Glory to the Brave

Last updated
Glory to the Brave
Glory to the Brave.jpg
Studio album by
Released27 June 1997
RecordedFebruary–April 1997, Studio Fredman, Gothenburg, Sweden
Genre Heavy metal, power metal
Length44:26
Label Nuclear Blast
Producer Fredrik Nordström
HammerFall chronology
Glory to the Brave
(1997)
Legacy of Kings
(1998)
Singles from Glory to the Brave
  1. "Glory to the Brave"
    Released: 20 October 1997

Glory to the Brave is the debut studio album by Swedish power metal band HammerFall, released in 1997. Despite the fact that the band was formed in 1993, HammerFall performed mostly live music and covers before this album was released. "Steel Meets Steel" was composed by Oscar Dronjak just before the band was formed and is included on this album. The band signed a deal with the Dutch label Vic Records. Nuclear Blast approached Vic Records and obtained a license deal for the album. Later, Nuclear Blast bought the entire rights from Vic Records. Although the In Flames guitarist Jesper Strömblad was listed as the drummer, all the drums were actually played by session musician Patrik Räfling, who joined the band as a full-time member shortly after the album's release.

Contents

The cover art was painted by Andreas Marschall.

"I Believe" was co-written with Peter Stålfors of Pure X and, later, the more famous Dream Evil.

Glory to the Brave was re-released in 2002 as a Deluxe Edition with the Stormwitch cover "Ravenlord" as a bonus track as well as a multimedia section including a music video.

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [1]
Rock Hard 10/10 [2]

In 2005, Glory to the Brave was ranked number 295 in Rock Hard magazine's book of The 500 Greatest Rock & Metal Albums of All Time. [3] In 2020, it was named one of the 20 best metal albums of 1997 by Metal Hammer magazine. [4]

Track listing

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."The Dragon Lies Bleeding" Jesper Strömblad, Joacim Cans, Oscar Dronjak 4:22
2."The Metal Age"Dronjak, Strömblad, Cans4:28
3."HammerFall"Dronjak, Strömblad, Cans4:47
4."I Believe"Cans, Peter Stålfors 4:53
5."Child of the Damned" (Warlord cover)Tsamis, Zonder3:42
6."Steel Meets Steel"Dronjak4:02
7."Stone Cold"Dronjak, Strömblad, Cans5:43
8."Unchained"Dronjak, Strömblad, Cans5:38
9."Glory to the Brave"Dronjak, Strömblad, Cans7:20
10."Ravenlord" (Stormwitch cover, bonus track)Lee Tarot3:31
Total length:48:26

An eleventh track on the enhanced CD (bonus deluxe edition) contained multimedia content: a videoclip, wallpaper and e-card

"Ravenlord" was released on the Japanese, Brazilian and deluxe editions.

Special editions: LP, Shape CD (Saw-Shaped), Picture LP, Red Vinyl LP, Deluxe Edition (containing bonus material), Value Box (with "Renegade" CDs)

Personnel

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">HammerFall</span> Swedish power metal band

HammerFall is a Swedish power metal band from Gothenburg. The band was formed in 1993 by ex-Ceremonial Oath guitarist Oscar Dronjak.

<i>Clayman</i> 2000 studio album by In Flames

Clayman is the fifth studio album by Swedish heavy metal band In Flames, released via Nuclear Blast on 3 July 2000. It has a dark theme, with most of the lyrics dealing with depression and internal struggles. Clayman is the final In Flames album to feature their original melodic death metal sound. The band would later start to experiment with other styles on their next release, Reroute to Remain, gradually progressing these more experimental elements across their future releases later into the 2000s. Like on some songs on the previous album Colony the band tuned their guitars to drop A# on the songs Pinball Map and ...As the Future Repeats Today.

<i>One Crimson Night</i> 2003 live album & DVD by HammerFall

One Crimson Night is the first live album by Swedish power metal band HammerFall. The album was recorded during band's concert at Lisebergshallen, Sweden. DVD containing this live footage along with bonus materials was released by Nuclear Blast on 29 June 2004.

<i>Lunar Strain</i> 1994 studio album by In Flames

Lunar Strain is the debut studio album by Swedish heavy metal band In Flames, released in April 1994. The album is known for its "folky elements", with the inclusion of violins and acoustic guitars.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">In Flames</span> Swedish heavy metal band

In Flames is a Swedish heavy metal band, formed by guitarist Jesper Strömblad in Gothenburg in 1990. Alongside At the Gates and Dark Tranquillity, In Flames pioneered the genres known as Swedish death metal and melodic death metal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jesper Strömblad</span> Swedish guitarist (born 1972)

Clas Håkan Jesper Strömblad is a Swedish musician who is the guitarist of the bands The Halo Effect, Dimension Zero and Cyhra, and formerly of In Flames and The Resistance. He is best known as the founder and former guitarist/drummer/keyboardist of the pioneering melodic death metal band In Flames, guitarist of the band Sinergy, bassist of Ceremonial Oath and drummer of HammerFall. In 2013, he joined MDM band Nightrage as a session guitarist.

