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Beiträge
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RUNNING WILD – ROGUES EN VOGUE
Reviewed by Matt the PirateSYNOPSIS:
After a three year wait following his last studio album THE BROTHERHOOD, German Metal legend Rolf Kasparek and crew return to the metal world with a new longplayer in tow.
Now, those of us in the know are well aware of the many issues at hand leading up to this release. RUNNING WILD is almost a 25 year band now and recent album releases although very solid have widely been regarded as inferior to the glory days of the band. Now exactly what era and albums from the band constitute the glory days is always a hotly contested battle. Not surprising when you consider this is studio album number thirteen.
I, personally, lean toward the Power Metal base so perhaps it is natural that my favorite RUNNING WILD CDs have always been PILE OF SKULLS, BLACK HAND INN and MASQUERADE. I enjoy all RUNNING WILD material but these three have always stood far above the others. I say this simply to give you fans an idea of where my RUNNING WILD tastes generally lie.
Now, on to the new release ROGUES EN VOGUE. I had listened to a few 30 second clips of the songs at Amazon.de and they sparked my interest. I wasn’t overly pleased by any stretch of the imagination but I figured from the clips that the material sounded like it had a good chance to be as good as the last album which considering the age of this band plus a three year layoff sounded pretty good to me. Suddenly, from a completely unexpected and sinister source the full album fell into my lap prior to release.
All I can say is „OH MY GOD!“. I cannot believe what Rock’n’Rolf was able to do here. The creativity on this release compaired to the solid but somewhat paint by number last three releases is just baffling. Everywhere you turn he seems to pull a different rabbit out of his hat. If it’s not an unexpected wrinkle in the song here, it’s a shockingly fresh drum kick there. If it’s not the perfect outro you didn’t think was coming, it is a totally out of the norm vocal delivery or guitar lick. In addition, totally unlike previous releases it seems like the songs are not identically recorded. He may use a certain production on his vocals in one song and then the next little effect or echo or just the general sound or the way he uses his voice has changed just enough to be noticable.
Now, I’m not one for experimentation and screwing around in the studio. It usually means your material isn’t good enough to stand on it’s own but believe me it is the opposite here. Even if Rolf had used the same exact sound throughout the album these songs would still kick the crap out of anything he has done for years.
You know how older bands like Judas Priest, Scorpions, Kiss, Iron Maiden etc. etc. hang around for years and we still love ‚em. The material is not what it used to be but heck, if they put out an album that even harkens back to their glory days a little bit it is well worth it and we are happy. Trust me folks, this is not that.
When I first heard the album I admit the sound mix seemed kind of strange. Like I said Rolf has pulled out some new tricks and you have to listen a little while to fully drink in the new sound. Vocally he sings a bit higher and with a sharp bite on many songs. This is a voice we have not exactly heard before. All in all though, once you play a few times it just sounds so perfect. Pure RUNNING WILD, fresh and exciting although I have noticed that certain speakers seem to work better than others for this album.
When it comes to old fans. If you are looking for a specific sound Rolf has done in the past such as „I want it to sound just like PORT ROYAL“ or whatever I can already tell you it does not sound like any previous album so forget it. I guess I would call this a modern, clean production and yes there might be some triggered drums or whatever but Rolf has a real drummer on board for this album and if you give it a chance believe me it sounds powerfull and exciting. Drums 100% smoke.
SONGS:
Instead of going through every song on the album I think it will be more helpful if I just tell you how it is. The mix of songs is all over the place. You have a few very speedy songs, many of the songs have a mix of speed and yet the main riff is more basic and you have a few straight forward tracks but even on those Rolf seems to throw in some cool surprises to spice things up. For one, the straight forward tracks some like to refer to as the „Rock“ tracks have some cool metal licks in them and the choruses are better or at least more catchy than you would find on the rock tracks from the previous two albums THE BROTHERHOOD and VICTORY. Some of those rock tracks were like pulling teeth just to get through them.
As a side note, many of you may be wondering will there be any straight rock stompers ala AC/DC like the ones that showed up on THE BROTHERHOOD. Namely, „Detonator“ and „Dr. Horror“. The answer is No, every track on ROGUES EN VOGUE is more melodic in nature and not in that style.
