This was not only my first
Running Wild album; I still hold this to be the bands greatest achievement and also one of the best Power Metal albums of all time.
Nearly 69 minutes of music featuring astonishing performances by each band member, a perfect, powerful and transparent sound and 13 songs of immense quality.
On the fast front we get smashed to the ground with the hymn-like
The Rivalry, the genius guitar rocket
Firebreather and the ultra tight and monster speedy
Adventure Galley.
These songs contain tons of power, energy and a driving force that takes no prisoners.
On the grooving mid-tempo song-category tracks like
Kiss Of Death, that has a cool rocking style, and the hard pounding
Resurrection again sets a really impressive standard.
Fire And Thunder has a perfect and ingenious mixture of both rhythm and lead guitar hooks, making up a special and comprehensive whole.
What really make this album so special are the fantastic epic long-runners. The first one being
Return Of The Dragon featuring a monster riff, a cool melodic chorus and slow lead/solo guitar lines that are no less than divine.
Ballad Of William Kidd is clearly one of the albums best songs, spectacular in structure and spellbinding in atmosphere.
War And Peace is a very dramatic track shrouded in a thick dark atmosphere, glowing dimly with a very melancholic light and again Power Metal that is so much more than "riff-chorus-riff-chorus".
The only songs that I feel is below the overall fantastic standard are
The Poison and
Man On The Moon, both great hard rockers with cool details that just need a more spectacular path to become really fantastic.
The lyrical side of the record also reflects a classic
Running Wild release; renegades, pirates, wars and the fight between good and evil are central starting points, all in all pretty cool stuff, nicely spiced with some historical settings.
Let me go a bit into each band member's contribution:
Rolf Kasparek (a.k.a. Rock 'N' Rolf) has always been the main personality and songwriter in the band and only original member for many years, even when The Rivalry came out. His vocal performance on this disc is one of his best; his raw voice has been giving a more melodic touch as the chorus of
Resurrection or verse part in
The Rivalry clearly shows. Still the vocals are not over the top brilliant, more variation would have advanced some songs even further.
When dealing with the rhythm guitar work the result is impressive, the speed and drive found in the rhythm section is very convincing,
The Rivalry being a perfect example. The tightness of the slower riffs is also an important point; this diversity coming from the rhythm guitar gives the album a nice varied flow.
Thilo Hermann's lead guitar work is outstanding throughout the entire record; even though there is no information about who plays which leads I suppose that he more or less handles all solos. The special
Running Wild lead melody that is the centre in many songs is played with great precision and a flair for a certain catchy vibe.
Some favourite solos are found in
Kiss Of Death, being highly memorable, the fast approach in
Agents Of Black is also fantastic and the over the top brilliant speedy solo in his own creation
Adventure Galley is one of the best
(being the only piece of music not written by Rolf).
If you ask me, this is one of the best records ever made when the focus is on the lead guitar work, both in writing and execution.
Thomas Smuszynski bass work can be described as ground solid and very supportive towards the drums. Luckily there are plenty of passages where the bass breaks out from the main rhythm so to speak. The creative passages in
Kiss Of Death sounds awesome and in
War And Peace we get treated with an immensely tight and grooving approach.
Jörg Michael's drums sound like a power plant running on overload, it's inspiring, intense and highly technical. Speed is one factor but when combined with the details that are served in plenty, it suddenly gets very interesting.
Just listen to songs like
Return Of The Dragon and
War And Peace filled with tightness and imaginativeness. One of the best drum efforts I can think of.
This is already a Power Metal classic in my book; with melodic measures it vigorously leaves a profound and strong impression.
Favourite songs:
The Rivalry,
Firebreather, Return Of The Dragon,
Resurrection, Ballad Of William Kidd,
Adventure Galley and
War And Peace.
Written by
Tommy Friday, March 5, 2004
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