Search - Running Wild :: Death Or Glory

A piece of R.W history.

G.Dornier | Wien Austria | 08/14/2001

(4 out of 5 stars)

"DEATH OR GLORY :This is Running Wild the year 1989 before the formation got their modern/sensational line up during the period 1992-98. Back in 89' there was ( besides the frontman Rolf ) ; Jens Becker , Majk Moti and drummer Ian Finlay.The songs are not as complex and fast as R.W:s later albums ( Masquerade,BHI or Pile of Skulls ) and the production is not 100 % flawless , but on the other side not bad either. Production and mixing are tending to sound a little hollow and I am sure that the album would have got a radical improvement regarding clarity and bass depth if Rolf Kasparek himself would arrange the production - which is the case on the later R.W albums.Those of you who have heard R.W:s wellknown speedmetal-like drum-sound from the abovementioned albums should be warned ; the drumming by Ian Finlay on DOG is good - but not anywhere near the wizardry of Jörg Michaels thunderspeeding drum attacks on Masquerade or BHI. In spite of these factors DOG is still a tremendous R.W-album ; The catchiness and melodic elements of these songs will bring great enjoyment to all you who appreciate european powermetal. Great riffing and singing throughout ( almost ) all the record. The only objections from my point of view would be the tracks " Renegade " and " Bad to the Boone ". Albeit having interesting lyrics both are some notches below R.W:s capabilities in terms of melody and energy. On DOG you also will find R.W:s most wellknown singalong anthem ever - " Riding the Storm ". This particular tune will literally take you by storm ( no joke intended ). When the pre-corus and refrain comes blasting you will feel a uncontrolable urge to raise your voice in participation. Other hightlights include " Running Blood " , " Marooned " ( mighty man bass choir will make you shiver ..... ) and the epic arrangement of " Battle of Waterloo ". Rolfs voice is enjoyable - even if his singing has improved notably during the R.W-albums of the 90's. The backing vocals are also very well sung and powerful , especially on " Riding.... " and "Marooned". As the songtitles indicate ; this is another of R.W:s pirate-lyrical compositions describing naval battles, rumdrinking seadogs and flaghoisting shipmates. Those of us who listen to R.W for that reason will love it. If you by chance feel that songtexts should reflect love relations, or party hedonism you should avoid this exciting CD and buy something less dramatical ( preferrably the horrid music from Poison or Aerosmith ) By this I must oppose against the older review below. To say that the lyrics are less than serious is not correct , they are very serious. This is proven by the fact that R.W have not left their "sea romancing" style beginning on their older albums from the late 80's and up until today ( with exception of their latest CD " The Victory " - which is a rather untypical R.W performance in many ways and has created a lot of mixed emotions among the older fans. )If someone really think that sentimental texts belongs within the tradition of power metal ( which they do not ! ) he would disagree with me. Otherwise there is no choice but to commend Rolf and his squad for this impressing effort. Many of the songs are clearly designed in the vein of typical R.W powermetal with a ability to invade your head and memory because of their incredible catchiness and melodic drive. If you have not heard R.W before and really want to play it safe I would recommed you to begin your acquaintance with the hanseatic pirates ( they hail from the north german town Hamburg ) in Running Wild through their creme de la creme / masterpieces : Pile of Skulls or Masquerade. That does not mean that DOG is anything other than great - it is regardless a very wellwritten and pleasing piece of power metal in the classical german style."

An essential German metal release

Lunar Strain | United States | 11/17/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Running Wild's last two releases were good, but this release is just plain amazing! When it comes to quality German speed metal, you can't get much better than this. Amazing riffs, blazing fast guitars, and tight drums all aided by the wonderful vocals of Rock 'N' Rolf. It seems with each release the band keeps getting better and better making this arguably their best album. Thats arguably because Black Hand Inn and Masquarade are also contenders for that postion. One of the best, if not the best track, has to be the opener Riding the Storm with its haunting intro. The guitar work is just superb proving that Rolf is easily one of the most underrated guitarists in the genre. The track Bad to the Bone also porduced the bands second and last music video. The tour was also one of the bands most successful and they even recorded one of their shows for home video release. You haven't seen how good Rolf and the gang are until you have seen them playing these complex guitar structures live! If the album weren't great enough alone, the new remastered version also contains the entire Wild Animal EP as bonus tracks. For die-hard fans its a must because the Wild Animal EP up till this point was almost impossible to find. One song that was included on that EP was a remake of the silly metal anthem Chains & Leather, a song in its original form appeared on the bands sophmore album Branded & Exiled."

Mmmm, German metal the way it's supposed to be

Paul Lawrence | Australia | 01/11/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Some find German metal a bit too Teutonic. But when it's this furious who cares. The first four tracks will pretty much take your head off and put it back on again for you. Sure, it may be facing the wrong way but at least that way you'll be able to see the licence plate of the truck that just ran over you!



Riding the Storm, Renegade - this is great metal. Sure by side two (in the old terminology) some of it gets a little unhinged but Bad to the Bone which was the lead single is a bit hard to go past. And don't forget to read the lyrics too as with this band they can sometimes add to the fun.



Running Wild didn't make many good albums - but don't let anybody tell you they didn't make at least one. And here it is!"