Review by Shezma for Diamond Head - Lightning to the Nations 2020 (2020)

This is an initial Diamond Head and Lightning to the Nations review. Barely listening to much before, (I did listen to Coffin Train in 2019 and thought it was 'ok'). This is a very fun release, after looking into the reviews of this album on other sites, since I am the first to here, I found most people did not like this. I'm trying to work on my first get heavy metal list and can not for the life of me find the original version of this album. I do see the 2021 remaster, but not sure if that even really cuts it. This one is more than that I am sure. The production is definitely 2020 and way too clean for heavy metal. I had a good time with this album overall though, but with the original recording being in such high regards I am very interested in finding a copy and giving it a spin. Even without hearing the original, I could tell going into it how much it sounded like a newer release, there were parts that while clean also felt digitally enhanced in ways. Listening to the originals contemporaries like Iron Maiden and Dio and that 80's sound this was definitely off. I did know going into this that it was a 2020 version, but wasn't expecting such a complete rehash of the sound, the song structures felt like they were for the most part unchanged just the tone felt off. This is a note to myself, to update this review after finding a solid copy of the original for review and compare. This is a fascinating listen as I can't say I've ever heard an album reimagining before the original.