We cannot talk about RUNNING WILD without bringing up Piracy. Sure enough a pirate song exists on ROGUES EN VOGUE. It is called „Skull & Bones“. I could say a lot about this track but I will simply leave it at this. I’m pretty sure any whining and complaing that the pirate song on the last album was somehow not legitimate and that Rolf may no longer have it in his heart to write a real pirate song ends here.
Overall, the songs are more catchy than before. Choruses ring in your ears for days and the songs do not drag on like some of the songs on the previous three albums that seemed to repeat themselves and last far too long. I think THE RIVALRY album comes to mind. Now, you may get the feeling from this review that I somehow don’t like the last three albums from the band. That is far from the truth. It is just that this release simply blows them away.
ORIGINALITY: 5 of 5
PERFORMANCE: 5 of 5
SONGWRITING: 5 of 5
VOCALS: 5 of 5
PRODUCTION: Grows On You
SPECIAL WEAPON: Rolf’s EnergyBOTTOM LINE:
I only have the main album which is 11 songs. There are two bonus tracks that will be released on the Limited Edition version and they are rumored to be outstanding but even if they end up being demo quality recordings of bathroom sounds I have to rate this album:
10 OF 10 SKULLS (Buy or Burn In Hell!)
REVIEW SCORES:
10 SKULLS (Buy Or Burn In Hell!)
09 SKULLS (Buy Or Die!)
08 SKULLS (Excellent)
07 SKULLS (Good)
06 SKULLS (Average)
05 SKULLS (Needs Improvement)
04 SKULLS (Bad)
03 SKULLS (Shockingly Bad)
02 SKULLS (An Insult)
01 SKULLS (A Scam)--
Vi Veri Veniversum Vivus ViciHighlights von metal-hammer.deRUNNING WILD: „Rogues En Vogue“ Pre-Listening!!!
Zweiundzwanzig Jahre Heavy Metal und kein bisschen leise! Das Flaggschiff der deutschen Metal Szene RUNNING WILD hisst die Piratenflagge und geht unter vollen Segeln mit „Rogues En Vogue“ (VÖ 21.02.04) wieder auf große Fahrt.
Frontmann Rock’n’Rolf Kasparek trotzte in seiner langen Laufbahn noch jedem Trendorkan und widerstand dabei allen lockenden Sirenengesängen der scheinbar profitablen Anpassung. Nicht mit RUNNING WILD! Unbeirrt hielt Rolf seinen Viermaster stets auf wahrem Metal-Kurs! Auch mit dem neuen Album „Rogues En Vogue“, das trotz klassischer Inhalte und hohem Wiedererkennungswert einmal mehr frisch und knackig klingt, feuert RUNNING WILD schon zum dreizehnten Mal die volle Breitseite ab.
Bereits ab kommenden Donnerstag, den 17.02.05 gibt es die Möglichkeit vorab in das neue Album reinzuhören. Beim grossen Pre-Listening auf http://www.running-wild.net werden bis zum Release täglich zwei brandneue Songs von „Rogues En Vogue“ präsentiert. Für echte Metal-Fans definitiv ein Muss!!!
Record-Release-Event
18.02.05 / Hamburg – Headbanger’s-Ballroom / 22:00h--
Vi Veri Veniversum Vivus ViciHey, die Platte muss ziemlich stark sein. Sag zu mindest mein Kollege. Wobei ich kaum glaube, dass RW sich weit von ihrem normalen Klang entfernt haben…
Review: http://www.sounds2move.de/Plattenkritiken/runningwild_roguesenvogue.htm
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Aktuelle Interviews @ www.sounds2move.de : OMNIUM GATHERUM, DEADLOCK, THE VERY END, TANKARD, ...@Schöwe: wie ist die neue Scheibe im Vergleich zu VICTORY? Mir gefällt diese Platte am Besten, The Brotherhodd und The Rivalry hingegen nich so.Könntest du mir die neue RW Scheibe empfehlen?
