Fighting the World

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Fighting the World
ManowarFightingtheworld.jpg
Cover art by Ken Kelly
Studio album by
Manowar
ReleasedFebruary 17, 1987
Recorded1986–1987
StudioUniversal Recording, Chicago
Genre Heavy metal [1] [2]
Length34:31
Label ATCO
Producer
Manowar chronology
Sign of the Hammer
(1984)		Fighting the World
(1987)		 Kings of Metal
(1988)
Singles from Fighting the World
  1. "Blow Your Speakers"
    Released: November 30, 1986

Fighting the World is the fifth album by the American heavy metal band Manowar, released in February 1987 by ATCO Records. This was the first Manowar album to feature artwork by long-time collaborator Ken Kelly, and also one of the earliest heavy metal albums to be recorded and mixed entirely on digital equipment. Since Fighting the World, all Manowar album covers have been painted by Ken Kelly.

Contents

Background

Fighting the World was the first Manowar album to be digitally recorded and mixed entirely with a 32-track digital machine at Universal Recording Studios in Chicago, Illinois. [3] [4]

The song "Defender" features a speech by American actor Orson Welles. The album was released two years after Welles died and is dedicated to him. [1] [3] The recording of Welles' speech was re-used from the original 1982 demo of the song. [1] In the album notes, Manowar reportedly had at least 195 people in their acknowledgement list, including the "ladies auxiliary" and "medical staff". [3] [5]

Release and reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [2]
Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal 9/10 [6]

Fighting the World was released in February 1987 by ATCO Records. [7] Guitarist Ross "The Boss" Friedman recalled that Fighting the World was a commercial success. [8]

Writing for AllMusic, Eduardo Rivadavia called Fighting the World a slight improvement from their preceding album Sign of the Hammer, highlighting songs like "Black Wind, Fire and Steel", "Holy War" and "Defender", but asserted that Manowar's signing into a major label made them a "sell-out" after upholding the ethos of "true metal" for the first few albums. [2]

Writing for Classic Rock , Paul Elliott contended that while Fighting the World thrived with "gonzoid heavy metal anthems" and their "adversity", he observed that "Black Wind, Fire and Steel" may possibly influence the European style of power metal. [1]

Reviewing for the boxed set Black Wind, Fire & Steel – The Atlantic Albums 1987-1992, Jon Deaux writes in All About the Rock that Fighting the World is one of the albums with "metal rock anthems... guaranteed to have your fist pumping whilst wearing your spiked leather wristbands", and praised "Defender" as "an absolute monster of a track". [9]

Track listing

All songs written by Joey DeMaio.

No.TitleLength
1."Fighting the World"3:50
2."Blow Your Speakers"3:39
3."Carry On"4:12
4."Violence and Bloodshed"4:00
5."Defender"6:02
6."Drums of Doom"1:15
7."Holy War"4:44
8."Master of Revenge"1:34
9."Black Wind, Fire and Steel"5:15
Total length:34:31

Personnel

Personnel per ATCO Records. [3]

Manowar

Production

Charts

Chart (1987)Peak
position
Finnish Albums (The Official Finnish Charts) [10] 15
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan) [11] 27

Certifications

RegionCertification Certified units/sales
Germany (BVMI) [12] Gold250,000^
Spain (PROMUSICAE) [13] Gold50,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

Cover versions

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Elliott, Paul (November 19, 2024). "The self-proclaimed heroic kings and defenders of True Metal: The Manowar albums you should definitely listen to". Classic Rock. Future plc. Retrieved February 5, 2025.
  2. 1 2 3 Rivadavia, Eduardo. Fighting the World at AllMusic
  3. 1 2 3 4 ATCO Records 1987.
  4. ↑ Syrjälä, Marko (October 13, 2023). "Exclusive interview with Ross The Boss". chaoszine.net. chaoszine.net. Retrieved February 5, 2025.
  5. ↑ Goldstein, Patrick (December 27, 1987). "Rockin' '87: The Good, Bad and Ugly". Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times. p. 84. Heavy-metal band Manowar found space on the back of its album, "Fighting the World," to thank 195 people...
  6. ↑ Popoff 2005, p. 213-214.
  7. ↑ "Swedishcharts.com – Manowar – Fighting the World". Hung Medien. Retrieved February 21, 2021.
  8. ↑ Bosso, Joe (August 1, 2022). "Ross "the Boss" Friedman: "The Ramones were like our brothers..." Guitar World. Guitar World. Retrieved February 5, 2025.
  9. ↑ Deaux, Jon (November 23, 2020). "Manowar: Black Wind, Fire & Steel – The Atlantic Albums 1987-1992, 3CD Box Set Review". All About the Rock. allabouttherock.co.uk. Retrieved February 5, 2025.
  10. ↑ Pennanen, Timo (2006). Sisältää hitin – levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1972 (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava. ISBN   978-951-1-21053-5.
  11. ↑ "Swedishcharts.com – Manowar – Fighting the World". Hung Medien. Retrieved February 21, 2021.
  12. ↑ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Manowar; 'Fighting the World')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie . Retrieved May 6, 2021.
  13. ↑ Salaverrie, Fernando (September 2005). Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002 (PDF) (in Spanish) (1st ed.). Madrid: Fundación Autor/SGAE. p. 953. ISBN   84-8048-639-2 . Retrieved August 23, 2019.

Sources

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