Paul Di’Anno’s Warhorse – Paul Di’Anno’s Warhorse

Paul Di’Anno’s Warhorse
Paul Di’Anno’s Warhorse
Label: BraveWords Records
Out: July 19^th, 2024
Playing time: 36:27

From 1978 to 1981 he was the singer of Iron Maiden – Paul Di’Anno. The self-titled debut album and “Killers” were produced during this time. He was and is also active in many other bands. For example, for many years with the British Metal band Killers. In 2021, he founded his own band Warhose, which also specialises in Heavy Metal. After two singles and one EP, the debut album “Paul Di’Anno’s Warhorse” is now complete. The trio was able to win over a large number of well-known musicians for the recordings for this album.

As you might expect, the title track “Warhorse” starts with the pattering of horses and a guitar that literally screams. But this is only a short gimmick. Later, riffs and guitar hooks kick in. Underlaid by whinnying. Paul Di’Anno’s vocals sound a little raspy. The simple chorus is certainly easy to shout along to when they play it live. “Get Get Ready” rocks lively along. The vocals are accompanied by riffs. The same can be said of “Go”. Neither song is a real downer, but they do fall somewhat behind the opener. “Stop The War” is of a different calibre. Here the riffs bang, the drums drive and the raspy vocals are very melodic. Towards the end you can hear the singer from his calmer side. It definitely has hit potential. “The Doubt Within” is characterised by stomping and screaming guitars. There is a bit of a Saxon feeling. Especially thanks to the quiet passages. The synths at the beginning of “Here Comes The Night” could have been done without. But soon the listener is once again blasted with riffs. An absolute highlight without the beginning. Does anyone know The Champs? Neither have I so far. A US ” Rock band” from the 50s, with acoustic guitars, contrabass and saxophone. They wrote a song called “Tequila”, which is covered by Warhorse. Fortunately, a modern Rock/Metal instrumentation is used here. This brings this evergreen into the here and now. “Forever Bound” is a beautiful ballad at the beginning. Suddenly the vocals are no longer raspy. Mr Di’Anno – that’s possible! The tempo picks up later. The vocals remain clear here too. I would be interested to know where the inspiration for the covers came from. “Precious” was originally by Depeche Mode. But instead of the Electro-Pop piece of fluff, Warhorse rock a little more. Although the vocals are a little reminiscent of Dave Gahan. As if in compensation, the catchy rock song “Going Home” closes the album. And here the grating voice is back.

Well, what can I say. The two covers are not failures. But despite everything, they are dispensable. The original compositions are quite good. However, I’m not really happy with the artwork. All in all, it’s a rather mixed debut from the former Maiden singer, which can’t really match the great works of Iron Maiden’s first two albums. There is certainly still a lot of room for improvement.

Paul Di’Anno’s Warhorse – Here Comes The Night: https://youtu.be/vOUuZpZfQME?si=INyZudiXAIBUDdY7

Lineup:

Paul Di´Anno – Vocals
Hrvoje Madiraca – Guitars
Ante Pupačić Pupi – Guitars

Guest Musicians:

Becky Baldwin – Bass on songs: 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 9
Petar Šantić – Drums on songs: 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 10), Bass on song 10
Joe Lazarus – Drums on song 1
Andro Banovac – Backing Vocals on songs: 6, 7, 8, 9, 10
Danijel Stojan – Drums on song 5
Nikolina Belan – Backing Vocals on song 9

Track list:

• Warhorse
• Get Get Ready
• Go
• Stop The War
• The Doubt Within
• Here Comes The Night
• Tequila
• Forever Bound
• Precious
• Going Home