The Worlds First Iron Man

Paul Di’anno and his several post Iron Maiden projects had limited success to put it lightly. His earliest tours lacking any Maiden songs left a sour taste in fans mouths, and this sparked a path that led Paul Di’anno to where he is today; which is rerecording, and rereleasing variations of Wrathchild and Running Free every couple of years for a quick buck. Yet even at the beginning of Paul Di’anno’s purely solo career, he was still releasing albums of (mostly) original material.

Just to get my cards on the table so you can understand any bias I may have, I think the first two Maiden albums are really good, but that the band was much improved after Bruce Dickinson replaced Paul. Having said that, his performances then, and here on this album is still damn good. He has a tougher delivery, while still being able to hit some good notes. On this album there is one sticking point with me on his performance, one that is not present on Killers or Iron Maiden. Perhaps in an effort to add some emotion to his voice on some of the vocal lines he employs this stutter on his voice that just does not work. It is too exaggerated to sound like a genuine voice crackle, and the lyrics are too mundane to merit an ‘emotional’ delivery.

You may have already caught on to the main problem with this album. Di’anno excels at tougher metal songs, and this album too often goes for metal of the lighter fare. The material on here has more in common with Dokken then with Maiden. There’s nothing wrong with good ol’ 80’s traditional heavy metal, but Di’anno isn’t the best vocalist for the style, especially on poppier sounding songs. The choice to open the album with two covers is both a poor choice, and telling of a commonality between songs. You’ve likely heard the original Living in America, if so, think of the cheesy backing vocalists singing LIVING IN AMERICUHHHH, and imagine that injected throughout metal songs. That backing vocal tactic is used a lot, and it detracts a lot from the music.

This is most apparent in the song Forever, a characterless power ballad that is super cheesy and dated for when this was released. There is some catchy driving material, and it is worth noting that Paul’s performance is overall great (barring the mentioned stutter). I Ain’t Coming Back No More and Had Enough are my two favorites. The former for having a simple moody riff, and the tough talking, hard rocking Had Enough is exactly the type of song Paul is best on, and that this album should have had more of.

Lastly, we have the live tracks to look out. The production on them is actually pretty good (as is the production on the original material). The crowd is obviously not as receptive as a Maiden crowd would be, but whatever backing band is with Paul on the tracks is certainly competent, and the tracks sound pretty good. The live cover of Children of the Revolution is also the only non-Maiden cover I would want to actively listen to again. Still, I would not choose to listen to these versions over their original versions, so they ultimately amount to very little.

All things considered this is an uneven, often confused album. The positives are not entirely drowned out by any means, but I find myself lacking desire to spin the record again after a couple listens. The experience from beginning to end is too scattered and unfocused. Ultimately this release should probably only be a buy for die-hard Di’anno fans, otherwise try before you buy! For decent driving rock/metal with uneven direction, The World’s First Iron Man gets a 45 or a 2 out of 5.
Highlights:
Had Enough
I Ain’t Coming Back No More