We are pleased to announce that Brian's Autobiography; 'Am I Evil?' is now available in an exclusive FIRST EDITION print run of 500 copies. This book is now available for Diamond Head fans worldwide through this website.
At just £16.95 it is fast becoming a collector's item. It is not available anywhere else. It contains many unseen photos and has forewords by both Lars Ulrich and Dave Mustaine.
"Diamond Head were 50% of what ended up being Metallica…" - Lars Ulrich, Metallica
It all started in a bedroom with a biscuit tin drum kit and a cheap fuzzy guitar, and went on to create some of the most exciting music ever written and inspire the biggest heavy metal band on the planet.
Forever tipped as the next big thing, Diamond Head have opened for Iron Maiden, AC/DC and Metallica, and toured with Black Sabbath, Megadeth and Thin Lizzy. Yet they were beset by management difficulties, poor decisions, bad deals, nightmare producers, band splits, ego problems… And when they finally signed to a major label it was the wrong one. But amongst all that, their legacy is enormous and their music timeless, with their classic signature tune 'Am I Evil?' appearing on Metallica's 2009 'Guitar Hero' game.
"Diamond Head were a really important band… The most important band of the whole New Wave Of British Heavy Metal movement… More important than Iron Maiden, Saxon, Def Leppard or whoever. Musically they were just streets ahead…" - Geoff Barton, Classic Rock magazine
Brian Tatler founded Diamond Head in 1976. In 'Am I Evil?' he reveals frankly what it's like to be chasing the dream of wanting to be a rock 'n' roll star, what it's like when you attain it, and how it feels to see it unravel before your eyes - a story all too familiar to musicians of all genres.
John Tucker was hooked by Diamond Head's first single 'Shoot Out The Lights' in 1980. He is the co-author of Biff Byford's autobiography 'Never Surrender (Or Nearly Good Looking)' and the author of 'Suzie Smiled… The New Wave Of British Heavy Metal'.
"The classic lost heroes of a golden age of rock…" Paul Elliott, Kerrang!
The book is available now, and can be purchased online from this website.
We are currently unable to offer to send the book with any other merchandise.
If you would like the book to be signed by Brian please state what you would like inscribed in the 'other information' box at the paypal checkout.
UK sales £16.95 + £3.00 p&p
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Europe £16.95 + £5.00 p&p
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Rest of the world sales £16.95 + £7.00 p&p
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Finally there’s Am I Evil?, guitarist Brian Tatler’s telling of the Diamond Head story. No, it’s not an album. But it’s just been published, and is worth reading. In his book Tatler recalls the story in a surprisingly honest fashion, and if the writing style hardly suggests he’s the next J.K. Rowling nonetheless it really does give a fascinating glimpse into the life, times, triumphs and failures of the band many of us believe should have been a world power. Get it from www.diamond-head.net.
– Malcolm Dome
The only positive, apart from spending some father and son time with my lad Eddie, was reading Brian Tatler's autobiography, Am I Evil?, on the journey. The Diamond Head guitarist has approached his band's tale with an unflinching honesty that's refreshingly free of bitterness and quite often extremely amusing. Lars Ulrich and Dave Mustaine's forewords are touching, and the book goes into fairly revealing detail about the fledgling Ulrich's fact-finding mission at the Woolwich Odeon in 1981, even printing a hand-written 'Thanks for letting me stay at your gaff' note from Lars.
As someone who's career is, I guess, interwoven with that of DH my first ever published review was of a February 1982 gig at the Saxon Tavern in London that appeared in Kerrang! #12, and I had many dealings with Tatler and vocalist Sean Harris (indeed Brian actually refers to me in the text as the seemingly ever-present Dave Ling) I found the book difficult to put down.
Of the band's failure to gatecrash the big-time, despite such awesome early potential, the blame is jointly attributable to poor management courtesy of Harris' mum, Linda, and a local cardboard box impresario called Reg Fellows, bad luck and the equally calamitous decision to sign to an ill-suited label, MCA Records. The mess is best described by Robbie France, drummer on the 'Canterbury' album, who observes: [The breakthrough] was never going to happen. Sean was tied to his mother's apron strings and Linda couldn't have managed a piss-up in a brewery. You're only as good as your weakest link, and the management was ours.
Am I Evil? is available from: www.diamond-head.net
- Dave Lings' Diary
Am I Evil? Book Review by Adem Tepedelen
For Metal nerds-especially Diamond Head fans-there's plenty to dig into. Tatler starts from the beginning, when he founded the band with drummer Duncan Scott in 1976 and ploughs forward until 2008, detailing all the drama along the way. Reading it today, it's shockingly clear why the band never achieved the success or fame they probably deserved-terrible management, teenage naivety, some poor decision making-but one can't fault Tatlers' refusal to throw in the towel (as some of his band mates' did).
Granted both Tatler and vocalist Sean Harris (whose mum co-managed the band and is not exactly portrayed favourably here) were kept afloat by what must have been generous royalties from Metallica covering four of their songs that appeared on multiple releases, but it's Tatler who ultimately emerges with Diamond Head as a going concern some 30 years after they formed. Where is Sean Harris today? Metallica will always be mentioned as Diamond Head benefactors, but what this book reminds us is that the band only came to young Lars Ulrich's attention because: a) they were already getting so much acclaim in the nascence of the NWOBHM, and b) because that first album, 'Lightning to the Nations', was an amazing record that today stands up to anything from that era.
Adem Tepedelen Decibel Magazine, January 2010.
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