Diamond Head

Sheesh!

It's not a contract.

It's a fun poll, that is clearly intended to provoke some discussion about the band and the MUSIC, not fanny around moaning about the way the poll is constructed.

And I'm not really going to add any band without going through the proper channels, as ANY collaborator should know.

That was a ruse to get a reaction from the negative voters, who seem to have nothing to say to back their choices up, despite the fact it says "No, Because..."

Any comments ABOUT THE MUSIC?

Or is that too difficult?

MikeEnRegalia wrote: Certif1ed wrote: MikeEnRegalia wrote: There you go again, manipulating and stretching my statement so that it fits into your concept. Well, why do you start these ridiculous discussions anyway? And why does your poll only allow for extreme opinions - where is the option "They're somewhat progressive, but not enough to be added"?   What's so ridiculous about this discussion? It's about a band that may or may not be prog related - is that so strange on a Prog Rock forum? There is nothing strange about the idea to discuss Diamond Head. It IS strange to combine the only option which agrees that they're somewhat progressive with the agreement that they should be added to the archives.

I will say ... as a relatively disinterested party  ... that I do think basing their addition on this particular poll seems unjustified to me ...

Certif1ed wrote: MikeEnRegalia wrote: Certif1ed wrote: MikeEnRegalia wrote: Certif1ed wrote: MikeEnRegalia wrote: ^ BTW: Am I Evil when I say that? I don't know - do you actually know the tracks? I listened to Diamond Head ages ago ... Pathetic. Oh sorry, I forgot that you make the rules.   *Sigh* No - it's pathetic to pass such an affirmative judgement on music you haven't actually listened to by a band you haven't heard for several years. Not evil. Pathetic. But that doesn't fit the tune....

There you go again, manipulating and stretching my statement so that it fits into your concept. Well, why do you start these ridiculous discussions anyway? And why does your poll only allow for extreme opinions - where is the option "They're somewhat progressive, but not enough to be added"?

Certif1ed wrote:   I'm taking all the "Iron Maiden" votes as "Don't Knows", and the "No" vote as a "Don't Know", since there are no arguments against yet. Given that ignoring the "Don't Knows" and "Can't be bothereds" will leave only positive votes, I'll add them next Tuesday, because actually, I DO make the rules.

I trust you will add them as Prog Related or Proto Prog ...

Certif1ed wrote: MikeEnRegalia wrote: Certif1ed wrote: MikeEnRegalia wrote: ^ BTW: Am I Evil when I say that? I don't know - do you actually know the tracks? I listened to Diamond Head ages ago ... Pathetic.

Oh sorry, I forgot that you make the rules.

A Joke?

Damn... I fell for that one

horza wrote: Diamond Head flirted with success - they never quite made it - Metallica liked them though

Quite - and Metallica definitely sowed a large percentage of the seeds for the style that is now established as Prog Metal - their riffs and particularly riffing styles are omnipresent in that genre. The first time I heard Dream Theater, I couldn't get over how many Metallica riffs I recognised, and the underlying style, of "sophisticated" thrash mixed with slower interludes has not changed in 20-odd years.

Metallica's 1st 5 albums are utterly Progressive in the literal sense, as well as having many prog pretensions - despite the fact that the 5th progressed in the wrong direction, ie, mainstream/Nu Metal.

I digress... Back to Diamond Head, I've uploaded the 4 tracks (mp3'd from my precious vinyl) to Megaupload (<-click the link) - for evaluation only, of course.

Note particularly the use of "chanting", timpani and keyboards at the beginning of "Kingmaker", in an almost successful attempt to create the grandiose "symphonic" type sound - and note also the inventive rhythms and distorted harmonies in the riffs and Middle Eastern flavours, with the bass decidedly not following the guitar slavishly. Note also the constant changes and avoidance of heavy metal guitar solos in favour of building the texture - if only they'd had an orchestra!

"To The Devil" has a different flavour altogether, and goes through unexpected changes - yet is surprisingly accessible. Sean Harris free approach to melody soars above the shifting riffs, which themselves are overlaid with subtle, cross-rhythmic keyboard and guitar ambience - I find the chorus very haunting, but it's the musical development from 3:32 I like most, especially the sung "Ahhhs" - very demonic, in a chilling, understated way.

"Knight of the Swords" starts a bit like an Iron Maiden song - the same kind of chugging riff - but Harris again lets his voice fly free, and we reach the end of the chorus only after another 3 (count 'em) infectious riffs. After the standard A-B-A-B (although you could legitimately pick me up on the technicality that it's really A-B-C-D-A-B-C-D, we reach the expected bridge - but I'd bet you wouldn't predict the drop to gentle guitar and voice that follows! This feels truly free-form to me, even though it's fairly obvious that it's a simple development of a two-tone shift. The guitar solo is a pleasant surprise - nothing stunning by today's standards, but I'm very keen on Brian Tatler's feel for strangely angular melodies - and those riffs!!! Dr Who on acid?

The interesting bits of "Ishmael" are, well, just about all of it really. From the Middle Eastern market style opening, to the backbeat entry, Harris' free-style melody, the wonderful harmonies in the chorus, the pounding toms and shifting rhythms - this has a flavour almost divorced from the metal roots - a whole new world of possibility in rock. My biggest complaint is that the musical development after the second chorus is too short - I'd have loved to hear DH make something really sinister out of that.

Yes, I like it - but I like Angelwitch, Raven and Iron Maiden too - and I wouldn't support the inclusion of any of those bands, even though I do recognise the progressive edges of all 3.

...but don't let me influence you in any way

Oh, and the Iron Maiden option was a joke... Duh!!!

I'm willing to give the tracks you mention another listen Certif1ed- my anthology had 'Ishmael' (which was about the best song imo), 'To The Devil His Due' and 'Night Of The Swords'. I didn't like the more commercial songs like 'Makin Magic' and 'Out Of Phase' much really though, and on first listen the sound isn't very full.

Glad to see you love the Angel Witch album though- I've read some pretty disparaging reviews of them, but to me their debut was one of the better ones of the NWOBHM boom. The track 'Baphomet' from 'Metal For Muthas' sounds just like classic Rush to me with a Sabbath esque edge.

I recently got a box set of the NWOBHM that Sanctuary put out- called 'Lightning To The Nations', which was full of terrific songs- I'm currently listening to Vardis' 'If I Were King' and that has an element of prog about it too, but I had one of their albums- 'The World's Insane'- and that was quite drab in comparison to 'If I Were King'.

Even a classic that I was aware of already like 'Name Rank and Serial Number' by Fist has some prog influences, showing that prog infiltrated the genre a great deal...

Certif1ed wrote: MikeEnRegalia wrote: ^ BTW: Am I Evil when I say that? I don't know - do you actually know the tracks?

I listened to Diamond Head ages ago ...