The New Wave Of British Heavy Metal (NWOBHM) was not only the real start and the foundation of our favourite music with all its sub-genres, it also brought us timeless classic albums. One of these records was “Lightning To The Nations” from DIAMOND HEAD, that was released in 1980 as an untitled album in a plain white sleeve and thus was called “The White Album” until it was named by the band for the re-press. Several re-releases were issued between 1981 (on German Woolfe Records) and 2017 with even more different cover artworks, all of the songs appeared on about a bazillion compilations of DIAMOND HEAD songs, some of the songs were even re-recorded, ending in a completely new recording of the whole album in 2020. Yet it is only the original “Lightning To the Nations” that really counts, it is Metal history, it is one of the most influential albums of all times and it helped to define what Heavy Metal really means. If you doubt the influence of the album, let me remind you that METALLICA covered no less than four songs from “Lightning To The Nations” during their career, with ‘Am I Evil?’ still being a standard in their live setlist. And it’s hard to deny that all those DIAMOND HEAD cover tunes are among the best James Hetfield and his guys ever recorded. So it can be said that without “Lightning To The Nations” METALLICA never sounded the way they did on their great albums (until 1986) and thus Heavy Metal nowadays would probably sound different. But let’s put these speculations aside and give “Lightning To The Nations” another spin or two… Or a few more. It is hard to believe that this album is nearly 42 years old by now, as it still blows me away with its youthful energy. The seven rather long songs are still fresh and a festival of great guitar riffs. DIAMOND HEAD broke with the structures of classic Rock without being Prog Rock, as the songs had breaks, speed changes and surprising turns without losing their energy. As far as those points are concerned, “Lightning To the Nations” is pretty similar to the first IRON MAIDEN album, yet it sounds different of course, as DIAMOND HEAD are less angry than MAIDEN over all, but still tight as fuck, in their style. Another unique attribute of DIAMOND HEAD are the charismatic vocals of Sean Harris, that transports both energy and a certain randiness. I even read about his voice being sexy, so we might talk about the David Coverdale of the NWOBHM. Well, sexy or not, songs like the title track, ‘The Prince’ or ‘Am I Evil?’ (that both sound better here than their cover tunes) are alltime classic Metal songs. They paved the way for the evolution of Heavy Metal ever since and everyone who concerns himself a Metal fan should listen to them. This should be quite easy since, as I already said, “Lightning To The Nations” was re-released numerous times, often with nearly half an hour of extra material like B-sides and EP songs. Right now the album got another re-release via Silver Lining Music, again with a different cover artwork, again with an ugly one. The difference to prior releases is the fact that the original recordings got a fresh remastering, quite a careful one that keeps the original spirit alive. And it features five songs from the album in so called “Lost Original Mixes” that actually appear different from the known mix. These mixes mainly have not as much focus on the guitars. ‘Lightning To The Nations’ has more distinctive backing vocals, while this mix of ‘The Prince’ features a more prominent organ, giving the song a certain DEEP PURPLE touch. The alternative version of ‘Sucking My Love’ has a certain old fashioned Hard Rock vibe, especially in the slower and laid back middle part. The version of ‘Am I Evil?’ actually has a rougher guitar tone and a quite pumping bass here. In the end, ‘Sweet And Innocent’ is the alternative version that is most close to the original one. As this re-release is a double CD (in a 6 panel digipack with a 24 page booklet), it of course features all the exclusive tracks from the 7”es and 12”es DIAMOND HEAD released in their early days before signing a deal with MCA Records for their second album “Living On Borrowed Time” in 1982. ‘Shoot Out The Lights’ was released as a 7” single in 1980 and this peppy and upbeat track would have easily fitted the album. The song ‘Streets Of Gold’, the B-side from the “Sweet And Innocent” 7″ also from 1980, surprises with an unusual guitar solo. Next we have ‘Play It Loud’ and ‘Waited Too Long’ that were released as a 7” single in 1981. While the first one is a (maybe too) typical powerful DIAMOND HEAD song, ‘Waited Too Long’ is a rather cheesy tune that peered hard at radio air play. Finally we have three tracks that were recorded exclusively for a 12” EP named “Diamond Lights”. The title track also has a certain catchiness, yet it’s far from being cheesy and still Metal enough. Definitely enough Metal and especially enough NWOBHM can be heard with ‘We Won’t Be Back’ and the halting ‘I Don’t Got’. These seven extra songs are mainly worth listening to, even though they can’t completely keep the high level of “Lightning To The Nations”. But DIAMOND HEAD never ever reached the level of that album again anyway, the follow-up “Living On Borrowed Time” still was a fine album, yet it has a little more Hard Rock vibes. The power- and idealess album “Canterbury” in 1983 was the end of the original line-up of DIAMOND HEAD, they lost their deal after that album and split-up subsequently. In the last 30 years, the band was revived two times without releasing fine stuff any more and now they’re still around with guitar player Brian Tatler as the only original member. Their real legacy can be found on these two discs. For more info, please visit www.facebook.com/diamondheadofficial or www.sl-music.net