FROM THE CRYPTS - CELEBRATING PAST ALBUM RELEASES in the HISTORY of HARD ROCK & HEAVY METAL…
On November 18, 1988, MANOWAR released their sixth full-length studio album Kings of Metal via Atlantic Records.
(Chicago, 1988: Working with Recording Engineer Rich Breen on Kings of Metal)
The album was the last to feature guitarist and founding member Ross "The Boss" Friedman, who later went on to rejoin punk band The Dictators. Drummer Scott Columbus left the band after this album as well, but rejoined for 1996's Louder Than Hell and remained with the band until 2008.
(Chicago, 1988: Scott Columbus & Joey DeMaio in the studio during the the recording of Kings of Metal.)
(MANOWAR; Joey DeMaio, Scott Columbus, Ross the Boss and Eric Adams in front)
Background:
Manowar’s 1988 album Kings of Metal is the band's best known work. Songs like Heart of Steel, Kings of Metal and Hail and Kill are performed regularly in concert. Kings of Metal is also Manowar's highest-selling album worldwide. The albums cover art was designed by Ken Kelly who had previously designed the cover of the bands previous album Fighting the World (1987), and the following releases; The Triumph of Steel (1992), Louder Than Hell (1996), Gods of War (2007), and The Lord of Steel (2012).
(Pics 1-7; Manowar live on the Kings of Metal Tour, 15.04.1989 at Köln Stadthalle Mülheim, April 15, 1989 / Pics 8-9 Somewhere on the Kings of Metal Tour 1989)
Following the release of Kings of Metal, Manowar embarked on a world tour, for a period of approximately three years, with stops in almost all European nations. During that tour, Joey DeMaio "fired" Ross the Boss. According to a 2008 interview with the guitarist, "Joey felt that Manowar would be better without me". He was replaced by David Shankle, who was chosen by members of the band after a search among about 150 candidates. Scott Columbus later also decided to leave the band during the Kings of Metal tour. Columbus himself picked his replacement Kenny Earl Edwards (who was later nicknamed Rhino).
(Kenny Earl Edwards; aka Rhino & Scott Columbus)
(Kenny Earl Edwards; aka Rhino)
Critical Reception:
In 2017, Loudwire ranked it as the 13th best Power Metal album of all time.
Some critics were overly-critical of Kings of Metal with Vincent Jeffries stating in a review for AllMusic;
“On their anthemic mission statement Kings of Metal Manowar once again proclaim their metal superiority thusly: "Other bands play, Manowar kills." The twin sentiments of the group's metal mastery and the majesty of medieval heroism in battle are doggedly repeated on their sixth full-length release, Kings of Metal. There aren't many surprises on the disc, with the possible exception of bassist Joey DeMaio's blinding 64th-note bass playing on a reworking of Russian classicist Rimsky-Korsakov's Flight of the Bumblebee entitled Sting of the Bumblebee. Considered by some fans to be a classic of its own, the 1988 release might have a few too many ballads for Power Metal enthusiasts brushing up on the genre's history. Even devout Manowar enthusiasts would have to admit that the band's staunch metal formalism isn't for everybody, and the most open-minded of listeners still might struggle with the muscle-bound pretense of slow-motion tracks like Heart of Steel, Crown and the Ring, and Hail and Kill. Speedier tracks like Wheels of Fire demonstrate the groups talents much better, and are conspicuously low in number on this release. Besides their refreshingly totalistic loyalty to form, Manowar's most admirable trait is their prodigious metal musicianship, but with so much slow, balladic material, Kings of Metal makes little use of the band's fundamental musical strengths.”
Side Note:
Artist Ken Kelly is the nephew of famed artist Frank Frazetta's wife Eleanor “Ellie” Frazetta (1935-2009), whose maiden name was Kelly.
(MANOWAR; Joey DeMaio, Scott Columbus, Eric Adams and Ross the Boss in front)
Note: The reviews shared here are for historical reference. The views and opinions expressed within are not always supported (in full or in part) by Into the Wells. — E.N. Wells
Follow Us:
Subscribe to Into the Wells at: https://intothewellsabyss.wixsite.com/intothewells
Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Intothewells.abyss
Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/into_the_wells
You can also follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/into_the_wells?s=21&t=ISh9VpVYRrOy70MsZZVXTQ
Comments