Kings of Metal

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Kings of Metal
Manowar kingsofmetalsalbumcover.jpg
Cover art by Ken Kelly
Studio album by
ReleasedNovember 18, 1988
RecordedUniversal Recording, Chicago
Genre Heavy metal, power metal
Length48:05
Label Atlantic
Producer Manowar, Jason Flom
Manowar chronology
Fighting the World
(1987)
Kings of Metal
(1988)
The Triumph of Steel
(1992)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [1]
Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal 6/10 [2]

Kings of Metal is the sixth album by the American heavy metal band Manowar, released on November 18, 1988 by Atlantic Records. 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.

Contents

In 2017, Loudwire ranked it as the 13th-best power metal album of all time. [3]

Track listing

All songs written by Joey DeMaio except where noted.

American, European and Japanese track listing
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Wheels of Fire" 4:10
2."Kings of Metal" Ross Friedman, DeMaio3:45
3."Heart of Steel" 5:10
4."Sting of the Bumblebee" (instrumental) Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (adapted by DeMaio, lyrics transcribed by Bob Piorun)2:49
5."The Crown and the Ring (Lament of the Kings)" 4:50
6."Kingdom Come" 3:56
7."Pleasure Slave" (present only on the US release of the album) 5:38
8."Hail and Kill"Friedman, DeMaio5:58
9."The Warriors Prayer" 4:20
10."Blood of the Kings" 7:29
Total length:48:05
Asian edition track listing
No.TitleLength
1."Wheels of Fire"4:11
2."Kings of Metal"3:43
3."Heart of Steel"5:10
4."Sting of the Bumblebee" (instrumental)2:45
5."The Crown and the Ring (Lament of the Kings)"4:53
6."Kingdom Come"3:55
7."Hail and Kill"5:54
8."The Warriors Prayer"4:20
9."Blood of the Kings"7:30
Total length:42:21

Personnel

Manowar
Additional musicians
Production

Charts

Chart (1988)Peak
position
Finnish Albums (The Official Finnish Charts) [4] 20
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) [5] 37
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan) [6] 45

Certifications

RegionCertification Certified units/sales
Germany (BVMI) [7] Gold250,000^
Spain (PROMUSICAE) [8] Gold50,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

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References

  1. Jeffries, Vincent. "Manowar - Kings of Metal review". AllMusic . Retrieved December 26, 2016.
  2. Popoff, Martin (November 1, 2005). The Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal: Volume 2: The Eighties. Burlington, Ontario, Canada: Collector's Guide Publishing. p. 214. ISBN   978-1894959315.
  3. Divita, Joe (July 5, 2017). "Top 25 Power Metal Albums of All Time". Loudwire . Townsquare Media . Retrieved March 3, 2021.
  4. 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.
  5. "Offiziellecharts.de – Manowar – Kings of Metal" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
  6. "Swedishcharts.com – Manowar – Kings of Metal". Hung Medien. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
  7. "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Manowar; 'Kings of Metal')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie . Retrieved May 6, 2021.
  8. 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.