‘A Diamond Is A Hard Rock’, released the same year as their debut (1977), is perhaps Legs Diamond’s best album, containing a great selection of moody intense rock ballads as well as the normal rock anthems.
Written by: gdmonline
ARTIST: Legs Diamond
ALBUM: A Diamond Is A Hard Rock
LABEL: Mercury
SERIAL: SRM-1-1191
YEAR: 1977
CD REISSUE: Discogs Reissue List
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: USA
LINEUP: Rick Sanford – vocals * Roger Romeo – guitars * Michael Diamond – bass * Mike Prince – keyboards, guitars * Jeff Poole – drums
TRACK LISTING: 01 A Diamond Is A Hard Rock * 02 Waiting * 03 Long Shot * 04 Woman * 05 Jailbait * 06 I Think I Got It * 07 Evil * 08 Live A Little * 09 Flying Too High
WEBLINKS: Site Link
Background
Originally from San Francisco and taking their handle from an infamous gangster. Legs Diamond moved shop to Los Angeles, and consequently became the rage on the local club circuit, apparently opening up for Kiss in 1976, before inking a deal, which was to come with Mercury Records.
Their debut was a typical 70’s hard rock album, invoking the best bits of Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple. This review focuses on their second album ‘A Diamond Is A Hard Rock’, released the same year as their debut (1977), perhaps Legs Diamond’s best album, containing a great selection of moody intense rock ballads as well as the normal rock anthems.
The Songs
The production from Eddie Leonetti was a tight affair, giving the Legs Diamond a platform to work from. You can hear this from the outset with the title track ‘A Diamond Is A Hard Rock’, where the chorus is anthemic, while the lead guitar gets some room to spread out on the solo. ‘Waiting’ is a slow crunching effort. ‘Long Shot’ is a great punchy track, punctuated with organ and guitar runs.
The album’s supreme moment is ‘Woman’, a power ballad which still sounds great today. ‘Jailbait’ is another intense rocker with it’s successor ‘I Think I Got It’ quickening the pace to headbangin’ speed. Ouch my forehead! ‘Live A Little’ is another quickfire bullet ending up with ‘Flyin’ Too High’ literally spiralling off the vinyl platter in a blaze of Legs Diamond induced musical madness.
In Summary
Even though they toured with the likes of Ted Nugent, Styx and Kiss, Mercury Records saw fit to drop them not long after. However, the album has since been reissued on CD in 2000 by Zoom Club Records, a U.K. based label, as well as Rock Candy during 2018. Legs Diamond themselves, still continue on, though with differing lineups – their last studio album being 2005’s ‘Diamonds Are Forever’.
Video
Entire Album (Select Tracks)
