DIAMOND HEAD ‎AM I EVIL UK FM WKFM LP 92 12" LP ALBUM VINYL

From out of nowhere_ they seem to come. riding roughshod over the treacherous terrain and into a place in history's trenches. They were the pioneers of the so-called New Wave of British Heavy Metal, a batallion of steam-happy salamanders out to breathe some life into the ailing Metal scene.

All it seems such a long time ago that people first whispered in stomped tones about Samson, Angel Witch, Praying Mantis, Quartz, Vardis, Jameson Raid, Ethel The Frog, Toad The Wet Sprocket and other hopefuls destined to disappear into the void of obscurity.

Only Iron Maiden, Def Leppard and (to a lesser extent) Saxon have survived to prosper. Yet, one name is missing from the above list. an act who perhaps can claim with considerable force to have been the finest band to emerge from the genre: a four-piece on whom the passage of time has given a deserved coating of legend "Diamond Head"".

For a short period of time, it was this Stourbridge-base group (formed in '78) who seemed destined to take on the stack-heeled world and leave it quaking in its phenomenal wake. it was they who were hailed as the natural successors to Led Zeppelin.

It was they who packed out venues across the country without the help of either a major record contract or big-time management representation. "Diamond Head" were simply awesome. A gargantuan exercise in all that's best about British rock. Ah yes, stories about the enthusiasm shown for this band are now legendary.

There was the time that fans queued right round the block in Richmond for a show at Brollies Club on the Thames. When you consider that a lot of acts with bigger financial backing could scarcely raise a handful of loyalists at Brollies it was an achievement indeed.

Then there was the occasion when a crowd in Swindon simply wouldn't let the band offstage. imploring 'em back for five encores before carrying the boys shoulder-high out of the venue. Is it any wonder, with fanaticism such as this that most of us were convinced that Diamond Head simply could not fail to hit the biggest and best of times?!

I first saw the Head in early 1980- It was at the Lyceum Ballroom in London. Iron Maiden were just wrapping up their first real headlining tour of the UK. Their debut album had burst onto the charts and they seemed to be the name on everybody's lips. Supporting the five-piece were Praying Mantis, Angel Witch and bottom on a bill of four Diamond Head.

DH were given about 25 minutes to perform a highly truncated set, with hardly any room to breathe, let alone move. Yet such was the charisma and power emanating from the stage that even under such extremely adverse conditions, Diamond Head positively glowed.

A day later, I saw them supporting Girl at The Marquee and the combination of these two performances just hooked me for life. There was no turning back and I saw 'em subsequently on countless occassions in the ensuing years. What was so special? Well.

In many respects the whole was greater than the sum of the parts. The rhythm section of bassist Colin Kimberly and drummer Duncan Scott was never spectacularly inventive, but it was capable of holding down the beat in a uniform fashion, allowing guitarist Brian Tatter room to manoeuvre and gyrate, flaunting a penchant for total unhurried heavy chord structures within a distinctly smokin' ass bluesy framework.

And riding gladiatorily over the top of the instrumental column came the motivationally outlandish vocals from the immaculate Sean Hauls, always the star of the group and a constant source of inspiration to those around him. Sean drew on a rich heritage of singers (David Coverdale, Robert Plant, Glenn Hughes, Paul Rodgers), yet ascribed his own unique phrasing to every song, making them live, breathe.

Laugh and cry. Emotions were most assuredly encapsulated and arranged in a style no-one else has been able to match in recent years. So, what went wrong? A mixture of factors: little luck. bad management decisions, the wrong major label (MCA) at the right time perhaps even a few diffuse factors that remain indefinable even now.

The plain fact of the matter is that. having established such a cult following both on the live circuit and also through independent releases ( a white label, mail order-only album called - at least unofficially - 'Lightning To The Nations', plus a four-track EP called 'Diamond Lights' and three singles - 'Waited Too Lung:'/'Play It Loud, 'Sweet & Innocent'/'Streets Of Gold', Shoot Out The Lights'/'helpless') the band then inked a deal with MCA, hooked up with producer Mike Shipley and released 'Living On Borrowed Time', an album that castrated the very essence of their energy, vitality and momentum.

The rest, as they say, is forgettable cemetery history. Kimberly was replaced by Mervyn Goldsworthy (now with FM) and disappeared to New Zealand. In came keyboardsman Josh Phillips-Gorse and the second album, 'Canterbury', was a disastrous experiment, followed by an equally appalling set at Castle Donington in '83.

It was over and out, goodbye and farewell But, before things got out of control there were sufficient immortal moments, songs, performances of passion and high-grade showmanship/musicianship for me to still proclaim Diamond Head as the band who should have blown away the opposition.

I will always maintain that with even a modicum of fortune, these boys would have decimated Iron Maiden and wiped Def Leppard clear off the chalk board. 'Am I Evil' is, Perhaps. the first album (compilation or otherwise) to truly capture the spirit and vitality of the band.

Why? Because it represents a collection of demos, produced by the band themselves under virtually one-take, live conditions. This gets to the very heart of the quartet and you'll never again hear something so sensitively demonstrative of DH's potential and all encompassing delivery.

This is DH, standing naked and proud, wallowing in stardust under the silvery shadow of the beckoning glove of fate. 'Am I Evil itself begins with a militaristic body charge so redolent of 'Mars: The Bringer Of War' from Hold's 'Planets Suite', before opening up into a full-blooded. orchestrally muscular tam of mean Metal intensity.

Is it any wonder that Metallica chose to cover this particular number not long ago? 'In the Heat Of The Night' just swelters and rubs its nose into bar-room blues technique yet alas has a youthful exuberance, Harris voice scything out a sensual passage through thickly-nettled chords. "Don't You Ever USW dike 'Borrowed Time', 'To Heaven From lie 'Dead Reckoning'. 'Lightning To The Nations'. `Snaking; My Love all surge ebb, flow, flower and biid leaving other, previously-released versions licking turning their gouged wounds in the gutter.

This is Diamond Head the way I wanna remember them. capable of turning the screw is any direction they as chose whilst never losing their individual grip. They were the glory.glory apostles who somehow took a lean slug from the wrong kookier bottle and became mere candy in the A tragedy. `Am I Evil' a tribute . a long overdue eulogy. a fitting reminder. Yeah. we can breathe easily at night again.

Now just slam it on your stere. OK?

MALCOM DOME, KERRANG! JULY 1987