It had been ten years since the last incarnation of the band Battlezone, and eleven since the last album Children of Madness
had been released. In that time Paul Di'anno had formed and disbanded
yet another band (Killers), toured as lead singer with Praying Mantis,
collaborated with fellow former bandmate Dennis Stratton (The First Iron
Men), and generally moved around from project to project showing
glimpses of excellence and potential, and then relative obscurity again.
I'm
not sure of the reason to resurrect the Battlezone moniker, apart from
the fact one other member, guitarist John Wiggins, survives in this
adaption of the band. Certainly the majority of the music here has
absolutely no similarity to the music that was released on the first two
albums by this band. It's a decade later, and music has had some
dramatic changes in that time. And somewhat disappointingly, it appears
that all of those factors are attempted to be fused together on this
album in the hope of achieving success.
"Feel My Pain" immediately
shows off the differences between the previous formation of this band
and the current one. The riffs are in a heavier direction, there is now a
lot of double kick in the drums, and Di'anno has moved his vocals
around so that they are not as they once were. Though this is a heavy
start to the album, there is a 'modern' metal feel to it, requiring the
vocals to lower in register for the majority of the song n a nod to the
industrial metal sound that was beginning to become prevalent. "C.O.M
'98" is a remake of "Children of Madness" from the album of the same
name, but it really doesn't improve much. Though it is attempting to be
intensely heavier through both guitars and vocals, it actually doesn't
improve on the original. Di'anno tries to sing it in his new modern
vocal range, but if you are going to redo one of your own songs, surely
you would really try and make it separate from the original, rather than
just what they have done here by re-recording it with a slightly edgier
feel. Perhaps a wasted opportunity. "Victim" is the one song that
really hails back to the roots of the first two albums. It's fast pace
and guitars are ably suited to Di'anno's high register singing here.
This is where Di'anno - and his band - do their best work. The double
kick drumming and enjoyable riff and solo guitaring allow Di'anno to do
what he does best. this is direction the band should have continued on
for this album.
"The Forgotten Ones" is another attempt at the 'epic' song, much like "Metal Tears" was on Children of Madness.
To be honest, it works about as well. It's not terrible, but it doesn't
evoke the feelings in me that they were probably looking for when they
wrote it. "Push" is a standard heavier song, again using the same
template as most of the songs released by this band have been. The riff
works fine, the vocals are fine, trying to use a heavier edge by going
into a lower register, and the dual solos work fine, but it just isn't
hooking me, grabbing me and not letting go. It's an average kind of fare
that you don't hate but just don't love either.
"Snake Eyes" is a
slower plodder which slides between this and faster thrills, where
Di'anno moves from growls to screams with ease, using every extreme of
his vocal register all within moments of each other. it's almost like
taking two different songs, slicing it up and then throwing it back
together again. It works okay, but only by the end.
"Smack" is just
an blatant rip off of Alice in Chains. I mean, I can't even find it
amusing, because it is so obvious. Di'anno even tries to sing like Layne
and Jerry, and it really, REALLY doesn't work. This to me was the
biggest shock on the album. I guess you can do what you like when it
comes to song writing, but if you are going to do something so
dramatically away from what is your normal state of affairs you'd want
to make it spectacular. This is not. "The Black" plays a lot like "Snake
Eyes", while "Fear Part 1" closes out the album - and Battlezone - with
another standard riff-repeating, Di'anno growling, hard rock rendition
which has vague similarities to the same era Tim Owens-led Judas Priest.
On
the surface, you can see why this album and toured went so well in
South America, and why it bombed back home in the UK. This album's sound
is geared to the kind of metal that had been coming from that continent
for some years, while it was diversified away from what the UK produced
in their music. Again, you can make the case that this isn't a bad
album, but it is anchored to the time it was recorded in a clichéd way.
It's hard to say what could have made it more appealing, but there is
definitely something required here to have made it more appeasing to all
than it is.
Rating: You tear me up then kick me down, destroy me with your lies. 2.5/5
If you happened to grab a copy of Battlezone's first album Fighting Back,
you most probably are/were a fan of Iron Maiden, and wanted to hear
what their former lead singer Paul Di'anno was up to on his departure
from that band. If you were like me, you would have been sufficiently
impressed to search and discover this album, the band's follow up to
that release, entitled Children of Madness.
Though
this was released only a year after the first album, there have been
subtle changes to the songs and arrangement here, turning it more
towards a commercial sounding album than the first one.
It starts
off well with "Rip It Up", the song speeds along at a decent clip and
even has Di'anno screaming over the top of his own vocals in support. "I
Don't Wanna Know" is a typical Di'anno styled hard rock song with a
simplified riff and drum signature and Paul sticking to his mid range
vocals along the way, and a catchy lyric and chorus line. "Nuclear
Breakdown" follows a similar pattern, a mid-tempo song with mid range
vocals, over a standard riff and standard 2/4 drum beat. It's harmless
in an AC/DC way, but there is a lack of inspiration in the music. "Torch
of Hate" tries to up the tempo a little and inject some energy into the
album, but it is lacking in the sound, where the instruments feel like
they have been withdrawn to the rear of the mix, This sounds like a song
written and recorded at the very start of the 80's decade, not one
nearer to the end of it. "Whispered Rage" seems to combine elements of
that early 80's hard rock again, with backing vocals from the band that
reminds me of a cross between Gary Moore and Angel Witch.
