Description
Reduced price due to box and digisleeves showing marks
2002 cd box with 3 digipak cds
Cd 1: The Rivalry
Fans cut off Running Wilds success around this time, with this album being the centre of that debate. Some think Masquerade is where things started to fall apart and others believe Victory showed the first severe signs that the band, or specifically Rolf, was beginning to falter. I personally fall in the latter group, making this (to me) the last full, unadulterated Running Wild experience. Sure, Rolf begins padding some of the song lengths and there arent as many master tracks, but what exists is fresh and fearsome, with some truly outstanding pieces here and there. One main complaint you’ll find with this album is that it can get pretty damn long or exhausting with the number of tracks – the longest Running Wild album in both cases, in fact. It beats Black Hand Inn by a few minutes and Victory by one track. Whereas that Black Hand Inn had one long-ass song, this one has a few that actually don’t get drowned out that badly. Face it, tracks like the epic Ballad Of William Kidd and Return Of The Dragon are too good to turn off, and the shorter tracks around them are also barrels of fun. While a change of pace, Rolf hasn’t forgotten his duty to bring majestic, aggressive leads and some grit to the German heavy metal scene. Much like Chris Boltendahl from Grave Digger, Rolf doesn’t squeal or go falsetto on us. No, he protrudes his dusty vocals with all the power in his gut, wailing and howling loudly without undercutting his catchy performances on all the tracks. Some of his best moments here can be heard on Ballad Of William Kidd, Adventure Galley, Return Of The Dragon and War And Peace; on these in particular Rolf sounds extremely proud of his job. Running Wild has always had depth in their music, even in the early demo days where raw quite literally meant death and heavy metal. Almost a couple decades later we have The Rivalry, a special release that used the same Running Wild formula for the past few albums while attempting to switch up the tracks a little bit. This wasn’t the fault, but what was to come surely began the downward spiral into, well, utter shit. Was it the horizon beyond the start of the next technological era that got to Rolfs head? Who knows, but even then that first mishap was still enjoyable. It’s the ones after it that hurts, as they arent Running Wild giving it their all – they arent Rolf giving it his all.
Cd 2: Victory
Back in the late eighties/ early nineties there were really lousy reviews by critics against Running Wild They are sounding the same – all the time but still the fans loved it. Well, would you not know, when frontman Kasparek tries to develop the sound and make a step towards musical progress then the same kind of unruly bastards shout what is this – it isn’t like it used to be. Victory is marking a notable change in songwriting and production and if you expect the same smoking aggression that dominated Pile Of Skulls or Masquerade be prepared this is a little more progressive. The are some solid tracks like Timeriders, Into The Fire and The Hussar and some tracks that are questionable like the Beatles cover Revolution. However the album is still worth some attention
Cd 3: The Brotherhood
In the world of metal, bands are either criticized for never changing or strung up and ridiculed when they do try something different. Running Wild at first was the butt of jokes because they never changed their sound. They recorded nine albums (Gates to Purgatory through Masquerade) of pretty much the same type of power/speed metal. Then with The Brotherhood, the band is getting blasted for trying something different. So what makes this album different? Well like the previous album Victory, The Brotherhood (for a lack of a better word) is groovy, just to more of a degree. This is not the sonic speed metal assault of the past. Because of this the songs are actually more diverse. This diversity is also something new that we never heard on a Running Wild disc before. I hate to say it but when I listen to even stellar discs as Blazon Stone and Black Hand Inn, I get tired of the albums half-way through because all the songs end up sounding the same. Not with The Brotherhood. Aside from the occasional weak song, I can listen to The Brotherhood straight through. The album opens with Welcome to Hell which is reminiscent of Wild of old. This is just a fantastic speed metal monster with a killer riff. Rock N Rolf in an interview said he got the idea for this song when someone asked him what he would say to greet an alien that was visiting earth. His response would of course be welcome to hell. The next song Soulstrippers, as well as the song Crossfire, is when the grooviness kicks in. Some die hard fans end up hating these songs but I found them to my liking. They have more a standard rock groove to them and mixed with Rolfs ever likable pirate vocals. The title track and the epic closer the Ghost show Rolf at his most Iron Maiden like creativeness to make long yet likeable metal monsters. Some may notice that this album lacks pirate material. All is not lost as the song Pirate Song is here. Now this is a terrific speed number with great tongue-in-cheek pirate lyrics. One of Wilds best songs. The instrumental Siberian Winter is also terrific. The only down thing is the drum machines that Rolf continues to use.
Track list:
Cd 1: The Rivalry
1. March Of The Final Battle (The End Of All Evil)
2. The Rivalry
3. Kiss Of Death
4. Firebreather
5. Return Of The Dragon
6. Resurrection
7. Ballad Of William Kidd
8. Agents Of Black
9. Fire And Thunder
10. The Poison
11. Adventure Galley
12. Man On The Moon
13. War And Peace
Cd 2: Victory
1. Fall Of Dorkas
2. When Time Runs Out
3. Timeriders
4. Into The Fire
5. Revolution
6. The Final Waltz
7. Tsar
8. The Hussar
9. The Guardian
10. Return Of The Gods
11. Silent Killer
12. Victory
Cd 3: The Brotherhood
1. Welcome To Hell
2. Soulstripper
3. The Brotherhood
4. Powerride
5. Siberian Winter
6. Detonator
7. Pirate Song
8. U-Nation
9. Dr. Horror
10. The Ghost
11. Powerride
12. Faceless