What's in Your Head?

Especially for this band. Diamond Head were once a prominent band in the NWOBHM scene, with their opus, Lightning to the Nations, considered an early metal classic by those who actually know about the band. They were one of the biggest hopefuls of the movement. It has been said that Iron Maiden bassist Steve Harris said they were the next Led Zeppelin. That be true or not, it never really happened for them. The band have split up multiple times and reformed once again, this time the only remaining member of the original band is Brian Tatler. Unfortunately Diamond Head's nwobhm sound which influenced the Dave Mustaines and Lars Ulrichs of the world many years ago has also all but vanished. Not that anyone should expect Diamond Head 2007 to sound like Diamond Head 1982. After all it has been over 25 years and this isn't exactly the same band. Instead of heavy metal, or even the proto-thrash metal that Diamond Head helped inspire, what Tatler delivers is melodic, late 80's/early 90's, hard rock not too terribly dissimilar from Canterbury. However, that album still had the Diamond Head sound and had a certain charisma.

One thing missing from the equation on What's In Your Head is original vocalist Sean Harris, who most certainly was part of the band's character. Filling his shoes is Nick Tart who has a similar style to Sean, but ultimately isn't quite the same. Imagine Def Leppard without Joe Elliott. I am sure the remaining members of Def Leppard could create a fine album, but Elliot is a big part of the band's sound and it would be missed. Well, the same is true for Harris and Diamond Head. However, if that had been the only thing missing, What's In Your Head still could have been a solid album. Unfortunately even the music lacks much identity, save for Killing Me. For me, that song gave a glimpse into what could have been and also retained the Diamond Head identity. For the most part Diamond Head meanders around listlessly from song to song with very little to distinguish one song from the next. Even after listening to the album four times within four days, I still can't remember much from it. Where this style of melodic hard rock excelled for bands like The Scorpions, Def Leppard and even Saxon was that it was anthemic, inspirational and ultimately fun. That's really not the case here. Ultimately What's In Your Head isn't a horrific album, but it certainly isn't a great album for a classic band like Diamond Head and that has to take a few points off.

Ahh how the mighty have fallen. This time it's Diamond Head's turn, the NWOBHM legends who "Looked as if they were going to be the next Led Zeppelin", according to Steve Harris.

Commercial appeal is not something new to Diamond Head. There were always rooted in hard rock, which isn't exactly the most underground genre, and had their share of poppy singles in the 80s, the most infamous commercial effort being 'Canterbury'. Canterbury was commercial and different for the bad, but it still was undeniably Diamond Head and had traces of innovation and originality. This, this is just an awful blend of uninspired crap, mixed with some random 'modern' touches and a modern production. It is mostly unmemorable, and there are barely any good riffs here, most of the time the guitars are just droning around with some power chords.

The opener, Skin on Skin, introduces us to the new singer, and he isn't very good. He has a high range I suppose, but he's very wimpy and weak. No match at all to Sean Harris, who wasn't that legendary, but had personality and worked for the band.

Track 2 continues with a repetitive and uninteresting chorus, which sounds kind of like Soundgarden. This Planet and Me is the first song here to feature A SOLO! Please tell me this isn't the same guy that pulled off the opening solo to 'The Prince', or filled half of 'Sucking My Love' with unforgettable guitar noodling...

Killing Me is the first track to really grab my attention. It features an okay riff, but then they feel it necessary to drop the guitars every once in a while and let some pointless acoustic strumming take their place. The ending is kind of weird and has an okay but not really great solo.

The rest of the songs continue with the Alternative Rock/Metal bluesy Grunge thing the band has going on this album, and they aren't very good either. Even the faster songs like Pray for Me just fail to be interesting.

Combining boring songs, bad vocals, modern touches and a flat production, this album just sucks. If you're looking for good Heavy Metal, let alone anything which sounds like early Diamond Head, you will be very disappointed.

Everyone and his cat seems to be making a comeback these days; the last few years have seen Judas Priest, Exodus, Onslaught and about a million others return from some sort of obscurity with varying degrees of success. And with what seems like the entire New Wave of British Heavy Metal back touring and releasing new CDs in some incarnation or another, it was inevitable that the legendary Diamond Head name would eventually be dusted down again and attached to some sort of product.

'What's in your head?' is the 2nd CD recorded by this new version of the band (other than founder Brian Tatler, only drummer Karl Wilcox had any previous recording experience with the Head), and one so desperately devoid of creativity and innovation it would be a pain to listen to were it not so desperately forgettable.

Tatler has seemingly run completely out of inspiration, and the shapeless nature of the CD reflects this as the songs wander endlessly around at the same pace until things seem to just suddenly stop after almost 50 minutes of pure boredom. For a guitarist of such deservedly legendary stature, the lack of memorable riffs and solos on 'What's in your head?' is unbelievable and the whole affair strikes of going through the motions in order to fashion a product to sell at the gigs where fans wait impatiently for them to belt out the classics.

The only song that leaves any sort of serious impression, in fact, is the opener "Skin on skin", and for all the wrong reasons. Original vocalist Sean Harris is long gone, of course, and standing in shoes many sizes to big for him is Nick Tart, a man with a nasally, dislikeable voice similar to that of ousted Cloven Hoof stand-in Matt Moreton. His vocal style, coupled with an out of place 'heavy' guitar sound makes the opening track seem like some clueless attempt to sound modern. The horrible lyrics, sleazy vocal delivery and chugging chords make for a thoroughly unpleasant listen, and that the rest of the CD is such a colourless mush is actually something of a relief next to this monstrosity.

There is very little else to be said for this CD. Fans of Diamond Head will find nothing to remind them of the celebrated early releases, and newcomers will find nothing of any note to a fan of heavy metal or rock music to encourage repeated listens. No riffs, no time changes, no direction, nothing. The CD is almost the equivalent of white noise.

It goes to show that for every Iced Earth or Blitzkrieg out there, where one founding member can carry the original band's legacy forward with grace and dignity, there is a Diamond Head, where a once great name is dragged through the mud in a desperate attempt to wring the last pennies out of it. Were it to bear another logo on the cover slip this CD would merely be instantly forgettable nonsense that would never have gotten a record deal in the first place. Under the Diamond Head banner, 'What's in your head?' is a disgrace.

(Originally written for http://www.metalcdratings.com/)