┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │■ ■│ │ .-/ .-. │ │ _.-~ / ___ | ~-._ │ │ \:/ -~| / __/| .\:/ │ │ / || (:/:| \ │ │ / /\/| |:\___\| |\ \ │ │ / /:::|.::/:::/:.|:\ \ │ │ / /:::/ \\/:::/::/:::\ \ │ │ / .::\ \-~~~~-/\/:.. \ │ │ /..:::::\ /:::::..\ │ │ /::::::::- -::::::::\ │ │ \:::::-~ ~-:::::/ │ │ \:-~ ~-:/ │ │ METAL CLASSICS ARCHIVE │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ P R E S E N T S │ │ │ │ │ │ + Manowar - Kings Of Metal MMXIV + │ │ │ │ │ │╔═════════════════════╗ │ │║ Release Information ║ │ │╠═════════════════════╩══════════════════════════════════════════╗ │ │║ ║ │ │║ Release Date.Apr-06-2014 Encoder......L3.97 -V2 --vbr-new ║ │ │║ Genre........Heavy Metal Graber.......EAC ║ │ │║ Year.........2014 Khz/Bitrate..44,1/ Br ║ │ │║ ║ │ │║ Ripper.......anthem Songs........cd1: 11 cd2: 7 ║ │ │║ Covers.......Yes Url... www.manowar.com ║ │ │║ ║ │ │╚════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │╔═════════════════════╗ │ │║ Release Notes ║ │ │╠═════════════════════╩══════════════════════════════════════════╗ │ │║ ║ │ │║ Artist : Manowar Rating : You Decide! ║ │ │║ Album : Kings Of Metal MMXIV Label : Magic Circle ║ │ │║ ║ │ │║ ║ │ │╠════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╣ │ │║ ║ │ │║ Description : ║ │ │║ ║ │ │║ I'll level with you guys. I wrote a review for ║ │ │║ Kings Of Metal MMXIV back in November 2013, ║ │ │║ based purely on the Battle Hymns MMXI ║ │ │║ abomination and the seconds-long clip of the ║ │ │║ "Kingdom Come" vocal track. I knew exactly what ║ │ │║ this would sound like; I was only waiting for ║ │ │║ the album's release to confirm my suspicions. ║ │ │║ Well, you know what? It's WORSE. ║ │ │║ ║ │ │║ I can't believe this. Manowar actually failed to ║ │ │║ meet my pessimistic expectations. I had to ║ │ │║ rewrite my review. If you thought that Battle ║ │ │║ Hymns MMXI was grossly unnecessary and ║ │ │║ disgraceful, just wait until you get your hands ║ │ │║ on this glorious garbage. I have said some ║ │ │║ unkind things about Manowar in the past, and of ║ │ │║ my four previous reviews I can't say that any of ║ │ │║ them was particularly positive. Despite this ║ │ │║ evidence to the contrary, Manowar is one of my ║ │ │║ favorite bands. The original Kings Of Metal is ║ │ │║ one of the oldest metal albums in my collection. ║ │ │║ But they do this to us, time and time again - ║ │ │║ honestly, what in the fast-taking, world- ║ │ │║ fighting, warriors-of-the-world-uniting hell is ║ │ │║ this supposed to prove? ║ │ │║ ║ │ │║ Eric Adams, without a doubt, sings unbelievably ║ │ │║ well for a 61-year-old, and I respect his voice ║ │ │║ an awful lot. But no one - not Dio, not Lemmy, ║ │ │║ not Rob Halford - sings as well at 61 as they ║ │ │║ did at 36. He can still pack a punch, but ║ │ │║ placing his current self in direct comparison ║ │ │║ with his younger self does nothing but highlight ║ │ │║ the deleterious effects of the years. Meanwhile, ║ │ │║ the absence of Ross the Boss and the late, great ║ │ │║ Scott Columbus are all too conspicuous. This ║ │ │║ album is a mere imitation of Manowar; nothing ║ │ │║ more. ║ │ │║ ║ │ │║ I'm in shock. I never thought that the original ║ │ │║ "Sting Of The Bumblebee" would sound good, or ║ │ │║ even listenable, compared to something elseà I ║ │ │║ also never thought that I would call "The ║ │ │║ Warrior's Prayer" the highlight of anything. ║ │ │║ Never mind that between Orson Welles, Sir ║ │ │║ Christopher Lee, and now Brian Blessed, Manowar ║ │ │║ have impeccable taste in narrators (I expect Jim ║ │ │║ Dale for the inevitable Triumph Of Steel ║ │ │║ MMXVII). Forget about that, because I'm ║ │ │║ wondering why the acoustic guitars sound just as ║ │ │║ flaky, wavering, and poorly-produced as they did ║ │ │║ on Manowar's 1981 demo, and what these horrific ║ │ │║ things in place of Ross's solos are supposed to ║ │ │║ be. In fact, the production is pretty terrible ║ │ │║ all-around, even for a Manowar album; perhaps ║ │ │║ not as bad as The Lord Of Steel, but bad enough. ║ │ │║ ║ │ │║ In its best (though still mediocre) moments, ║ │ │║ such as the surprisingly passable "Hail And ║ │ │║ Kill," Kings Of Metal MMXIV is merely a duller ║ │ │║ and superfluous carbon copy of the original ║ │ │║ album. Most of the time, however, it manages to ║ │ │║ thoroughly kill the spirit and energy contained ║ │ │║ in the original songs - so close to the original ║ │ │║ that you wonder why they bothered, but still ║ │ │║ noticeably inferior. This is stiff, rheumatic, ║ │ │║ and never improves on the music; it is always ║ │ │║ either the same or worse. This "update," ║ │ │║ "rehashing," "royalty consolidation scheme" - ║ │ │║ whatever you want to call it - is a disgrace, ║ │ │║ and a fine example of everything we should ║ │ │║ despise about 21st-century Manowar. ║ │ │║ ║ │ │║ ║ │ │║ ║ │ │╚════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │╔═════════════════════╗ │ │║ Release Tracklist ║ │ │╚═════════════════════╩══════════════════════════════════════════ │ │ │ │ - CD1 [ ] │ │ - [ ] │ │ 01 - Hail And Kill MMXIV [06:12] │ │ 02 - Kings Of Metal MMXIV [03:40] │ │ 03 - The Heart Of Steel MMXIV [05:07] │ │ 04 - A Warrior┤s Prayer MMXIV [05:43] │ │ 05 - The Blood Of The Kings MMXIV [07:58] │ │ 06 - Thy Kingdom Come MMXIV [04:07] │ │ 07 - The Sting Of The Bumblebee MMXIV [01:16] │ │ 08 - Thy Crown And Thy Ring MMXIV (Orchestral V [04:57] │ │ 09 - On Wheels Of Fire MMXIV [04:17] │ │ 10 - Thy Crown And Thy Ring MMXIV (Metal Versio [04:59] │ │ 11 - The Heart Of Steel MMXIV (Guitar Instrumen [04:50] │ │ - [ ] │ │ - CD2 [ ] │ │ - [ ] │ │ 01 - Hail And Kill MMXIV (Instrumental) [06:15] │ │ 02 - Kings Of Metal MMXIV (Instrumental) [03:44] │ │ 03 - The Heart Of Steel MMXIV (Orchestral Intro [04:52] │ │ 04 - The Blood Of The Kings MMXIV (Instrumental [08:03] │ │ 05 - Thy Kingdom Come MMXIV (Instrumental) [04:09] │ │ 06 - Thy Crown And Thy Ring MMXIV (Orchestral V [04:59] │ │ 07 - On Wheels Of Fire MMXIV (Instrumental) [04:15] │ │ │ │ Total Length : [89:23 minn │ │ │ │ │ │ ▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ ╔═════════════════════╗ │ │ ║ Greetings To: ║ │ │ ╚═════════════════════╝ │ │ │ │ Too all people who contributes to make this │ │ archive of good music in a exceptional conditions │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │■ ■│ └───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