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Paul Di’Anno’s name will probably always be inextricably linked to that of Iron Maiden, the world conquering metal band he fronted from 1978-1981, recording their first two ground-breaking albums, ‘Iron Maiden’ in 1980 and ‘Killers’ in 1981. After Bruce Dickinson joined at the end of 81, with Iron Maiden going onto worldwide success, Di’Anno fronted a series of bands in the early 1980s, including Lonewolf, Di’Anno and the NWOBHM super-group, Gogmagog, before forming Battlezone in 1985.
Battlezone came about when Di’Anno joined forces with Tokyo Blade’s John Wiggins plus John Hurley from Deep Machine, both on lead guitar, with the line-up completed by Peter West on bass and Bob Falck on drums. Signing to Powerstation Records, they released ‘Fighting Back’ in 1986, produced with Ian Richardson.
By the time Battlezone came to record 1987’s ‘Children Of Madness’, for Raw Power, Hurley and Falck had been replaced by guitarist Graham Bath and drummer Steve Hopgood, both from Persian Risk. Making plenty of headway in the States due to some heavy touring, they even made it onto MTV with the track ‘I Don’t Wanna Know’. Unfortunately, the band were unable to capitalize on their hard work and split up shortly after.
Joining forces with Battlezone’s Graham Bath and Steve Hopgood, Paul Di’Anno’s new band, Killers, was completed by Cliff Evans on bass and Gavin Cooper on guitar, that line up is featured on CD3 recorded live at Los Angeles’ Whisky A Go Go in 2000. A real treat for Iron Maiden fans, the band revisits and embraces the songs that originally made their singer famous, with versions of ‘Wrathchild’, ‘Remember Tomorrow’, ‘Phantom Of The Opera’ and ‘Sanctuary’, alongside originals such as ‘Impaler’ and ‘Protector’, as well as T Rex’s ‘Children Of The Revolution’.
‘Rising Star’, a track which originally appeared on the ‘Warchild’ compilation is included as a ‘Fighting Back’ bonus track on CD1, and ‘To The Limit’ originally only a Japanese exclusive, plus ‘Drawn Under’ from the 1989 ‘Elementals: UK HM’ compilation, are added as bonus tracks to ‘Children Of Madness’ on CD2. This 3CD set is completed with an essay from rock and NWOBHM expert, John Tucker.
Tracklist
DISC ONE:
Fighting Back (1986)
1 (Forever) Fighting Back
2 Welcome To The Battlezone
3 Warchild
4 In The Darkness
5 The Land God Gave To Caine
6 Running Blind
7 Too Much Heart
8 Voice On The Radio
9 Welfare Warriors
10 Feel The Rock Bonus track
11 Rising Star (from Warchild)
DISC TWO:
Children Of Madness (1987)
1 Rip It Up
2 I Don’t Wanna Know
3 Nuclear Breakdown
4 Torch Of Hate
5 Whispered Rage
6 Children Of Madness
7 Metal Tears
8 It’s Love
9 Overloaded
10 The Promise
Bonus tracks
11 To The Limit (Japanese Exclusive Track)
12 Drawn Under (from Elementals)
DISC THREE:
Killers: Live At The Whisky (2000)
1 Impaler
2 Wrathchild
3 A Song For You
4 Marshall Lokjaw
5 Children Of The Revolution
6 Three Words
7 Protector
8 Die By The Gun
9 Remember Tomorrow
10 Phantom Of The Opera
11 Sanctuary