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Diamond Head "Death And Progress [Japan, Victor Entertainment, Inc., VICP-5255]"

Death and Progress is the fourth studio album by British heavy metal band Diamond Head, released in 1993 through Castle Music.

This was Diamond Head's first album since Canterbury, released 10 years earlier. It was co-produced, engineered and mixed by Andrew Scarth, who had previously worked for bands such as Bad Company and Foreigner. The album had a much cleaner and more polished sound than their previous three albums and featured two special guests, Tony Iommi, of Black Sabbath, and Dave Mustaine, of Megadeth, the latter also enlisting the help of his own producer Max Norman.

The reunion of Diamond Head did not last. One major contributor to the second fall of the band was during the Death and Progress tour, when Diamond Head opened for Metallica and Megadeth at the National Bowl in Milton Keynes on 5 June 1993; The Almighty was also on the bill.

During the show, Sean Harris came out dressed as the Grim Reaper, which Brian Tatler reported in the British rock magazine Classic Rock was Harris' way of saying that the new wave of British heavy metal was over. They opened with their flagship song, "Am I Evil?", and ended with "Helpless", both off their 1980 debut Lightning to the Nations, as they thought this would go down well with the Metallica fan base. However, Diamond Head had not been around for the majority of the previous decade and Metallica had covered both of these songs ("Am I Evil?" was the B-side to "Creeping Death" and "Helpless" appeared on The $5.98 E.P. – Garage Days Re-Revisited), meaning much of the crowd believed that Diamond Head were covering Metallica songs.

In addition, their performance was considered abysmal, due to the pressure of playing live on MTV, and the fact that Tatler had shingles at the time and that Diamond Head had almost no rehearsal time prior to the gig.

Following the show, the band split up again and would not reform until 2000.

Track listing

All tracks are written by Sean Harris and Brian Tatler, except where noted.

"Starcrossed (Lovers of the Night)" Harris, Tatler, Tony Iommi 4:27
"Truckin'" 3:05
"Calling Your Name (The Light)" 4:06
"I Can't Help Myself" 3:37
"Paradise" 3:36
"Dust" 4:18
"Run" 4:43
"Wild on the Streets" 3:46
"Damnation Street" 3:17
"Home" 4:42
"Good Lovin' Gone Bad (Bad Company cover)" 3:44

Time: 43:27

Licensed by Castle Communications Plc.

Recording information:

Mastered at Disctronics

Produced by Max Norman.

Produced for On Yer Bike Ltd.

Recorded at The Music Station, Birmingham & Parkgate Studios

Mixed at The Music Station, Birmingham & Great Linford Manor

Mixed and Overdubbed at The Enterprise

Diamond Head "Lightning To The Nations [2016 Reissue, Remastered, 2CDS Limited Edition, UK, HNE Recordings Ltd., HNECD079D]"

Lightning to the Nations (also known as The White Album) is the debut album by British heavy metal band Diamond Head. The album was recorded in 1980 (after the 1977 and 1979 demos) and released later that year through Happy Face Records, a label owned by the producer Muff Murfin of The Old Smithy studio of Worcester, due to lack of interest from major labels and the 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.

It was originally released in a plain white sleeve with no title or track listing, and was subsequently named after the first track on the album. Metal Blade Records re-released it on CD in 1992. In 2001, it was re-issued in its original "White Album" form by Sanctuary Records, featuring seven bonus tracks that were featured on singles and EPs from this era.

Diamond Head had 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 original 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 new manager, Reg Fellows, owned a cardboard factory and could produce blank sleeves at low cost. The reason for recording this album was an attempt to lay down some tracks so they could send it to a record company who would be more willing to release it, as the recording costs had already been covered; this idea came from Fellows and Linda Harris (by then tour manager).

There were originally only 1,000 copies pressed of the album, which were only available at the band's concerts or through mail-order at a price of £3.50. The only mail-order advertisement appeared in British music magazine 'Sounds' and ran for four weeks. However, the band did not pay for any advertisements and ended up being sued.

This album has become one of the most sought-after items from the time for record collectors. Later, there was a second pressing of 1000 copies that included track listings. The only original one-and-a-quarter-inch master tapes were lost for years after the band sent them to the German record company Woolfe Records, who did release the album (theirs having a front cover with a map of the world burning).

In 1993, Metal Blade Records released the first official CD version of the entire album. They did not attempt to find the master tapes or create a professional transfer from the original vinyl version and used a remix instead (made in 1986). Additionally, the track "It's Electric" has a major mastering error: the intro of the song is missing and it skips in shortly before the vocals start. High Vaultage Records released another version of the album in 1997, this time sourced from the German Woolfe Records LP. As a bonus, most of the 7" single tracks from that era were included. In 2001, a Sanctuary Records release came out. It includes the same mastering as the High Vaultage CD, which had since gone out of print. The 2011 Deluxe Edition, remastered by Andy Pearce, includes the original album sourced from the rediscovered master tape. This release, the 2016 HNE Recordings Ltd release, and the 2022 Silver Lining Music release are the only CD releases sourced from the original tapes; all other CD versions include either the 1986 remix or the High Vaultage vinyl dubs.

Musically, the album's tracks are characterized by their "raw, unrelenting attack." Technically, the album's instrumentation makes use of staccato guitar riffs, harmonized lead guitar parts, and galloped rhythms.

The album brought Diamond Head to the forefront of the new wave of British heavy metal scene and was a big influence on many later metal bands, including Metallica and Megadeth. The former have covered songs such as "The Prince", "Sucking My Love", "Am I Evil?", "It's Electric", and "Helpless" throughout their career and recorded most of them. Versions from various periods were compiled on Metallica's album Garage Inc.. As a result, Diamond Head became relatively well-known to Metallica fans and came to enjoy more exposure to a broader public in later years than similar NWOBHM bands from the late 1970s and early 1980s.

In 2008, the Japanese metal magazine Burrn! 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. The Guitarists' Book of Heavy Metal ranked the track "Am I Evil?" at No. 5 on its list of the best metal riffs behind Iron Maiden's "The Number of the Beast".

In 2017, Rolling Stone ranked Lightning to the Nations 42nd on their list of "The 100 Greatest Metal Albums of All Time".

Tracklist:

Disc 1