730. Paul Di'anno / The Living Dead. 2006. 2.5/5

As it turns out, I have never been able to locate a copy of Di'anno's album Nomad, which would appear to be unfortunate until I found this album, and it turns out it is exactly the same tracks, though apparently remastered and shuffled in order, with a few extra tracks tagged on. It could well be that I never get to hear the original album, but it would be nice to once, just to hear if there is any difference whatsoever. I'm guessing there is not. Given Paul's dalliance with the re-recording or playing material from his days in Iron Maiden, perhaps it is ironic that now he is re-recording/re-hashing his own material, from a brief six years in the past. Putting that aside, the songs here stack up reasonably well. Much of this would compare favourably with some of the best of his other post-Maiden career, from albums such as Fighting Back and Murder One.

The playing might be great, but Paul's vocals are literally all over the place. It just feels like he couldn't decide how he was going to sing on this album, so he decided to cover every base available. I mean, he sang some parts of songs in a similar register that he used in his younger, Iron Maiden days, and he sang some parts of songs in an almost falsetto high pitched voice that defies description, except to say that it doesn't sound anything like Paul Di'anno at all. Then he sang some parts of songs with a modern day growl, that again just doesn't suit him historically at all. Now, it may well just be me, but for someone like Paul, for whom the majority of his fan base is derived from his initial recordings with Iron Maiden and whose instrument is his voice, the surely it is his selling point, and he needs to make sure it is at the peak of its form. There doesn't seem much sense in putting out an album, no matter what the music is like, if his voice isn't in there driving the songs. I have no problem with him doing something different if that is what he is trying to achieve, but it is all so uneven here that the good work done instrumentally is actually being dragged down by the vocals, and that should never be the case when you are the big name behind the recording in the first place.
The songs themselves actually have quite a lot to offer. There's plenty of hard rocking, mostly heavy material, with belting drums and riffing and solo-work on the guitars. The opener "The Living Dead" is a great way to start the album, lulling you in but its understated melody. "Mad Man in the Attic" and "War Machine" follow this up with a real metal feel. "Nomad" and "S.A.T.A.N." are the best of the rest of the album, with the guitars being the stars of the show, overshadowing the title artist's vocals.
The cover version of Megadeth's "Symphony of Destruction" seems to have fans equally divided. Many feel it is better than the original and an excellent version. Personally I think it is the epitome of the problems this album has with the vocals. They are everywhere. There is no uniformity, and no effort to be so. They are obviously meant to go for high to low and woe. I find it far too distracting to enjoy. Also tacked onto the end are another two live cover versions of Iron Maiden songs form Paul's era, this time being "Wrathchild" and "Phantom of the Opera". Neither is any better or worse than the thousands of other versions Di'anno has put out over the last 30-odd years.

Rating:  I have no future but always to roam alone. 2.5/5