Inside information, a marketing ploy, or just a good old coincidence, but some may say Paul Di’Anno releasing an album titled The Book Of The Beast the same day his former employers, Iron Maiden, put tickets on sale for a massive world tour is bordering on career suicide.
Paul Di’Anno – The Book Of The Beast (Conquest Music)
Release Date: Out Today
Words: Brian Boyle
But that’s not to say The Book Of The Beast will sink into oblivion. Paul Di’Anno still commands a massive hardcore following to the point of near worship. So much so he could release an album of Val Doonican covers, and it still would not tarnish his legacy.
The Book Of The Beast is a bruising collection of Di’Anno’s work since being given the Spanish Archer by the then up-and-coming British Metal legends. Although it appears as something that has been flung together and cheaply uses a play on Iron Maiden’s songs for its title, there is an intriguing carrot dangled with a reworking of old classic Wrathchild and the deeper cut of Remember Tomorrow.
Obviously putting the young and old versions in the ring together is not a fair fight, but if you can somehow block out the comparisons, these freshly imagined tunes fly remarkably well.
However, Di’Anno doesn’t go it alone; Crowley lead singer Lidya Balaban, former Skid Row and Dragonforce frontman ZP Theart, and underrated Black Sabbath man Tony Martin lend their services for duets you probably were not expecting.
Wrathchild with Theart (CD only) should not work, but it does. On paper it may look like sacrilege to the Maiden faithful, but the South African and the East Londoner stay in their jurisdiction and deliver something far beyond what the majority are probably anticipating.
But the version with Balaban (vinyl only) blows it clean out of the water. It’s a genuine duet with the blending of young and old Metal voices exuding genuine chemistry. She also unanimously wins the battle against Martin on Remember Tomorrow (vinyl only), leaving her mark all over it with an ending that will blow your doors clean off.
The rest of the album is a thunderous reminder of what happened after the 18 songs he released with Iron Maiden. His often-overlooked stint with Battlezone is represented well, with the likes of The Forgotten Ones, Feel My Pain and Children Of Madness still sounding gloriously relevant.
His solo endeavours with The Beast Arises, Mad Man In The Attic, and The Living Dead prove that there was life after the pen of Steve Harris. The Almighty Inbredz is a period in his career that might only jog the memory of the die-hards, especially with only one album, which was self-titled and amusingly with a picture of the Royal family on the cover.
But most know of his passion for punk music, and you get a bite size taste of his revelry with a rowdy and unreleased version of The Serpent And The Shrew.
For those whose last port of call with Paul Di’Anno was the last track on side two of Iron Maiden’s Killers, this is a worthwhile introduction to a varied, controversial and explosively entertaining career since.
