New beginnings are not common among established rock 'n' roll bands. Most tend to stick with the personnel and approach that made them popular. But The Outfield is a different story. After three albums and international commercial success, this London-based rock combo decided it was time for a shake-up. They streamlined down to a tight duo line-up, featuring guitarist/songwriter John Spinks and vocalist Tony Lewis. They changed record companies. And they created a vibrant collection of new songs in the studio without the use of an outside producer.

The results can be heard on "Diamond Days", The Outfield's debut album on MCA Records. A palatable freshness and surge of life pulses throughout the tracks, which range from sparkling, rhythmic rockers ("Take It All" and "Unrespectable") to majestic, melodic epics ("For You" and "After The Storm"). According to Spinks, the album "is us rediscovering what we set out to do seven years ago," which was to create honest, engaging records that galvanized The Outfield's environmental roots with their musical visions.

"When you think back to the bands that have really meant something, like the Beatles," says Spinks, "they all lived in the same environment, and they reacted to whatever they were seeing in the same way. This feeling carried over into the recording studio, where a bond was created that couldn't be achieved any other way. Tony and I both came from the same street in East London, liked the same music, so it's not surprising that we get turned on by the same things in the studio."

Former Outfield drummer Alan Jackman, according to Lewis, "was from a different area [of London]...not far, but the mentality he had was totally different. Alan had a far more methodical way of going about proceedings. And as computer technology improved, he wasn't in the same mood about it that we were. John and I wanted to move on with the times. Alan, however, wasn't interested."

The decision to produce "Diamond Days" on their own was made, according to Spinks, "because we didn't want somebody from the outside coming in with their idea of what the Outfield should sound like. Too many times the producer becomes like a school teacher, telling you what take is best and which guitar part is right, to the point where you can end up performing for the producer rather than yourselves. We found it to be a much better situation to just debate between the two of us about what we liked or didn't like. In the past we've always had somebody putting their two pennies in. I would much rather have our version of a song than somebody else's."

It also helped that the Outfield were recording for a receptive label. While the band enjoyed great success with their 1985 Columbia Records debut, "Play Deep", which went double platinum (over two million in sales), and yielded four hit singles, their follow-up "Bangin'" (released in 1987), "merely summed up a period where we were like moving targets," says Lewis. Their '89 album, "Voices of Babylon", "was probably the best of our first three," says Spinks, "but when we realized that perhaps we weren't the style of band they wanted to work with, we split [with Columbia Records] amicably."

The Outfield signed with MCA Records in March of 1990, because, says Spinks, "[MCA Music Entertainment Group Chairman] Al Teller had believed in us from our days together at CBS. Also, [Outfield manager] Kip [Krones] had been friends with [MCA Records Marketing Vice President] Geoff Bywater for years, and Geoff was one of the first people we'd ever played a demo for. On top of all this [MCA Records Executive Vice President, A&R] Paul Atkinson was English, and once we met him, we knew he was somebody we could connect with. So it's like all of these key players got together in the same building at the same time."

The key players in the Outfield are now undeniably Spinks and Lewis. "In the past," says Spinks, "we were always told to promote this band image. Now we should just be perceived as two honest, sincere musicians. And we're each individuals. Before, there was always this thing that if you were in a band you had to have that sort of uniform image and size. So no photos were ever released of us where you could tell that I'm six foot four and Tony's five seven. That was such nonsense." Lewis concurs, "We're not going to live out this great big facade. People should see as we are, so there's no confusion."

Spinks and Lewis "genuinely get off on being friends," are proud of their heritage, and thankful for their success as musicians -- "We don't stop pinching ourselves and never take what we've done in music for granted."

With a name like the Outfield (which evolved from the Baseball Boys), and albums with titles such as "Play Deep" and "Diamond Days", it would be easy to assume that Spinks and Lewis have a certain fascination with the Great American Pastime. "None at all," insists Lewis. "The name of Baseball Boys was taken from the film, "The Warriors." Kip [Krones] liked the Outfield better. In the case of "Diamond Days", in East London a diamond is a term of affection, something you'd call someone special."

Spinks adds, "Diamond days are the best days of your life." If this is true, then the Outfield are in the midst of their diamond days right now.