Paul Di’Anno - The Book of The Beast
(Conquest Music – 2024)
(Style: Heavy Metal)
Having been a massive Iron Maiden fan since my teens, it is surprising that I’ve never got around to diving into Paul Di’Anno’s solo catalogue. So this 2 disc CD/DVD collection of reworked/revisited songs I am reviewing is probably as good an introduction as one could get.
This collection of songs are very much straight ahead heavy metal. Di’Anno’s voice at times reminds me of the Savatage vocalist Jon Oliva. 'The Beast Arises', 'Children Of Madness' and the cover of 'Children Of The Revolution', the most notable tracks to highlight this. The latter could easily be a Savatage cover of the T. Rex hit.
Interestingly, 'Die By The Gun', 'Feel My Pain' and 'Chemical Imbalance' have a very Pantera like sound to them. Di’ Anno seems to be unleashing his best Phil Anselmo impersonation. Also the groove-tinged thrash riffs have a Dimebag Darrell swagger to them. 'The Forgotten Ones' offers a song where musically it is close to Metallica’s 'Welcome Home (Sanitarium)' and Blaze Bayley era Maiden.
Speaking of Iron Maiden, the reworked version of 'Remember Tomorrow' sounds like how I could imagine it if it were a Ronnie James Dio song. This is obviously aided by Tony Martin’s guest vocal appearance. 'Wrathchild' doesn’t feel different enough to be as interesting despite ZP Theart of Dragonforce’s guest vocal. Black Metal has an early 80’s speed/thrash metal feel and 'Three Words' offers a Zack Wylde like guitar riff to it.
All these nods towards other bands and styles hopefully help highlight where Di’Anno’s musical niche sits in the world of metal for newer listeners like me. If like me you haven’t delved into Di’Anno’s solo work before, this is a good collection of material to give you a good overview of what he done throughout his career.
By Carl Mace
My Tribute To Paul Di’Anno:
Not long ago I wrote this album review for the new Di’Anno release 'The Book of The Beast'. A compilation of tracks that document his career from his time with Iron Maiden and into his varied solo projects thereafter.
It comes as a sad shock to learn of his sudden passing so soon after completing this. Di’Anno had been ill for years and has battle many personal demons throughout the decades. I hadn’t ever given much time to his post-Maiden career until the recent review I had done. But being a huge Iron Maiden fan, respect his work to help begin paving the way for them becoming one of the biggest metal bands in the world.
His punk attitude edge gave those early Maiden records a raw grittiness of the early 80’s rock/metal scene. Helping to create and bring to life great tracks like 'Prowler', 'Sanctuary', 'Running Free', 'Remember Tomorrow', 'Phantom of the Opera' and of course 'Iron Maiden' itself from the debut record. 'Wrathchild', 'Murders in the Rue Morgue', 'Another Life', 'Killers' and 'Drifter' followed on sophomore release, 'Killers'. Many of these songs have featured over the subsequent years on various tours the band has embarked on.
I myself have been fortunate to hear the band perform these iconic songs in person. His legacy of being the original voice of Iron Maiden will live on forever and the gift of these songs and albums will be Remembered Tomorrow and beyond.
RIP to a NWOBHM legend!
By Carl Mace