862. Paul Di'anno's Battlezone / Children of Madness. 1987. 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and inject some energy into the album, but it is lacking in the sound, where the instruments feel like they have been withdrawn to the rear of the mix, This sounds like a song written and recorded at the very start of the 80's decade, not one nearer to the end of it.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