Best Of Diamond Head, The - Diamond Head > Reviews > It's electric? They sure are.

Author's product rating:   

Originality	Definitely a cut above the rest
Lyrics	Standard
Quality and consistency of tracks	A couple of weak links
How does it compare to the artist's other releases	Outstanding
Value for Money	Excellent

Advantages:	Great NWOBHM band with some wonderful tracks up their collective sleeve
Disadvantages:	Some weak points (but only just)

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

At the back end of the seventies hard rock was really burgeoning and out of this period arose the New Wave of British Heavy Metal (NWOBHM).  Many bands went on to better thing ssuch as Iron Maiden, Def Leppard and Saxon but many more others fell by the wayside and either went back to working the local clubs or just folded altogether.  One such band, although championed by many (including Sounds magazine) as being a truly great act, never hit the big time yet produced some great music.

Diamond Head were formed in 1977 in Stourbridge, West Midlans by four school friends Sean Harris, Brian Tatler, Colin Kimberley and Duncan Scott who in 1980 self-financed their first long player 'Lightning to the Nations'.  Later, having gained a contract with MCA Records, they went on to release two further albums - the wonderful 'Living on Borrowed Time' in 1982 and the weaker 'Canterbury' released in '83.

This greatest hits collection contains 13 songs 4 of which come from their self-financed release, 9 from the 'Borrowed Time' LP and the rest from 'Canterbury'.

Track Listing

1 - It's Electric
2 - Shoot Out the Lights
3 - Helpless
4 - Sucking My Love
5 - In the Heat of the Night
6 - Call Me
7 - Lightning to the Nations
8 - Borrowed Time
9 - Am I Evil
10 - Makin' Music
11 - Out of Phase
12 - Ishmael
13 - To the Devil His Due

From the start of the CD it is immediately obvious that vocalist Sean Harris has all the qualities of Robert Plant with his high, wheezy vocal tone.  In fact during a lot of the bands pieces the influenze of Led Zeppelin is clearly defined although with an harder edge.

'It's Electric' kicks off the album with it's rough-edged quality but the following track 'Shoot out the Lights' is much weaker in comparison and probably my least liked track from the set.

'Helpless' gets things going once again though with its frantic driving beat that is truly reminiscent to Zep with some very bluesy undertones.  In fact some people actually described Diamond Head as being the natural successors to the Zeppelin throne.

The production quality of the first four tracks is varied as although they all were released on the same album this collection brings them together from different sources.

Tracks 5 - 9 from the 'Borrowed Time' are Diamond Head at their peak with each song being a really great example of their ability to produce some truly classic rock.  'Call Me' is a softer number than most and reminds me of bands like Tygers of Pan Tang and is perhaps the most radio-friendly number on the CD.  'Borrowed Time' on the other hand is a slow, bluesy track with much more of a nod towards the progressive rock camp although never utilising the use of keyboards.

'Am I Evil' is a darker song with a strong Sabbath vain.  Not as bassy but with a sharper edge.  In fact listening to this track the vocalist sounds more like Phil Mogg of UFO, another band Diamond Head credit as having a deep influence on them, than Plant.

The remaining four tracks taken from the 'Canterbury' album are all still competent rock tracks but the rawness of the bands previous songs seems to have left them.  The sound has a more definate 80's feel about it and has the same production feel as albums such as 'Pride' by White Lion with their very American touch.  'Ishmael' though is a strong song as is the closing piece 'To the Devil His Due' both harking back to their 'Borrowed Time' period albeit with better engineering.  

The band stated acts such as Deep Purple, Nazareth and Led Zeppelin as some of their influences and it is clearly seen in these tracks.  The band are probably more known by heavy metal fans as having a strong influence on Metallica who have recorded a few of their tracks such as 'Helpless' and 'Am I Evil' which have appeared on Metallica's 'Garage Inc.' double-CD release.

Diamond Head are one of the great could-have-been bands from the UK that got lost amid the emergence of all the heavy rock acts that crawled out of the woodwork at the end of the seventies but have since found notable credence amongst the metal community.

And about time too!