The stand
out song of the album is the title track, "Children of Madness". Perhaps
this could be seen to be a contradiction given everything I have said
above, because "Children of Madness" is a plodder of a song, it rarely
changes out of the same riff pattern and its tempo is not anything above
mid range. But for some reason it works. Di'anno's vocal works, and the
solo fits perfectly in the middle. So though in many ways it is derived
from the earlier songs on the album, it really is the one that reaches
out and grabs you. Go figure.
"Metal Tears" wants to be the rock
opera, an epic that drags you in to its story and doesn't let you go
until it is concluded. This is what it wants to be. Whether it succeeds
would be up to the individual. It isn't a bad song, but I wonder if it
suits the band. It certainly sticks out from the crowd of everyday heavy
or hard songs on the album. "It's Love" goes full circle, and becomes
the hard rock poking-your-tongue at generic lyric about boy-meets-girl
in a very Van Halen-ish kind of way, without the playfulness that David
Lee Roth would portray in this situation. Following "Overloaded",
similar themes are explored in "The Promise", this time with overtones
of Skid Row (though again without that lead singer's playful vocals).
Whereas as on Fighting Back
the songs had a real energy to them, some speed, and certainly some
cracking solo breaks that really added to the flavour, this album has
been sterilised of most of that. The songs have dropped back a step in
pace, the guitars are less prevalent in a dual and duel capacity, while
the rhythm section gets locked in at the start and barely moves away
from it for the whole album. though the first album was still limited in
a way as to how it was written, it was still performed with gusto which
brought it to life. Unfortunately, Children of Madness
doesn't have the same enthusiasm about it, and because of this is
unable to bring the same energy and joy to the listener. Which is a
shame, because there was potential there that has not been realised
here.
Rating: Oh can't you see, you're killing me, this time can go on. 2.5/5
Following on from several attempts to
reboot his career after his parting with Iron Maiden, Paul Di'anno put
together another set of musicians and the new band Battlezone was
formed, though it became popularly known as Paul Di'anno's Battlezone,
no doubt by the record company to cash in on the lead singer's renown.
Given the changing route of the music he had produced in the previous
projects he had been involved in, there was little to go on as to what
direction this new project would take.
It stars off on the right
foot with "(Forever) Fighting Back" and "Welcome to the Battlezone",
both hard rocking anthems that place immediate focus on Di'anno's best
vocal characteristics, and some clean guitaring skills from John Hurley
and John Wiggins. Leading on after this is "Warchild", which amplifies
the faster tempo track that dominates the album, along with an anthemic
lyric that attempts to draw you in and sing along with the band. "Into
the Darkness" drops into a settled riff and tempo pushed song that while
it sounds simplified and repetitive is rendered unnoticeable by
Di'anno's vocals again, and another suitable solo break, both of which
again highlight the strengths of the band being able to overwrite any
perceived weaknesses. "The Land God Gave to Cain" is the closer of the
first side on the album, and suffers from being long-winded in length
and also of overusing the same riff for far too long to make this a
completely satisfying conclusion to proceedings.
The second side
opens with "Running Blind" which starts off with clear guitar and the
Di'anno soft vocals, before bursting out after the initial intro to a
hard rock beat similar to the opening track and again a solid solo
section by the dual guitars. "Too Much to Heart" takes some liberties
with the vibe of the album, making a hard rock 'ballad' that isn't
really compromising what has gone before. "Voice on the Radio" utilises
the backup vocals of the other members of the band more than the
majority of the songs on the album, while sticking with that hard rock
theme formula with a solo thrown in for good measure. "Welfare Warriors"
is a ripper track, again combining the dual guitars with Di'anno's
vocals at an up tempo click. "Feel the Rock" is a simplified hard rock
track to end the album, if not in a brilliant way then at least in a
somewhat fitting way.
Though in truth this is probably a very formula
driven album, almost 'rock by numbers', it is catchy enough to make you
sit up and enjoy it for what it is. The band is really quite good,
solid in all respects, and while the riffs tend to come from that same
school of 'how to write a hard rock song', there is enough to
distinguish this from the ordinary o make it worthy of listening to. The
guitar solos too add the flavour to the songs to help them rise above
the average. To top all of this off, Di'anno's vocals still sound great,
even if they do tend not to change tone too often, and probably still
show the lack of variation that was a contributing factor to his being
moved on from his pervious high profile band. Still his voice is
distinctive and enjoyable, and still is here.
As a mid-80's hard
rock album there is enough here to make it worth the while of the
average punter to have a listen, and see what Di'anno could do with a
different writing team around him.
Rating: Goodbye, guys we don't need you. 3.5/5
