Search - Battlezone :: Fighting Back

"Welcome to the battlezone"

mwreview | Northern California, USA | 02/18/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Paul Di'Anno, as most metal fans know, was Iron Maiden's first vocalist who sang on their first two albums: their eponymous debut and the classic Killers. Fighting Back (first released in 1986) was the debut album of Di'Anno's post-Maiden band Paul Di'Anno's Battlezone. Fans of MTV's Headbanger's Ball in the 1980s may remember the video "I Don't Wanna Know" which received fairly decent play. Fighting Back does not offer that track but it is still very solid. It explodes with the hard hitting intro and does not let up! Some of the songs like "Running Blind," "(Forever) Fighting Back," and "Warchild" are very fast, but with crisp, clean guitar. "Running Blind," in fact, could easily be re-worked into a thrash track. My favorite track is "Too Much To Heart." It is very accessible and has that catchy British New Wave Heavy Metal sound. I find myself playing that song over and over. "Feel the Rock" is the only offering here that I do not care for as it is very cliched. "In the Darkness" and the incredible anthem "The Land God Gave to Caine" are standout tracks. They are more complex than the other more straight forward metal numbers. They have slower parts intermixed with the heavier sound. The latter is very similar to some of the material Iron Maiden and Judas Priest were putting out in the 1980s.



For fans of early Maiden, the classic sound of their first two albums does creep up from time to time on Fighting Back, in particular on the track "Welfare Warriors." I agree with the previous reviewer, the music on Fighting Back that is reminiscent of Di'Anno's former band sounds like a cleaner, more polished early Maiden. The one thing Di'Anno has that Bruce Dickinson does not is some soul in his voice that brings more depth to the overall sound. Fans of early Maiden definitely should consider checking out Paul Di'Anno's Battlezone. P.S. Nobbyxxx, if you wrote these tracks, you're awesome and BTW, your web address does not work."

DI'ANNO IN HIS MAIDEN FORM !!!!

mwreview | 09/24/1999

(4 out of 5 stars)

"If you like old Iron Maiden, than you will love Fighting Back. Simple, hard and raw best describe this collection of songs. They have a cleaner, crisper sound than the old Maiden. I would have to recommed song #1 "Welcome to the battlezone" and song#10 "The land God gave to Caine". All Iron Maiden fans should enjoy!"