Unleashed in 1980, Diamond Head’s Lightning To The Nations – often referred to simply as “The White Album”, due to its initial pressing’s complete lack of artwork or information – was an important addition to the NWOBHM canon. It sat comfortably alongside other key records in the genre, such as the debut efforts of Iron Maiden and Angel Witch, both released the same year.
Compared to those albums, however, the sound here is actually far less aggressive, owing much to the heavy blues-rock bands of the 70s, such as Deep Purple and Led Zeppelin – the latter being most apparent in Sean Harris’ soaring and somewhat sexually-charged vocals (the tellingly-titled Suck My Love being the most obvious example). The occult-themed Am I Evil? is the most obviously metal song on the album and its infamy has almost threatened to dwarf the rest of the band’s output thanks to the cover by longtime fans Metallica.
Released as a digipak, this reissue not only adds sleevenotes and a second, seven-song CD of the band’s single and EP material of the time (most of which is notably rougher around the edges than the album), but also finally grants the album some proper sleeve art, which, after three decades, seems much deserved.