<i>Renegade</i> (HammerFall album) 2000 studio album by HammerFall

Renegade is the third studio album by Swedish power metal band HammerFall. It was released on 9 October 2000 on the Nuclear Blast label and is the first album to feature drummer Anders Johansson. Former drummer of HammerFall and founder of heavy metal band In Flames Jesper Strömblad still wrote some of the album's songs, even after parting ways with the band in 1997. The album debuted on the Swedish charts at number one and was eventually awarded a gold certification.

<i>Chapter V: Unbent, Unbowed, Unbroken</i> 2005 studio album by HammerFall

Chapter V: Unbent, Unbowed, Unbroken is the fifth studio album by Swedish power metal band HammerFall, released in 2005 through Nuclear Blast. It features the track "Knights of the 21st Century", which includes guest vocals from Venom frontman Conrad "Cronos" Lant; it is also the band's longest studio recording to date with a length of 10:25, though after 1 minute and 40 seconds of silence, at 12:05, there is an outtake from Cronos.

<i>Crimson Thunder</i> 2002 studio album by HammerFall

Crimson Thunder is the fourth studio album by Swedish power metal band HammerFall. It was the first album the band worked on with producer Charlie Bauerfeind.

<i>The First Crusade</i> (video) 1999 video by HammerFall

The First Crusade is a combination of live performances, video clips, interviews, etc., by Swedish power metal band HammerFall. It was released in Nuclear Blast, first on VHS followed by a DVD release.

The Templar Renegade Crusades is a combination of live performances, video clips, interviews, etc., by Swedish power metal band HammerFall. It was released by Nuclear Blast, first on VHS followed by a DVD release. It includes video footage from recording sessions, live concerts, tour backstages and encounters with fans. The footage ranged from the recording sessions of Legacy of Kings to the gold album party which took place in November 2001.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">I Want Out (Helloween song)</span> 1988 single by Helloween

"I Want Out" is a song by German power metal band Helloween from the album Keeper of the Seven Keys, Pt. 2, that was released as a single in 1988.

<i>Steel Meets Steel: Ten Years of Glory</i> 2007 compilation album by HammerFall

Steel Meets Steel: Ten Years of Glory is the first compilation album by Swedish power metal band HammerFall, released on 23 October 2007.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Heeding the Call</span> 1998 single by HammerFall

"Heeding the Call" is a song by HammerFall, released as their second single on 3 August 1998. This contains the bonus tracks from the Legacy of Kings, released only on some special copies of the album. It also contains three live recorded songs.
The cover artwork was created by Andreas Marschall.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Glory to the Brave (song)</span> 1997 single by HammerFall

"Glory to the Brave" is a song by Swedish power metal band HammerFall, from the album Glory to the Brave, released as a single on 20 October 1997. On this release there are four songs. One was recorded live, one is a radio edit and two are a bonus track from a previous studio album, which can only be found on special copies.

<i>Masterpieces</i> (HammerFall album) 2008 compilation album by HammerFall

Masterpieces is the third compilation album by Swedish power metal band HammerFall. It consists of cover versions recorded by the band.

<i>Tinnitus Sanctus</i> 2008 studio album by Edguy

Tinnitus Sanctus is the eighth studio album by German heavy/power metal band Edguy, released on 14 November 2008 on Nuclear Blast. This album combines progressive-oriented hard rock heard on their previous album Rocket Ride with elements of speed metal.

<i>No Sacrifice, No Victory</i> 2009 studio album by HammerFall

No Sacrifice, No Victory is the seventh studio album by Swedish power metal band HammerFall, released 20 February 2009. It was partly recorded at PAMA Studios, Torsås and partly at Andy La Rocque's Sonic Train Studios in Varberg. This is the first album featuring the band's new lead guitarist Pontus Norgren, the return of bassist Fredrik Larsson who played bass from 1994 to 1997, as well as the first to have the band tuning all of their guitars in all songs to D tuning as opposed to the E-flat tuning seen on most songs from all previous albums.

<i>Infected</i> (HammerFall album) 2011 studio album by HammerFall

Infected is the eighth studio album by Swedish power metal band HammerFall, released on 20 May 2011 in Europe and 7 June 2011 in North America. It was their first album produced by James Michael and the HammerFall guitarists Oscar Dronjak and Pontus Norgren. To promote the record, the song "One More Time" was released as the first official single on 6 April 2011. On 8 April 2011, Nuclear Blast Records released a limited edition picture 7" version of the single "One More Time"; the vinyl was limited to 500 copies. The album entered the Swedish charts at number two.

"Blood Bound" is a song by Swedish power metal band HammerFall, released on January 28, 2005. It was the only single released from their fifth studio album Chapter V: Unbent, Unbowed, Unbroken.

References

  1. Reesman, Bryan. "HammerFall Glory to the Brave review". AllMusic . Rovi Corporation . Retrieved 19 July 2019.
  2. Schäfer, Wolfgang. "Rock Hard review". Rock Hard. No. 122.
  3. Best of Rock & Metal - Die 500 stärksten Scheiben aller Zeiten (in German). Rock Hard. 2005. p. 95. ISBN   3-89880-517-4.
  4. "The Top 20 best metal albums of 1997". Metal Hammer . Future plc. 2 December 2020. Retrieved 6 March 2021.