Kings of Metal

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Kings of Metal
Cover art by Ken Kelly
Studio album by
Manowar
ReleasedNovember 18, 1988
RecordedUniversal Recording, Chicago
GenreHeavy metal, power metal
Length47:57
LabelAtlantic
ProducerManowar, Jason Flom
Manowar chronology
Fighting the World
(1987)		 Kings of Metal
(1988)		 The Triumph of Steel
(1992)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusicStarStarHalf star[1]
Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal6/10[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.

In 2017, Loudwire ranked it as the 13th-best power metal album of all time.[3] The album was re-recorded by the band in 2014 as Kings of Metal MMXIV.

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, DeMaio3:43
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)" 4:46
6."Kingdom Come" 3:56
7."Pleasure Slave" (included on most CD editions of the album (often as a bonus track), but omitted from the original single-LP vinyl release; later double-LP reissues include the track) 5:37
8."Hail and Kill"Friedman, DeMaio5:57
9."The Warriors Prayer" 4:20
10."Blood of the Kings" 7:29
Total length:47:57
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
  • 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

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

Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Germany (BVMI)[7] Gold 250,000^
Spain (Promusicae)[8] Gold 50,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

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.