It's amazing that this album hasn't been reviewed more. What's even more amazing is that I'm actually drawn to review it when typically, I'm better suited to reviewing movies. But then again, maybe because it's so well known as a classic by everybody is the reason it hasn't been reviewed...

But, not until this latest listen do I realize just how influential this one album has been. Go ahead an listen to it. If you're a Thrash fan, you'll hear a lot of familiar stuff.

Hear that? That's Metallica.
Right there? Megadeth.
That solo? Testament.

That riff? Oh hell, Metallica, Megadeth and Exodus all tapped that one. That's Sucking My Love--and these three bands? They all snatched that one up. Oh, and that solo over there, tucked into Sucking My Love--latter day Corrosion of Conformity seems to have borrowed that (circa America's Volume Dealer). As a matter of fact, it sounds like Sucking My Love probably has more bastard children out there than Gene Simmons. Megadeth used up that main riff as recently as on The World Needs A Hero. I guess at the time, Dave Mustaine's hero was Diamond Head. Because he also used riffs from Am I Evil on that album. I guess if you don't want to write anything new, you might as well write familiar, right?

You know, for an album from 1980, this one really seems ahead of it's time. But then again, maybe it's not ahead of it's time. Maybe it came along right when it should have. And maybe the bands that followed just didn't advance enough. Maybe it's a painful visual of just how stagnant a lot of otherwise excellent 80's Thrash Metal really was. I mean, the riffs heard on this album were used over and over throughout by Thrash bands every bit as often as they took riffs from Motorhead or Venom (apparently OverKill and Slayer were more keen on these two, respectively). Lightning to the Nations/The White Album is so easy to listen to--because it's so familiar because everyone who had a Thrash Metal band in the 80's must have yanked something off here for their own use. It's actually kind of depressing. Here all this time I thought I was getting some kick-ass Thrash Metal and in reality, I was getting pre-used, hacked to bits material from Diamond Head. My whole life is a lie.

At any rate, the overall feel and atmosphere and production of this album is kind of like an early atmospheric Motorhead with a dash of Led Zeppelin. The vocals aren't the high-pitched screeching that followed in a lot of classic-styled Heavy Metal bands in the 80's... or that Hair Band crap, but it's not heavy or gruff like Motorhead. The vocals have a clear influence in more simple Rock and Roll (think maybe early pre-Bruce Iron Maiden or Def Leppard for a mild similarity), and much of the lyrics seem to follow suit, although there are a lot of relatively standard "Heavy Metal" lyrics on the album as well. But the music itself, is very much ye olde (but back then, quite new) British Heavy Metal--just with much catchier riffs than I'm used to hearing from that time.

Overall, not every song on here is truly excellent. But none are bad. The best are easily Helpless (my personal favorite), Am I Evil?, The Prince, and Sucking My Love. Am I Evil and Sucking My Love have each got to be among the most ripped-off songs in existence. The first three were all covered by Metallica; in fact, no one seems to have ripped off this band more. Ride the Lightning ~ Lightning to the Nations...? Even if you've never heard Diamond Head before, you've most likely heard the riffs from these songs. Metallica's Jump in the Fire, Megadeth's When and 1000 Times Goodbye, ... I can't remember the Exodus track(s) off-hand...

When they say Thrash Metal was inspired partially by NWOBHM, they mean this band. Whoever "they" may be. They may have borrowed Motorhead's attitude and Venom's evil, but they used Diamond Head's riffs and solos to glue it all together.

Anyway, it seems that Lightning to the Nations and It's Electric are the weakest tracks, which suffer only in that they don't carry the epic scope or feeling of overall grandeur that the previously mentioned four tracks all have in spades. Sweet and Innocent falls between these two album extremes of "Brilliant" and "Not so Impressive, But Still Decent."

So:
Lightning to the Nations: 4/5
The Prince: 5/5
Sucking My Love: 5/5
Am I Evil?: 5/5
Sweet and Innocent: 4.5/5
It's Electric: 4/5
Helpless: 5/5

So now you're going, "Well hey, dickhead, if there are only 4 out of 7 songs that really rock, why are you giving it a 90? Dickhead." I went as high as I did, in part, out of the sheer influence this album carries and in part because those four awesome tracks are truly excellent, catchy, Metal music. On top of which, about 75% of the album's running time is made up of excellent music, and the other stuff isn't bad, it's just not anywhere near as impressive as those best four songs.

This should be in every Metalhead's collection. Especially all us Thrashers.

One can make a very good argument that this is where power metal began. Before Legion, before Fates Warning and Queensryche, and definitely before Helloween.

Yes, you are probably familiar with this album. After all, Metallica covered half of it. That said, the original is definitely worth finding. Actually, what is really worth getting is the Half Moon Records "best of" which is remastered, and has the best sounding versions of some of these songs. But, not others. For that, there is only the original. Beware of the crappy Century Media pressing, try to get the original Happy Face vinyl if possible.

The album is marked by some awesome guitar soloing by Brian Tatler - very tastefully done, as in not wankery. The best examples are on "Am I Evil" which is total Richie Blackmore worship, and also "Sucking My Love" and "The Prince", which is more a Glenn Tipton sounding deal. Also, the songs themselves are very catchy - think almost of early Fates Warning, and you can have a good idea of this particular species of power metal.

The only kinda throwaway song is "Sweet and Innocent", which isn't as much a throwaway as much as it doesn't belong after "Am I Evil". Other than that, the album is just about flawless. Nice guitars, and also some pretty nice vocals by Sean Harris.

Easily one of the best albums of the NWOBHM - highly recommended.