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changing values, changing sights changing minds and changing lifes I guess this is how it goesalso ich finde die Platte ziemlich schwach. Im Anbetracht der Tatsache, dass Dir die Victory gefällt, könntest Du Gefallen an der neuen finden. Mir gefällt an der Platte das Songwriting und die Produktion nicht, textlich mag sie ja ok sein, aber das reicht für mich halt nicht, um Freude an einer Platte zu haben.
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"Dunkel die andere Seite ist.... sehr dunkel" "Ach halt's Maul Yoda und iss Deinen Toast" "To punish and enslave..."!Wildchild89!@Schöwe: wie ist die neue Scheibe im Vergleich zu VICTORY? Mir gefällt diese Platte am Besten, The Brotherhodd und The Rivalry hingegen nich so.Könntest du mir die neue RW Scheibe empfehlen?
Hier ist noch ein treffendes Review:
http://www.ruhrmetal-mag.de/reviews/runningwild/Und noch eines:
http://www.metalius.de/reviews/review_2721.htmlAber wie immer muss jeder selbst entscheiden, ob einem das Album gefällt oder nicht. Ich find’s grandios und stieg umgehend auf Platz 2 meiner RUNNING WILD Alltime-Faves ein (ungeschlagen auf Platz 1 steht weiterhin das Überalbum BLAZON STONE).
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Vi Veri Veniversum Vivus Vici@blackchest:thanks
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changing values, changing sights changing minds and changing lifes I guess this is how it goes*hüstel*
Naja, hab‘ mir gerade REV angehört… und wie heißt es doch so schön: Running Wild spielen Running Wild 🙄 Und das kann dann ab und an doch ziemlich langweilig sein…
So berauschend find‘ ich die Scheibe wirklich nicht. Außer „Soul vampires“ und den beiden Bonus-Tracks hat’s keiner der Songs geschafft sich in meinem Ohr festzubeißen… 🙄
Und das kleine Epos „The War“ kann lange nicht mit „The Ghost“ vom letzten Album mithalten. Und auch wenn diesmal ein echter Schlagzeuger eingesetzt worden ist – die Drums klingen dennoch nach Angello Sasso:shock:
Hoffentlich wächst das Album noch mit der Zeit… Zwar ist’s kein kompletter Reinfall – aber ein bißchen mehr hätte man von Rock’n’Rolf schon erwarten können…--
Hab ich da was nicht gelesen…………… heute war in einem Cd-Shop……. und was sah ich im Regal………….die limited Version……Running Wild
Wieso das?
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Wandel braucht Zeit und der Sinn des Lebens besteht nach dem Streben nach Glück... Mitglied der Dethcrew Mitglied der Mega-Avatar-FraktionClydeHab ich da was nicht gelesen……………
Jep – den ersten Beitrag hast du wohl übersehen. 😉
Dennoch kann ich nicht ganz nachvollziehen wieso deine Verwunderung so groß ist. Schließlich ist’s inzwischen Standard eine „limited editon“ rauszubringen.--
Also ich find die Scheibe OK, Running Wild eben…
Wobei “ Blazon Stone “ und “ Gates to Pugatory “ meiner Meinung
auf ewig unerreicht bleiben.Qualitativ ist, wie immer eigentlich, alles im grünen Bereich.
Von der Produktion her, würd ich mal sagen, hat man sich sogar klar
gesteigert ( vielleicht liegt das ja auch an Rolf`s neuem, eigenen , Studio ).Frank
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Hier ist dann noch ein weiteres, alternatives Review: http://www.geocities.com/taurelin/runningrogues.htm
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Vi Veri Veniversum Vivus ViciROGUES EN VOGUE stieg von 0 direkt auf Platz 39 in die deutschen Albumcharts ein! 😀
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Vi Veri Veniversum Vivus ViciAb sofort sind die Lyrics zu CANNONBALL TONGUE und LIBERTALIA online: www.running-wild.net
Die neuen RW Tourdates folgen in Kürze…
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Vi Veri Veniversum Vivus Vicihey blackchest, bist du per zufall Promo-Beauftragter von Running Wild???
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War Is Peace Freedom Is Slavery Ignorance Is Strength [George Orwell - 1984]
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