Lightning to the Nations
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| Lightning To The Nations | |||||
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| Studio album by Diamond Head | |||||
| Released | October 3, 1980 | ||||
| Recorded | Old Smithy Recording Studio, Worcester, England, 1979 | ||||
| Genre | Heavy metal | ||||
| Length | 41:37 | ||||
| Label | Independent | ||||
| Producer | Reg Fellows | ||||
| Professional reviews | |||||
| Diamond Head chronology | |||||
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Lightning to the Nations is the debut album by heavy metal band Diamond Head.
The album was recorded in 1979 (after the 1978 and 1979 demos) and released in 1980 through their own label Happy Face Records, due to lack of interest from major labels and band feeling that they needed to get the ball rolling as other bands from the same era, such as Iron Maiden and Def Leppard, were already becoming big names.
Metal Blade Records re-released it to CD in 1992. In 2001, it was reissued in its original "White Album" form by Castle Records, featuring seven bonus tracks that were featured on singles and EPs from this era.
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[edit] Album information
Diamond Head's unique sound and quality of song writing gained enough attention to tour as support with AC/DC and Iron Maiden. Although a clutch of record companies fought to sign the band, none were willing to fully commit. The fact that the band was at the time managed by Sean Harris' mother (Linda Harris) did not help the band's commercial momentum. So, while other New Wave of British Heavy Metal bands were signed to major labels and were headlining their own tours, Diamond Head were growing increasingly impatient and decided that they would release their material through their own label, Happy Face Records.
The album was recorded within seven days at The Old Smythy Studio in Worcester, which the band described as 'dead'. This album came in a plain sleeve with no title, having on it only a signature of one of the band members and no track listings. The reason for this was that the band's manager, Reg Fellows, owned a cardboard factory and could produce blank sleeves at a low cost. There were originally only 1000 copies pressed of the album, which were only available at their concerts or through mail-order at cost of £3.50. In fact the only mail-order advertisement appeared in Sounds and ran for four weeks. However, the band did not pay for the ad and ended up being sued. This album has become one of the most sought after record collector items from the time. Later 1000 more copies were pressed, which contained the track listings. Unfortunately, the only original one-and-a-quarter-inch master tapes were lost after the band sent them to the German record company Woolfe Records, and they were never returned. Although Woolfe Records did release the album, which is the version with a picture of the world burning on the front cover.
[edit] Legacy and influence
The album catapulted Diamond Head to the forefront of the NWOBHM scene and was a big influence to many later metal bands, including Metallica, Exodus, and Megadeth. The former have covered songs such as "The Prince", "Sucking My Love", "Am I Evil?", "It's Electric", and "Helpless", all throughout their career and recorded most of them. Versions from various periods were compiled on their album Garage Inc. As a result, Diamond Head became relatively well-known to Metallica fans and enjoyed exposure to a broader public than similar NWOBHM bands from the late 70s and early 80s.
In 2008, the Japanese metal magazine Burn! rated this album as the third best riff album of all time, behind Black Sabbath's Master of Reality and Slayer's Reign in Blood.[1]
[edit] Track listing
All songs by Harris, Kimberly, Scott, Tatler
- "Lightning to the Nations" – 4:15
- "The Prince" – 6:27
- "Sucking My Love" – 9:35
- "Am I Evil?" – 7:39
- "Sweet and Innocent" – 3:13
- "It's Electric" – 3:57
- "Helpless" – 6:51
Castle reissued the album with the following bonus tracks:
- "Shoot Out the Lights" – 4:17
- "Streets of Gold" – 3:34
- "Waited Too Long" – 3:53
- "Play It Loud" – 3:31
- "Diamond Lights" – 3:31
- "We Won't Be Back" – 4:18
- "I Don't Got" – 4:20
