Diamond Head (band) - Influence On Metallica

Influence On Metallica

Diamond Head are probably most famous among heavy metal fans for their influence on Metallica. Metallica openly acknowledge them as an important early influence and have covered Diamond Head songs at gigs such as "Sucking My Love", "Am I Evil" and "The Prince" . The earliest known recordings of these songs are a rehearsal demo recorded at then-bassist Ron McGovney's house in March 1982. The Metal Up Your Ass live demo, recorded in November of that year, featured a live rendition of "Am I Evil." "The Prince" was also played, but the tape ran out too soon to catch it. The song would see another demo release as part of the Horsemen Of The Apocalypse demo in 1983. "Sucking My Love" exists on various bootlegs that have been circulating since 1982 along with a recording on the early demo No Life Til Leather.

The first official release of "Am I Evil" came in 1984 as part of the Creeping Death EP, paired with another NWOBHM classic "Blitzkrieg", by the band of the same name. The two songs were also included in the first pressing of the Kill 'Em All LP when it was re-released by Elektra Records.

"Helpless" would see a release with Garage Days Re-Revisited in 1987 and "The Prince" was included as a B-side to the "One" single.

The official recordings of "Helpless", "Am I Evil", and "The Prince" would also be featured on Metallica's 2-CD Garage Inc. compilation, a collection of numerous cover songs that the band had played over the years. The first CD in the set was newly recorded covers, one of which was Diamond Head's "It's Electric."

Metallica performed "Am I Evil" along with the other bands in the Big 4 (Megadeth, Anthrax and Slayer) at the 2011 Sonisphere festival, and with Diamond Head themselves at the Sonisphere festival in Knebworth on 8 July 2011. Lars Ulrich said that there was "a pretty good chance that none of us would be here" without Brian Tatler before playing the song. Brian performed "Helpless" with Metallica and Anthrax at the Sonisphere festival in Amnéville on 9 July 2011.

On 5 December 2011 Brian Tatler and Sean Harris joined Metallica onstage at the legendary Filmour in San Francisco to celebrate Metallica's 30th Anniversary. Together they played "The Prince", "It's Electric", "Helpless" and "Am I Evil?". Brian and Sean also took part in the encore of Seek and Destroy.

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