Kings of Metal

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.

Kings of Metal
Cover art by Ken Kelly
Studio album by
Manowar
ReleasedNovember 18, 1988
RecordedUniversal Recording, Chicago, Illinois, US
GenreHeavy metal, power metal
Length48:05
LabelAtlantic
ProducerManowar, Jason Flom
Manowar chronology
Fighting the World
(1987)		 Kings of Metal
(1988)		 The Triumph of Steel
(1992)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal6/10[2]

Cover versions
  • The track "Kings of Metal" has been covered by German a cappella metal band Van Canto on their album Hero, as well by German Alternative/Punk-Band Beatsteaks on their album Launched and the German death metal band Debauchery on their album Back in Blood.
  • "Kingdom Come" was recorded by San Francisco punk band Hickey and appeared on the compilation CD, Death to False Metal (the title of which was also in tribute to Manowar's popular slogan). It has also been covered by Swedish metal band Sabaton.
  • "Heart of Steel" has been covered by Finnish heavy metal band Thunderstone.
  • "The Crown and the Ring" has been covered by the Celtic folk band Rapalje and by Italian metal band Valiance.
  • "Pleasure Slave" has been covered by Swedish band Svartur Dödur and American heavy metal band A Sound Of Thunder.

Track listing

All songs written by Joey DeMaio except where noted.

American, European and Japanese track listing
No.TitleLength
1."Wheels of Fire"4:10
2."Kings of Metal" (Ross Friedman, DeMaio)3:45
3."Heart of Steel"5:10
4."Sting of the Bumblebee" (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" (CD version of the album only)5:38
8."Hail and Kill" (Friedman, DeMaio)5:58
9."The Warrior's Prayer"4:20
10."Blood of the Kings"7:29
Total length:48:05
Asian 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"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 Warrior's Prayer"4:20
9."Blood of the Kings"7:30

Personnel
Manowar
Additional musicians
  • Canoldir Male Choir directed by Clive Griffiths
  • Arthur Whilshire – voices on track 9
  • Grant Williams – voices on track 9
Production
  • Richard Breen – engineer, mixing, Synclavier programming
  • Elvis T. Gruber – assistant engineer
  • Vince Gutman – digital programming, recording and mixing supervision
  • Howie Weinberg – mastering at Masterdisk, New York
  • Jason Flom – executive producer

Certifications
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Spain (PROMUSICAE)[3] Gold 50,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References
  1. Jeffries, Vincent. "Manowar - Kings of Metal review". AllMusic. All Media Network. 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. 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.
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