Diamond Head

At last, it's here. Diamond Head's first album — aka the "White Album," "Lightning to the Nations," or simply "Diamond Head" — is the Ark of the Covenant of heavy metal. By unlocking its secrets, one will find all the connecting points between the genre's '70s originators and the '80s ensuing hordes, at least all of those not covered by Iron Maiden. Faithfully restored to its original, ragged glory (the band financed and produced it themselves using a shoestring budget) by Castle/Sanctuary after 21 long years, this beautifully packaged reissue now renders all the ill-advised remixes featured on collections like Behold the Beginning and even Metal Blade's own version of Lighting completely obsolete, null, and void. The album's overall production is actually somewhat substandard, technologically speaking, but this merely adds to the appeal of classics like "The Prince," "It's Electric," and "Lightning to the Nations," which sound as fresh and vital as when they were recorded, back in heady days of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal. Of course, most metalheads, who were only introduced to the band years later through Metallica's worshipful cover versions, will be most interested in the thundering monster called "Helpless" and the absolutely masterful "Am I Evil?" The latter, especially, still stands as one of heavy metal's greatest triumphs, its multiple sections daunting in their variety and complexity, its monolithic riffs a wonder to behold, and Brian Tatler's incredible guitar solo (performed over shifting rhythms in a manner also often duplicated by Metallica) simply must be heard to be believed. An additional eight outtakes and leftovers (not all of which are exactly stellar, but they are outtakes) culled from the same time period complete what has to be one of the most satisfying, and long-awaited CD reissues yet, within the heavy metal canon. Essential.