Storybook

Levelhead
Spooky?
1994 (?)
Vinyl rip

No cover for this one, so that boss flyer will have to stand in. Levelhead was a great pop punk band out of Marietta, Georgia, one of the northside Atl suburbs. My old band Round Ear Spock played with them a few times, and I always loved them. This 7" in particular got worn out on my record player. If I'm not mistaken, we played with them, Total Chaos, and the Voodoo Glow Skulls once, but one of the Voodoo Glow Skulls got super sick and they canceled, so Total Chaos did too, leaving us two local bands to hold down the fort. The Somber Reptile let everyone in for free, and we tore it up. I didn't really like those other bands anyway.

So if you like this record, head over to Beyond Failure and search for their unreleased full-length. Also, bassist Matt Monroe is in a band called Callsign who aren't too far off from Levelhead, though not as poppy. You can hear them here.

Spooky?

Flaming Heart

DiAnno
DiAnno
1984




Gogmagog
I Will Be There
1985


Iron Maiden's first two records are punky, rough-around-the-edges metal with a leather-and-studs biker vein running through them, so you'd expect that, seeing how polished and sophisticated (for lack of a better word) their material became with Bruce Dickinson, Paul DiAnno was bringing that tougher sound to the table. So it would stand to reason that his post-Maiden music would be tough, aggressive, and pretty rocking.

Funny how that worked out.

Here's his first post-Maiden record, a cheese-slathered mix of mid-80s rock and synthesizer power-balladry. If you're a fan of 80s inspirational soundtrack rock (and who isn't?), then you'll dig this. Some of it's pretty crappy, but it's interesting if nothing else.

As a bonus, I'm also throwing in Gogmagog's I Will Be There ep, which also featured DiAnno on vocals, former Maiden drummer Clive Burr, and future Maiden guitarist Jannick Gers. This ep isn't too far off from the DiAnno record, but all three songs are good. It's much catchier and not quite as cheesy. It's a shame this is the only thing they ever released.

DiAnno and I Will Be There