Dave Mustaine He is never one of those who hold back when it comes to talking about moments of his past with metallicaand his last anecdote, in which he remembers how he met the influential band of the NWOBHM (New wave of British heavy metal) Diamondhead along with his former band, is no exception. In a conversation with SiriusXM, the leader of megadeth remembers his first contact with the West Midland rockers, who they were an early influence on Metallica.
“I thought they had a great singer and the guitar riffs were amazing”Explain. “So, back then, when I first heard them, the drummer, Lars -who was evidently on tour with Diamond Head-, he was a fanboyso I got to know them on another level, you know, I met them as equals“.
This is what Dave Mustaine thinks of Diamond Head and their progress as a band
as reported loudersoundmay Let it be a little cold of Mustaine to reduce Ulrich to nothing more than a “fanboy”due to the fact that many others on the scene were watching Diamondhead as a highly esteemed band, along with other celebrated NWOBHM groups such as Iron Maiden and Venom, among others.
Deepening his influence, mustaine keep going: “I had the opportunity to meet face to face with Brian Tatler, Diamond Head guitarist a lovely man with tremendous talent on guitar. And the Diamond Head I know and love was the one from the beginning. there were many songs we played and people think they are original songs from Metallica, when it’s Diamond Head songs.”
Talking about the moment when heard for the first time the metallica version from Diamond’s classic “Head Am I Evil?”the co-founder/guitarist Brian Tatler, told Metal Hammer in an interview: “We were in the studio, and be (Harris, vocals) had gotten hold of a copy of ‘Creeping Death‘ (from Metallica), the 12-inch single, featuring ‘Am I Evil’ on the B-side. We heard it, and thought it was a cover of the Diamond Head classic. We listen to it and think: ‘It’s heavier and tighter’but we didn’t think it was better than our version. Because of course we are proud of our own recording.”
“We had no idea that Metallica was going to become the biggest band in the world. At the time, in 1984, they were in Music For Nations, and we didn’t think they had the potential to take the world by storm. I don’t think any of us had any idea that they were going to take that style of metal and bring it to the masses the way they did.”
Finally he confessed: “I’m grateful they did, because I don’t know what I would do without the copyright to those four songs. (from Diamond Head) who have covered (‘Am I Evil’, ‘Helpless’, ‘The Prince’ and ‘It’s Electric’). Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, so of course we’re flattered to be covered. They could have covered Witchfinder General, right?”
We would like to say thanks to the writer of this write-up for this incredible material
The legendary artist whom Dave Mustaine knew as “equals” and of whom Lars Ulrich was a “fanboy”