Diamond Head (band)

From Free net encyclopedia

Diamond Head are a British heavy metal band formed in 1976 in Stourbridge, England. They were one of the leading members of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal (NWOBHM) and are acknowledged by later bands like Metallica and Megadeth as an important early influence.

1 Early history
2 Later history
3 Influence on Metallica
4 Line-up
- 4.1 Current
- 4.2 Past members
5 Discography
6 External links

[edit]

Early history

The band released demo tapes in 1977 and 1979 and gained enough attention through radio play to tour with AC/DC and Iron Maiden. Their first album, Lightning to the Nations, was released in 1980 with Happy Face Records and its success led to a deal with MCA Records in 1981. Two more albums, Borrowed Time and Canterbury, followed in 1982 and 1982 before the band split up for the first time in 1985.

[edit]

Later history

In 1991 Tatler and Harris reformed Diamond Head and went on to release the album Death and Progress in 1993, featuring contributions by Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath and Dave Mustaine of Megadeth. In 1994 the band split again and did not reform until 2002. During which time they did a tour with Megadeth, who'd also re-formed after Mustaine had recovered enough to be able to play guitar again. After news of work on a new album, fans were surprised to hear of the departure of Sean Harris in 2004 and his replacement by Nick Tart. Brian Tatler is now the only ever-present member in the Diamond Head line-up. The band's latest album, All Will Be Revealed, was released in 2005, but was very different from their early material, and was considered a disappointment by most NWOBHM fans.

[edit]

Influence on Metallica

Diamond Head are probably most famous among heavy metal fans for their association with Metallica, who acknowledge them as a very important early influence and have often covered Diamond Head songs at gigs. In 1987, they covered "Helpless" on their Garage Days Re-revisited EP and in 1998 covered "Am I Evil?", "The Prince", "It's Electric", and "Helpless" for their Garage Inc album. Metallica also covered "Sucking my love" which was featured on an early recorded demo (although no official production of the song came to pass). "Am I Evil?" was also one of Metallica's first notable recorded songs (as part of the Am I Evil? / Blitzkrieg cassette single) and was included briefly on their debut album Kill 'Em All.

[edit]

Line-up

[edit]

Current

Nick Tart — vocals (formerly of The Outcasts, Alabama Bombshell, Notorious, Life)
Brian Tatler — lead guitar (Radio Moscow, Quill)
Eddie "Chaos" Moohan — bass
Karl Wilcox — drums

[edit]