Paul Di'Anno's Battlezone - Killers In The Battlezone (1986-2000) (2022) [FLAC] {HNE Recordings Ltd - HNEBOX169}
Release Info:
RLSDATE: 2022/08/22 RTLDATE: 2022/06/04
GENRE: Heavy Metal FORMAT: 1.13 GB
SOURCE: CD RUNTiME: 44:38/50:50/50:16
RELEASE: HNE Recordings Ltd - HNEBOX169
ORiGiN: UK MATRiX: 455288@1 455289@1 455290@1 IFPI LW03
with log/cue/nfo/m3u/sfv/300 dpi scans.
Metal-Rules (dot) com adds. . .
You have to admire the tenacity of Paul Di'Anno. On the surface one might think
that he has parlayed his 15 minutes of fame with Iron Maiden into a long and
rather uninspired career; a discography littered with indistinct and unremarkable
live and/or compilation albums (at least 15 to date by my count) largely
populated by Iron Maiden cover tunes. However real fans know better. He is a
musical chameleon, reinventing himself several times with Battlezone, Killers and
solo albums. My personal favourite is his 2000 solo album called NOMAD where he
basically hired a bunch of Power Metal guys in Brazil where he was living at the
time. However, I think most fans would say that, post-Maiden his most successful
and accomplished efforts were the first two Battlezone albums. Let's not discuss
the third Battlezone album which was a part of his Pantera phase, and more on
that later.
The brace of Battlezone albums (FIGHTING BACK,1986 and CHILDREN OF MADNESS,
1987) were smart. They were too heavy to lumped in with mid-80's glam scene yet
modern enough to step away from then tired NWOBHM sounds. They sounded vibrant
and energetic. They still do. They had good production value and good playing and
solid vocals on the part of Di'Anno. They are collected in this 3 CD set housed
in a nice clamshell box that has a 20-page, full colour booklet loaded with
photos and a nice essay from John Tucker who seems to be the go-to guy for
commentary on these sorts of reissues. HNE has done a great job as always on this
affordable set.
Unfortunately, I'm not sure how necessary this box-set is. The first two
"classic" Battlezone albums have been previously reissued about seven times each
even as recently as 2021! Focusing on the positive, you get a good quality
presentation and great essay, liner notes booklet, but with no rare or unreleased
material is that enough to carry it? Personally, I'm chuffed to have these albums
on CD now but a die-hard Battlezone guy/gal might not see the immediate value,
unless they buy everything the band ever did/does.
I may across as too critical but I am really perplexed about the inclusion of the
"bonus" disc. Ostensibly, this is a box-set of Battlezone. So why is there a live
of the band Killers included? Well, on the surface one might say, "Well it's Paul
Di'Anno!" Fair enough, however, Battlezone and Killers were too completely
distinct bands. Killers, formed in 1992, five years after the demise of
Battlezone, were on a different record label and had a completely different
line-up. This is when Paul was struggling to reinvent himself and was going
through his ill-advised, unfortunate, unwanted and ill-fated Pantera phase.
The live album itself is a bit underwhelming with 11 songs; four Maiden cover
tunes and four tracks from Killer's debut album MURDER ONE and three songs from
their second album MENACE TO SOCIETY. Not a single Battlezone song! It seems to
have been one of those contractual obligation things. Therefore, I question, not
unfairly, why is this even in this box-set? The live album LIVE AT THE WHISKEY
came out with little or no fanfare back in 2001. In the liner notes, even John
Tucker admits no one really knows when this was recorded, presumably in late 1994
or even early 1995, unless the band was showcasing the three new songs from the
forthcoming MENACE TO SOCIETY, in that case it could have been as early as the
summer of 1994. All that trivia and grumbling aside, it is actually a pretty
fierce little live album! If you don't own it, it is nice to have here, even if
it is out of place.
The timing is pretty good with Di'Anno making a recent media resurgence with
news of his surgery and new musical project, so they might as well strike while
the iron is hot.
Ripper's Notes:
If you've followed my piracy career at all, you know I'm no stranger to Paul
Di'Anno. I've ripped one of the above mentioned solo compilations, as well as
one of the prior Battlezone compilations (Cessation Of Hostilities) and the 2016
Japanese remasters of Fighting Back and Children Of Madness. But, despite that,
"Drawn Under" is a new track to me, and a good, solid one it is.
As the Metal-Rules reviewer stated, there is a third Battlezone album, Feel My
Pain, but, it's awful, and thankfully it was left off of this anthology.
That all being said, sadly, despite god knows how many remasters, Fighting Back
still sounds like it was recorded in a bathroom. Too bad, because it's an
excellent album that should have gotten better treatment. Children Of Madness
sounds much better (then, and now), but, the songs just aren't as strong.
The fact that this was released to coincide with Paul's reemergence into the music
industry is news to me, but I will (clearly) be keeping my eyes, and ears, open.
("while the IRON is hot" haha!)
If you chose to share this, or any other release, elsewhere, please
give the original ripper/uploader the respect they deserve by
leaving it intact and giving credit where credit is due.
Remember, only by seeding everything you download to 1:1 are you doing your part to keep torrents alive!
As always, that just about covers it!
Enjoy, and SEED!
Your friendly neighborhood Zoloft
](torrents/images/592070.jpg)