Review by UnhinderedbyTalent for Manowar - Hail to England (1984)

I have never fully understood the draw of Manowar.  In fact I had (until today) always found their records to lack some degree of punch and power, certainly considering all their puffed up posturing at least. Whether it is an increase in tolerance levels with age or just the fact that I have been a dick all of these years and am finally coming round is open to interpretation, the fact is that despite half convincing myself I wasn't going to enjoy Hail to England I actually got on quite well with it.

Yes, it is still far too pompous and overbearing for me to all of a sudden be calling myself a fan of theirs, but I was actually impressed by the lead work of Ross on this album and although on more than one occasion my finger strayed dangerously close to the skip button I never once pressed it when Adams' vocals started to grate.  As most tracks got going there was a mental note to self that read something along the lines of "this is not going to get played through to the end", however a full thirty three minutes was heard.

There's a consistency here that you can't fight.  The album does exactly what it says on the tin. Sticks out it's chest, pulls back the shoulders and charges headlong into battle, raising epic tunes as it goes.  Considering this was released in 1984 it is a surprisingly full sounding record that is not afraid to do a fair share of shredding to entertain the listener.  On sheer lack of fucks to give rating the album gets five stars all day.  It goes too far on Black Arrows though, coming off as a poor man's Eddie Van Halen (although I applaud the effort), but it does right itself with Bridge of Death to close things strongly.

Taking it that everyday is a school day and you're never too old to click with a band you'd long since given up on I will chalk today as being a good day.