Lightning to the Nations by Diamond Head

Lightning to the Nations, the debut album from Stourbridge's Diamond Head, is an early blueprint for the new wave of British heavy metal. With the major labels showing no interest and Iron Maiden and Def Leppard already pulling away, the band went the do-it-yourself route, putting it out on Happy Face Records, a label run by producer Muff Murfin of The Old Smithy studio in Worcester.

The first pressing had a blank white cover, with neither a title nor a track list printed on it, which is how it ended up nicknamed The White Album before being named for its opening track. Inside, Sean Harris wails, Brian Tatler piles riff upon riff, and Colin Kimberley and Duncan Scott drive the whole machine hard. "Am I Evil?" is the monster here, and bands like Metallica and Megadeth have cited Diamond Head as a major early influence. Metal Blade put it on CD in 1992, and Sanctuary restored the white-sleeve version in 2001 with seven bonus tracks.

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