Kings of Metal - Manowar

Advantages: Metal at its most bold and uncompromising.
Disadvantages: Some really, really bad decisions.

...1. Wheels of Fire 2. Kings of Metal 3. Heart of Steel 4. Sting of the Bumblebee 5. The Crown and the Ring (Lament of the Kings) 6. Kingdom Come 7. Pleasure Slave 8. Hail and Kill 9. The Warrior's Prayer 10. Blood of the Kings It's a fairly straightforward task to divide the album into the tracks that are more traditionally 'metal' and those that aren't, with the first, second, sixth, seventh, eighth and tenth being the former, and the others ...
...'Heart of Steel' is led by piano, and gives Eric Adams a chance to show off his vocal cords in a more refined setting, before crushing drums return to a more familiar heavy territory. 'The Crown and the Ring' does something similar, only with a male choir replacing the need for heaviness and Adams reaching the high notes in a very minimal soundscape, with some more rousing lyrics as his character rides between battles. 'Sting of the Bumblebee' is ... Read review

Advantages: Good solid music
Disadvantages: None

...what is to come. Probably their best album, Kings of Metal continues with the title track and then onto the ballad Heart of Steel. Other memorable moments are The Warrior Prayer, a strange narrative and Blood of the Kings. This is another important album in the chronicles of Metal. ... Read review

Advantages: Power metal at it's best
Disadvantages: They are extremely self centered

...to this). The next tracks, kings of metal, is one of my faves. Great sound with self centered lyrics. A shame the choir sometimes sounds fake. Heart of steel is kind of a balad. Very sentimental and may touch those who feel "linked" to the lyric. I'll jump Sting Of The Bumblebee, The Crown And The Ring (Lament Of The Kings), Kingdom Come, because I find them the weaker in the album and I really don't listen to them very much (sting of the bumblebee ...
...his grandson. Blood of the Kings is an amazing battle hymn of epic proportions that will lift your spririt like nothing ever before (all manowar songs have that efect, though) Great album for manowar fans, power metal fans. Even non metal fans will probably find this apealing. Tracklist: 1-Wheels Of Fire 2-Kings Of Metal 3-Heart Of Steel 4-Sting Of The Bumblebee 5-The Crown And The Ring (Lament Of The Kings) 6-Kingdom Come 7-Pleasure Slave ... Read review

Advantages: A couple of great Manowar epics to add to the list.
Disadvantages: Largely disappointing and feeble, with weak production.

...truly be feeble, and no amount of studio trickery and fake song suites can elevate it to the classic status of their earlier releases (tracks six to nine are all different songs, and no amount of cross-fading is going to convince people otherwise). The performances from DeMaio and Adams are superb on occasion, compared to the fairly average contributions from Ross "The Boss" and Columbus, but this album feels like a severe mis-step even after the slightly directionless 'Sign of the Hammer.' The following year's definitive 'Kings of Metal' would solidify Manowar's ambitions and objectives forever after, making them appear even stupider in some ways but also much more focused and determined to spread their message, making 'Fighting the World' an insignificant and hopefully forgettable stepping stone between the Manowar of the early eighties... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: A five octave voice, The precursor to power metal bands now
Disadvantages: May induce you to wearing fur, a horned helm and screaming Odin

...Manowar: The self proclaimed kings of metal. Do they have a right to give themselves this title? Yes they do. Manowar have a huge fan base and a plethora of successful albums behind them. I have been a fan of Manowar since they started, and when I go to rock venues wearing my Manowar t-shirts, many people chirp up things like "Dude manowar rocks" Whilst being labelled an Heavy Metal band, they are actually power metal. Manowar Anthology is actually a best of album and comprises tracks from some of Manowars earlier albums. The album cover leaves no illusion to what is at the heart of Manowars music. Predominantly Manowar sing about battle, the power of steel, vikings, warriors etc. Although some of there other tracks such as Kingdom come is more profund, and is aimed at people overcoming adversity and conquering their own personal... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: 8 Finger herman
Disadvantages: Simalar sounding tracks

...I will start off with the tracklist for this CD and the song length: "Through the Fire and Flames" - 7:23 "Revolution Deathsquad" - 7:52 "Storming the Burning Fields" - 5:19 "Operation Ground and Pound" - 7:44 "Body Breakdown" - 6:58 "Cry for Eternity" - 8:12 "The Flame of Youth" - 6:41 "Trail of Broken Hearts" - 5:55 "Lost Souls in Endless Time" - 6:22 (Japanese release bonus track) Well the CD is great, as good as i expected from Dragon Force, it is full of their usual insane double kick and fantastic drumming, great solos, sweep picking and impressive guitar tricks and great power metal vocals. Dragon force are the kings of power metal, they stick true to power metal and this album is for the followers of bands such as Hammerfall and Manowar. Musically the band are brilliant however many of the songs sound... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average somewhat helpful